ABSTRACT
Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a tool that was developed by engineers and is used for industrial ecology to develop an understanding of environmental impact throughout a life cycle, particularly since the 1990s. Data requirements can be quite extensive and there is a lack of data and tools for LCA application. The LCA process consists of several steps and has now been standardized by the International Standards Organization. LCA analyses are difficult to perform for newly developed technologies. Social life cycle assessment examines the social and socioeconomic impact assessment of products and processes. Sustainability analysis tools need to be more advanced than LCA, as they must integrate all components of sustainability, social and economic, in addition to the environmental of LCA. Simplified versions of LCA can be used in the early design stages whereas a full LCA can be performed when the design is almost complete.
