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Recent years have seen an increasing interest in describing the performance of extended industrial systems in terms of the consumption of energy and raw materials as well as the emission of solid liquid and gaseous wastes. In this context, an extended system is one that starts with raw materials in the earth and traces all industrial and consumer operations until final disposal of the product at the end of its useful life. In other words the system is examined over the whole life cycle of the products – often referred to as “cradle to grave”; hence, giving rise to the term Life Cycle Assessment in the start of the 90s. In brief, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a technique for quantitatively evaluating those physical characteristics of an extended production system that contribute to environmental performance. Our first book in Italian V. Badino, (V. Badino, G.L. Baldo, LCA. Istruzioni per l’uso, Edizioni Esculapio, Bologna) was published in February 1998 with the explicit goal of summarizing a doc and post-doc research activity on the Life Cycle Assessment issue applied to industrial processes. The book’s main intended audience was made up of engineering students from the Politecnico of Torino. In that period, the Life Cycle Assessment methodology was in fact gaining importance among evaluation and management tools typically described in economics for engineers and industrial ecology courses. In the early 1990’s, in Italy, LCA was used by few academics and only a restricted number of big companies began the application to own industrial systems (among these, ABB, FIAT, ITALTEL, PIRELLI, SIEMENS e TELECOM). In figure 1, a schematic presentation of a LCA study that in 1994 was addressed to highlight the environmental burden differences between two industrial systems for the production of aluminium and cast iron car engines blocks at FIAT factory. It is yet clear how the methodology can support materials selection for specific applications from an environmental performance point of view. In figure 2 the TELECOM Italia SIRIO 2000 telephone set that, starting from the 1996, has been analysed from an environmental cradle-to-grave perspective by TILabs and Politecnico of Torino. The goal was to design an eco-SIRIO version by means of the LCA and design for disassembly outcomes. The second book on LCA was released in the onset of 2000 (LCA, Life Cycle Assessment. Uno strumento di analisi energetica e ambientale, Ipaservizi Editore) in collaboration with the activities undertaken by the national agency for environmental protection (ANPA, then APAT, now ISPRA) in Italy.

In Italy, thanks to ANPA, researchers, experts, various large companies and certifying bodies, from 1999 to 2003 set the bases for a national Environmental Product Declaration system.

Such declarations, on initial approximations, could be defined as the “environmental ID card” of a product/service characterized by a LCA.

In truth an EPD® is a standardized (ISO 14025/TR) and LCA based tool to communicate the environmental performance of a product or system, and is applicable worldwide for all interested companies and organizations. It includes information about the environmental impacts associated with a product or service, such as raw material acquisition, energy use and efficiency, content of materials and chemical substances, emissions to air, soil and water and waste generation. It also includes product and company information.

Certified EPDs are open for all products and services. There is no evaluation of the environmental information since no predetermined environmental performance levels are set. Instead it builds on well-structured and quantitative data certified by an independent third party.

Aside from acknowledging an explicit need expressed by the corporate world to communicate its environmental-linked dealings in reference to products and services, the launch of various pilot tests regarding Environmental Product Declaration have given way to the concept of Life-Cycle Thinking in relevance to large scale anthropic activities; thereby, pumping new blood into the corporate veins through a multitude of research projects.

More over, by means of the preliminary agreements of mutual acknowledgement between the pilot cases (in Italy managed by ANPA) and the EPD® System – already in use since 1999 and controlled on an international scale since the start from the Swedish Environmental Management Council – there is the achievement of making small-medium businesses collide with LCA and highlight the manner in which the IPP, Integrated Product Policy, and GP, Green Procurement require a life-cycle approach in order to undertake choices truly eco-compatible.

In 2005, both the awareness of the evolutionary changes at hand with the desire to update the content of the manual lead the authors to their third experience with a new editor, Edizioni Ambiente. This is the first edition to have taken on a totally different form, that of a complete reference manual – revised, enriched and broadened on the grounds of further experiences with the latest regulation and legislations.

A quick balance of over ten years of continuous activity in this sector thereby reveals how LCA has evolved, going from isolated and confined use of R&D tools to a wide-spread tools of consultation: it lends support to environmental communication and green marketing, up to the integration of the traditional techniques of material and process selection for ecodesign based projects.

Since the release of the text’s first edition with Edizioni Ambiente, over three years ago, this trend seems to be greater highlighted, with particular regard to design, in which elements of process and materials environmental compatibility are gradually being integrated in commonplace design practices.

 

We would like to propose to the reader a brief issue of debate regarding environmental communication that we will get back to later in the course of the text: figure 3 refers to an article released on the Italian magazine Panorama that speaks about the project “Impatto Zero” (Zero Impact) of the company LifeGate in Como, Italy. The project is fruit of an interesting match between carbon credit use and environmental communication, whose applications regard various realities, such as publishing, as in the case of the cited magazine. Instead, figure 4 pictures the reproduction of the eco-advice for the company employees, put together by the Environment Direction of TOROC (the Olympic Committee of the 2006 Torino Winter Olympic Games).

Both initiatives have a common denominator, that of sharing LCA as a tool to account for the direct and indirect environmental impact, thus demonstrating that today more than ever the attention towards LCA and the issues linked to Life Cycle Thinking are in strong expansion. This has brought about an increase in the number of case-studies and research projects at both a corporate a public level, as well as an increase in degrees, doc, post-doc and theses in the academic world. However, more significant is the growth of ecological labelling for products in order to raise environmental communication and awareness. The European Commission dealing with environmental issues and with the promotion of practices of corporate environmental managing has adopted policies that have assisted the development of this trend. A recent noteworthy European Commission initiative is the “European Sustainable Development Strategy” (EU SDS) aimed at identifying and implementing guiding policies for the development of production and consumption from a sustainable point of view.

As can be seen from the cover, the volume is also distinguished by the project logo “Impatto Zero” given its involvement to the carbon dioxide emission compensation project, promoted by the previously mentioned Lifegate. This adhesion is a characteristic embracing all books of Edizioni Ambiente falling under the same series of publications.

At its core, this project foresees the quantification of the carbon footprint, that is the greenhouse gas emissions throughout the lifecycle of a product/service in order to calculate its GWP (Global Warming Potential), as well as the consequent compensations by employing various mechanisms, mainly amongst which are reforestation projects or the safeguard of forest areas for a certain number of years.

As in the case of the example cited in figure 3, the project at case in point regards a program of voluntary adhesion to the mechanisms of carbon credit procurement, as foreseen by the Kyoto Protocol for greenhouse gas reduction, undergoing a greater spreading over the last few years. As example of the utility of this program we are able to mention a concrete example of carbon emission compensation carried out at the end of 2007 by the italian delegation led by Environmental Minister Pecoraro Scanio, which used this method to compensate the greenhouse gas emissions deriving from the mission to Bali in occasion of the UN climate conference.

As for what concerns our text, the quantification of the carbon footprint occurs during the entire production cycle of the paper (be it either from unprocessed fibres or recycled pulp), allowing for the book’s prompt availability.

The description of the book’s production cycle (as like any other product/service that seeks to adhere to the LifeGate project) is fully and accurately detailed and rigorously applies the LCA methodology therefore, encompassing all steps in production: aside from the production of paper, the printing, binding, transportation, etc.

Specific calculus models (that will be described in detail further on in the text) are employed in order to organize this description in operating models, also fulfilling the quantification of all factors that concern the greenhouse gas emission for the production of every single book, that is, energy consumption (prime factor), the direct or indirect emissions of the examined processes (including transportation) as well as taking into account product final destination upon life cycle conclusion (dump, recycling plant or thermal valorisation).

Once the GWP of the book concerned has been established, the next step is to undertake an assessment of the compensation modalities, which can greatly vary in nature. Interesting and conscious-orientated measures can be embodied, for example, in the acquisition of many acres of woodlands certified as capable of absorbing through photosynthesis the same amount of carbon dioxide in a certain timeframe or in the use of sources of renewable energy. The costs connected per ton of carbon dioxide to compensate therefore greatly differentiate (GWP is measured in equivalent mass of carbon dioxide, see chapter 9).

The new manual proposes a rich section dealing with methodologies. This section has been revised and expanded with new references that will allow the reader to appreciate the applicability of LCA analysis to complex systems. Moreover, the same methodology can be used as a scientific ground for the obtainment of acknowledgements (certifications) of environmental nature, as well as observe its employment as support to methods strictly of an engineering calibre while looking for eco-compatible solutions during the design phase.

With this in mind, the picture in figure 5 portrays an Alpine shelter in Val d’Aosta (Italy) that has undergone full renovation based on LCS orientated solutions in order to devise its power generation systems from renewable sources. Particular attention was placed on the best-possible suitability of these sources in regards to the local climatic conditions and use with the best level of eco-efficiency and lifecycle.

Still today, the construction field is a very fertile ground for the application of an integrated approach of “LCA and design”. The example illustrated in figure 5 confirms an effective implementation in architecture and building realization.

The more careful reader will have noticed the attempt of simplifying these themes, which at their technical features can get quite complex, in order to raise public awareness on issues linked to measures promoting and facilitating environmental sustainability.

Let us not forget that eco-sustainability is always taking a greater part in driving businesses. The corporate world across the globe is modifying its practices to the standards of green businesses in order to face the new challenges of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). More so, the integration of “green” policies into company practices is fundamental for business development.

Leading corporations are forming organizations with strong sustainable goals. More than 180 international companies have joined the World Business Council for Sustainable Development based in Geneva, Switzerland, an organization committed to environmentally responsible economic growth. One current council initiative will identify practical strategies to construct buildings that consume “zero net energy”.

However, sustainability also touches our personal lives in a concrete manner. Developed countries are more and more adopting a “green attitude”, choosing products and services that take into account eco-sustainability based on LCA. Official statistics show that most consumers are willing to pay a bit extra for eco-friendly products, placing noticeable interest on product processing and ingredients origin. This need has given rise to the practice of eco-labelling.

The in-depth reference section of the text dedicated to eco-labelling there is a great deal of space regarding Environmental Product Declaration and Climate Declaration that in the last three years (2005-2008) have registered a consistent increase of participations, as well as the birth of groups both on a CEN scale and on a nationwide scale, such as the TC 350 “Sustainability of construction works”.

In regards to the presentation of the design methodology of eco-compatible design through the Mike Ashby method for materials selection, greater space is dedicated to the Eco-selector platform by making use of actual applications that in the meantime have been stimulated by the introduction of the Directive EuPs (2005/32/CE).

In conclusion, with the guiding intention of simplifying the text for a more rapid consultation, space is set aside for single projects as pragmatic and punctual examples of applications. Such highlighting examples are found throughout the entire length of the text and hope to provide immediate on-hands understanding. More so, complete summarizing tables that assume the form of boxes providing in-depth information assure overall specifications consultation.

The closing pages of the volume contain a consistent and renewed bibliography and site index with references that allow the identification of the roots belonging to the methodologies illustrated and the undertaking of any in-depth research through texts both acknowledged and esteemed among the involved parties. The reader shall also find a glossary that embraces the more common terms, in addition to an index of consultable websites containing the most updated information regarding the issue.

The description of the “Boustead Model” software for the execution of the LCA analysis, as that by “Cambridge Engineering Selector” (material selection software during project design, also available as Eco-selector platform) conclude the text as always, in order to continuously provide the reader a closer look at the tools employed for the execution of the case studies illustrated.

 

The Authors

Gian Luca Baldo, engineer and research doctorate, has dealt with the improvement of eco-compatible tools for processes and products since the start of the 90s. He is a professor at the Politecnico di Torino as well as in other Academic Institutions of Higher Education in post-grad and/or specialization courses. Along with Massimo Marino (environmental engineer and research doctorate) he founded the company Life Cycle Engineering (LCE), specialized in the application of tools for eco-sustainability described in this text.

Stefano Rossi, mechanical engineer and materials expert is the head of eco-design development in the afore mentioned company.

Thanks to the following for their participation in this book’s new edition: Emanuela Esposito, Leonardo Maffia, Marco Montani, Laura Peano, Simona Taborelli, Dario Toso and Vincent Lemma.