Mastering LCA and eco-design

Ecodesign involves designing a product in such a way as to minimize the impact of its use and end-of-life on the environment. To be effective, this multi-criteria approach requires tools that must be handled with great rigor. So you need to be trained.

Eco-design requires an upstream Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), a method sometimes mistakenly referred to as an “ecobalance”, which goes further than a simple carbon footprint. It measures greenhouse gas emissions at different stages in an object’s life. When applied to the manufacture of newspapers, for example, the carbon footprint does not take into account the origin of the paper or the quality of the inks, which are decisive factors in determining whether a product is environmentally friendly. LCA inventories all material and energy flows in and out of a product at every stage of its life cycle: extraction of raw materials, manufacturing, distribution, use and end-of-life.

These data make it possible to determine which stages have the greatest impact, and to identify which ecological indicators they degrade the most: soil acidification, CO2 emissions, water eutrophication, depletion of natural resources, etc. As a result, a major sporting goods retailer realized that the main CO2 impact of its trekking down jacket came from… the dyeing of the inner lining. An innovative weaving process, mixing a black yarn with an undyed one, has reduced CO2 emissions by 40%.

LCA and eco-design: three standards to be familiar with

The eco-design approach involves a trade-off between economic and environmental costs, as well as between different environmental impacts. For example, insulating a building reduces its energy consumption during use. However, insulation work requires materials, transport and energy. Lifecycle thinking therefore makes it possible to determine whether the effect produced is really positive or negative.

Whether you’re a product manager, marketing manager, environmental engineer (R&D or production), designer or independent consultant, there are training courses to help you discover, understand and appropriate the LCA method and eco-design. In fact, these two approaches cannot be improvised. Implementing effective solutions requires the use of many specific tools, principles and reasoning, such as multi-criteria analysis and functional unity. It also involves the use of specialized software and databases.

Competence in this area also requires a thorough knowledge of voluntary standards:

• ISO 14040 presents the general LCA approach and its various stages;
• ISO 14044 focuses on the stage of assessing and prioritizing environmental impacts;
• the NF X30-264 standard provides guidelines for implementing an eco-design approach