Executive Order 13423 Technical Guidance - Life Cycle Assessment
Technical Guidance
Life-cycle assessment (LCA) provides a formal process of examining the environmental impacts of a material, product, or service through its entire life-cycle. Instead of a single-attribute analysis of a material's environmental impact, such as its recycled content, LCA takes an holistic approach to assess the possible impacts of materials throughout their respective life-cycles.
Life stages include extraction of raw materials, processing and fabrication, transportation, installation, use and maintenance, and reuse/recycling/disposal. ISO 14040 defines LCA as the compilation and evaluation of the inputs, outputs and the potential environmental impacts of a product system throughout its life cycle.
Additional Considerations
When available, use products for which ISO 14040-compliant life cycle assessment results have been made publicly available and that have more favorable life cycle environmental and economic performance when compared to competing products for the same use.
Major Resources
WBDG
Tools
Building for Enviromental and Economic Sustainability (BEES), ATHENA Environmental Impact Estimator
Resource Pages
Measuring Performance of Sustainable Buildings
