Allan Astrup Jensen

A Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Building Insulation Products made of Stone Wool, Paper Wool and Flax Part 1: Background, Goal and Scope, Life Cycle Inventory, Impact Assessment and Interpretation

Preamble. Insulation of buildings is an important technology for saving heating energy and for a sustainable development. The results of a comparative LCA study of three insulation products applied for roof insulation are summarised in two parts. The products selected are based on HT stone wool representing traditional products - flax representing crop grown products and paper wool representing recycled products, respectively. Although the three materials have vastly different life cycles, they yet fulfil the same function; the methodology used should be of general interest. Part 1 of the paper contains the project background, the goal and scope definition and three life cycle assessments for the three individual products, with a detailed inventory analysis, impact assessment, sensitivity analysis and interpretation. The actual comparison of the results from the three individual life cycle assessments is presented in Part 2. An attempt is made to answer the question of whether the biological products flax and paper wool are more environmentally preferable than the mineral product stone wool representing more traditional insulation materials. In general, paper wool has the lowest global and regional environmental impacts, and flax insulation the highest, with stone wool falling in between. A notable exception is the total energy use, where stone wool has the lowest consumption followed by cellulose and flax. The study also addresses occupational health issues using an approach similar to that for risk assessment. Here, the less biopersistent HT stone wool products are seen to be the safest alternatives, because of a low potential for exposure, sufficient animal testing, and the obvious absence of carcinogenic properties. It must be recognised that insulation of buildings saves more than 100 times the environmental impacts associated with the production and disposal of the products used for insulation. Compared to that and the inherent uncertainties in the LCA, the differences between the investi- gated products are of minor environmental significance. Therefore, the main conclusion demonstrated in the study is that the quality and fitness of an insulation product is the most important aspect in the life cycle of insulation materials. Abstract Insulation of buildings in order to save heating energy is an important technology for enabling sustainable development. This paper summarises the results of a comparative LCA study according to ISO 14040 standard series of HT stone wool, flax representing crop grown products and paper wool repre- senting recycled products applied for roof insulation. As the three materials have vastly different lifecycles, yet fulfil the same function cycles, the methodology used should be of gen- eral interest. Part 1 consists of the project background, goal and scope definition, a detailed life cycle inventory analysis with sensitivity analysis, impact assessment and interpretation. The actual comparison of the results from the life cycle assess- ments of the three products, in which an attempt is made to answer the question of whether the biological products flax and paper wool are more environmentally preferable than the mineral product stone wool representing more traditional in- sulation materials, is discussed in Part 2.

A comparative life cycle assessment of building insulation products made of stone wool, paper wool and flax: Part 2: comparative assessment

Insulation of buildings in order to save heating energy is an important technology for enabling sustainable development. This paper summarises the results of a comparative LCA study according to ISO 14040 standard series of HT stone wool, flax representing crop grown products and paper wool representing recycled products applied for roof insulation. As the three materials have vastly different lifecycles, yet fulfil the same function cycles, the methodology used should be of general interest. Part 1 consists of the project background, goal and scope definition, a detailed life cycle inventory analysis with sensitivity analysis, impact assessment and interpretation. The actual comparison of the results from the life cycle assessments of the three products, in which an attempt is made to answer the question of whether the biological products flax and paper wool are more environmentally preferable than the mineral product stone wool representing more traditional insulation materials, is discussed in Part 2.

Life cycle management: UNEP-workshop

On August 30, 2001, the first in a series of planned global workshops on Life Cycle Management was organized in Copenhagen by UNEP in cooperation with dk-TEKNIK. The workshop provided an international forum to share experiences on LCM. The specific purpose of the workshop was to define the focus of a possible UNEP programme on Life Cycle Management under the UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Initiative. Life Cycle Management has been defined by the SETAC Europe Working Group on LCM as an integrated framework of concepts, techniques and procedures to address environmental, economic, technological and social aspects of products and organizations to achieve continuous environmental improvement from a life cycle perspective. Life Cycle Management has been requested as an additional component for the Life Cycle Initiative by business organizations as well as governments in order to provide practical approaches for management systems in this area. The breakout groups of the workshop focussed on the role of integrating environmental management practices, concepts and tools in a life cycle perspective, on the integration of socio-economic aspects of sustainability in life cycle approaches, including the definition of adequate indicators for these aspects, on the communication strategies to promote life cycle thinking, and on the demand side of LCA. The workshop closed with a consensus that the UNEP/ SETAC Life Cycle Initiative should really include a programme on Life Cycle Management with the proposed areas of work. UNEP in cooperation with SETAC should function as a global catalyser of knowledge transfer and cooperation on life cycle approaches. The key issue behind all activities would be the promotion of Life Cycle Thinking since all break-out groups mentioned the importance of well-prepared communication strategies. Another interesting outcome of the workshop is the clear interest of different stakeholders in the consideration of social and institutional effects of products, in addition to environmental and economic impacts, i.e. a sustainable development perspective.

Life Cycle Management: Implementing Sustainability in Business Practice

Life cycle management is a business management concept applied in industrial and service sectors to improve products and services, while enhancing the overall sustainability performance of the business and its value chains. Life cycle thinking and product sustainability is operational for businesses that are ambitious and committed to reducing their environmental and socio-economic burden while maximizing economic and social value. In this regard, life cycle management is used beyond short-term business success and aims at long-term achievements. The term “life cycle management” has been confused with other uses in engineering and manufacturing (product life cycle management) and in software development (application life cycle management), in buildings, plants, information management and so on. There is a need to clarify this term and its definition more than a decade since the concept was first introduced. This chapter aims at elaborating the concept and definitions of life cycle management as currently found in literature and as extending it from focusing on implementation of life cycle sustainability assessment into business practice to include it as part of sustainable consumption and production strategies and policies. Methods and tools used and the general framework for life cycle sustainability management covering environmental, social and economic aspects in business practices are discussed in detail.

How to Implement Life Cycle Management in Business

This chapter discusses how business can implement life cycle sustainability assessment into their management strategies. Life cycle management is a management approach that provides business a systematic way of managing their sustainability issues. The PDCA (Plan, Do, Check and Act) cycle is one of the quality management tools that can be used by companies to implement life cycle management initiatives in order to improve their sustainability performance. The relevance of the PDCA cycle is discussed to ensure a continuous performance improvement by setting and implementing a well-defined plan, checking whether the ambition goals are achieved or any adjustment actions are needed to continue the evaluation process.