ABSTRACT
LCA was first standardised as a process for environmental management in 1997, under the ISO 14040 and ISO 14041-42-43 standards, published between 1998 and 2000. The first two standards were then revised and substituted by ISO 14040:2006 and 14044:2006 (ISO 2006a, 2006b). The first describes the principles and framework of LCA, and the latter specifies requirements and provides guidelines for an LCA study. The methodology described in these standards is the backbone for any LCA-based study, applying equally to those that consider only single-issue approaches – such as carbon footprint (CF; see Chapter 11) and water footprint (WF; Chapter 12) – and to those addressing broader life cycle sustainability assessment, covering life cycle costing (LCC) and social LCA (Chapter 14), as well as organisational LCA (Chapter 15).
