International Industrial Ecology Day 2021

Welcome to the Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) Section! The section board has prepared some material for display during the IE day. For more info about the section's scope and activities, visit https://is4ie.org/sections/lifecycle

News from the board

• The LCSA section is running a special issue in the Journal of Industrial Ecology on “Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)”. We welcome submissions on the development and/or application of LCSA-based indicators that are relevant for policy and planning purposes by a variety of stakeholders within the framework of the SDGs. The details of the call for papers can be found here: https://jie.yale.edu/life-cycle-sustainability-assessment-sustainable-development-goals Full manuscript submission deadline: 15 October 2021.
•  LCSA Teaching Resources. The LCSA section hosted a small survey of LCSA members to gather information on LCSA courses and course materials used in higher education. The survey results and teaching resources can be found at: https://is4ie.org/sections/lifecycle/pages/36
• LCSA methodology is being increasingly applied and developed, as charted in a past special issue in the Journal of Industrial Ecology: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/15309290/2017/21/6

 Recent publications:

• Lan, K., S., Kelley, S., Nepal, P., and Y. Yao (2020). Dynamic Life Cycle Carbon and Energy Analysis for Cross-Laminated Timber in the Southern U.S. Environmental Research Letters. 15, 124036. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abc5e6
• Echeverria, D., R. Venditti, H. Jameel and Y. Yao (2021). A general Life Cycle Assessment framework for sustainable bleaching: A case study of peracetic acid bleaching of wood pulp. Journal of Cleaner Production. 290: 125854. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.125854
• Feng, H., Hewage, K., Sadiq, R. (2021). Exploring the current challenges and emerging approaches in whole building life cycle assessment. Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering. DOI:10.1139/cjce-2020-0284.
• Feng, H., Liyanage, DR., Karunathilake, H., Sadiq, R., and Hewage, K. (2020). BIM-based life cycle environmental performance assessment of single-family houses: Renovation and reconstruction strategies for aging building stock in British Columbia. Journal of Cleaner Production. 250: 119543. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.119543.
• Subramanian, K., Chopra, S. S., & Ashton, W. S. (2021). Capital‐based life cycle sustainability assessment: Evaluation of potential industrial symbiosis synergies. Journal of Industrial Ecology.
• Pena, C., Civit, B., Gallego-Schmid, A., Druckman, A., Caldeira-Pires, A., Weidema, B., ... & Motta, W. (2021). Using life cycle assessment to achieve a circular economy. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 26(2), 215-220.

 Recent projects:

• The Big Climate Database (https://denstoreklimadatabase.dk/en): The Big Climate Database from CONCITO, Denmark’s green think tank, gives companies, authorities and the public free access to life cycle assessments of the climate impact of 500 of the most common food products on the Danish market.
• Getting the data right (https://www.en.plan.aau.dk/getting-the-data-right/): The project will provide a globally unique tool for quantitative assessment of the climate effects of decision alternatives, popularly speaking ‘a climate footprint generator’, and a mechanism to ensure its continuous updating. The project expands the detail, coverage and applicability of the currently most advanced hybrid input‐output database, brings the data up‐to‐date, and provides public access to work of previous research projects.