Getting a foot into Life Cycle Assessment

04 April 2011

Life Cycle Assessment is a cornerstone of any sustainable design project. Here is a brief introduction into the heady world of choosing the right material, for the right application, for the smallest environmental impact.

As an adviser into sustainable design and production in product development, I always get asked the same question from designers wanting to create ‘greener’ products – ‘what’s the most environmentally friendly material?’

Green material selection has become somewhat of the holy grail of sustainable design – always talked about, but never really ever found – and from a life cycle assessment (LCA) perspective the answer to ‘what material should I use’ is always ‘it depends’.