ISO 14044 Life Cycle Assessment Requirements and Guidelines Training

ISO 14040 sets out the principles and framework for life cycle assessment. ISO 14044 is the standard that tells you how to actually do one: the requirements and guidelines for defining goal and scope, building the inventory, assessing impacts, interpreting results and reporting them so the conclusions can be relied upon.

This course takes practitioners through a full LCA study to ISO 14044, including the requirements that apply when results are disclosed publicly and the critical review that comparative assertions demand.

Objectives

• Apply the four phases of an LCA in line with ISO 14040 and ISO 14044
• Define a goal and scope, functional unit and system boundary that fit the intended application
• Build a life cycle inventory and handle data quality, cut-off and allocation properly
• Carry out life cycle impact assessment and understand what each impact category does and does not tell you
• Interpret results, test them with sensitivity and uncertainty analysis, and report them honestly
• Understand the critical review requirements that apply to comparative assertions disclosed to the public

Course outline

• The LCA framework: goal and scope, inventory, impact assessment, interpretation
• Functional unit, reference flow and system boundary
• Data collection, data quality requirements and validation
• Allocation and the ISO 14044 allocation hierarchy: avoid, subdivide, expand, then allocate
• Life cycle impact assessment: classification, characterisation and the optional elements
• Interpretation: contribution, completeness, consistency and sensitivity checks
• Reporting requirements and limitations that must be stated
• Comparative assertions and the critical review panel
• Common errors that invalidate an LCA study

Who should attend

• Environmental and sustainability practitioners
• Product designers and development engineers
• EPD and carbon footprint practitioners
• Consultants carrying out or reviewing LCA studies
• Quality, HSE and compliance managers

Learning outcomes

Participants will be able to plan and conduct a life cycle assessment that meets the requirements of ISO 14044, judge the quality of an LCA carried out by someone else, and understand when a critical review is mandatory.