Life Cycle Assessment
LCA is a methodology to measure, evaluate & mitigate the environmental impact of a service or a product through every phase of its life, using a framework standardized by ISO 14044.
Goal: to create data & enable decision-makers to identify sustainable practices & opportunities for improvement. Types of LCA:
Cradle-to-grave
Cradle-to-gate
Cradle-to-cradle
Gate-to-gate
NZA’s approach to LCA
Initial Planning (system boundaries, project timeline) & kick-off meeting
Data Quality Checks (data validation & benchmarking)
Reporting (third-party report & client feedback)
Data Collection (e.g. questionnaire distribution)
Modeling & Analysis (LCA model creation, inventory analysis, impact assessment & presentation)
How does NZA collect data for LCA?
- Via data collection templates
- Level of detail depends on: data availability, time available for data collection, relevance of the data point, scope of the LCA
Sources of primary data: bills of materials, utility bills, meter readings, procurement records, waste inventories, equipment specs etc. Sources of secondary data: technical literature, journal papers etc.