Chris T. Hendrickson is the Duquesne Light Company Professor of Engineering, head of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, director of the Steinbrenner Institute for Environmental Engineering and Research, and co-director of the Green Design Institute at Carnegie Mellon University.

Lester B. Lave is the Harry B. and James H. Higgins Professor of Economics in the Carnegie Mellon Tepper School of Business and co-director of both the Electricity Industry Center and the Green Design Institute at Carnegie Mellon University.

H. Scott Matthews is the research director of the Green Design Institute and a faculty member in the departments of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University.

Klappentext

This is the first comprehensive guide to green design using economic input-output life cycle assessment (EIO-LCA) models. It is a must-have for companies trying to improve the environmental profile of their products and processes, for regulators attempting to quantify life cycle implications of products and services, and for students and scholars of green design.Environmental life cycle assessment is often thought of as "cradle to grave" and therefore as the most complete accounting of the environmental costs and benefits of a product or service. However, as anyone who has done an environmental life cycle assessment knows, existing tools have many problems: data is difficult to assemble and life cycle studies take months of effort. A truly comprehensive analysis is prohibitive, so analysts are often forced to simply ignore many facets of life cycle impacts. But the focus on one aspect of a product or service can result in misleading indications if that aspect is benign while other aspects pollute or are otherwise unsustainable. This book summarizes the EIO-LCA method, explains its use in relation to other life cycle assessment models, and provides sample applications and extensions of the model into novel areas. A final chapter explains the free, easy-to-use software tool available on a companion website. The software tool provides a wealth of data, summarizing the current U.S. economy in 500 sectors with information on energy and materials use, pollution and greenhouse gas discharges, and other attributes like associated occupational deaths and injuries.

Zusammenfassung
Summarizes the EIO-LCA method, explains its use in relation to other life cycle assessment models, and provides sample applications and extensions of the model into novel areas. This book is suitable for research, industry, and those in economics, engineering, or interdisciplinary classes in green design.

Inhalt

Preface
Section I: Introduction
Preface
Exploring Environmental Impacts and Sustainability Through Life Cycle Assessment
Hybrid LCA Analysis: Combining the EIO-LCA Approach with Other Models
Environmental Valuation for Life Cycle Assessment
Uncertainty in Estimating Effects
Using the Economic Input-Output Life Cycle Assessment Software
Section II: Example Applications
Preface
A Life Cycle Analysis of a Midsize Passenger Car
Comparison of Steel and Plastic Fuel Tank Systems for Automobiles
Effects of Using Nanotechnology to Stabilize Platinum Group Metal Particles in Automotive Catalysts
E-Commerce, Book Publishing and Retail Logistics
Construction Materials for Roads and Bridges
Environmental Impacts of Services
Life-cycle Assessment of Electricity Generation
Comparison of Energy Transportation Modes: Coal by Rail and Electricity Transmission
Life Cycle Assessment of Residential Buildings in the United States
Section III: Further Developments in the EIO-LCA Method
Preface
Occupational Safety Risks in an Input-Output Framework
Development of Regional Economic Input-Output Life-cycle Assessment Models
Canadian Economic Input-Output Life Cycle Assessment Model
Enterprise and Materials Flow Input-Output Analysis
References
Appendices:
I: Sectors and Outputs in the 1997 US Benchmark EIO-LCA
II: Some Alternative Model Forms for EIO-LCA
III: Disaggregation Options for Conducting Hybrid Life Cycle Assessments
IV: Uncertainty in Leontief Input-Output Equations: Some Numerical Examples
V. Potential Compliance of an LCA Study Conducted Using the EIO-LCA Model with the Requirements of ISO 14040, 14041, 14042 and 14043 Standards