ABSTRACT
Life Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA), the methodology for estimating all the costs associated with a product over its entire life cycle, is perfectly suited to the “cradle to grave” approach that must characterize environmental product design. Precisely because of this life cycle approach, with an appropriately oriented Life Cycle Cost Analysis it is possible to quantify all the environmental costs resulting from the product-system. Some essential differences between the economic and environmental analysis of the life cycle have, however, led to a traditional separation in the study of the two aspects. In the specifi c context of design, this separation can be held responsible for the absence of a clear vision of the relationships between economic and environmental performances resulting from different design alternatives. This lack of vision has resulted in the limited relevance so far given to Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in decision making.
