Joost G. Vogtländer

Communicating the eco-efficiency of products and services by means of the eco-costs/value model

Abstract At the Delft University of Technology, a new model has been developed to describe the sustainability of products, the ‘EVR model’. This model comprises two concepts: • the ‘virtual eco-costs’ as a LCA-based single indicator for environmental impact • the EVR (Eco-costs/Value Ratio) as an indicator for eco-efficiency In this publication, an experiment is described to test whether the EVR model leads to a good understanding of the eco-efficiency, of a product–service combination. In this experiment three separate groups of 8-11 people were asked to rank four alternative solutions of a product–service system (the after sales service and the maintenance service of an induction plate cooker) both in terms of sustainability and of general preference. The three respective groups were: • customers (among whom representatives of consumer organizations) • business representatives from the manufacturing company of the induction plate cookers • governmental representatives (employees of the Dutch ministries of environmental affairs and economic affairs, and of the Dutch provinces as well as consultants involved in governmental policies), all experts in the field of sustainability The basic idea was to ask each group to rank the four alternatives after three levels of information input: Level 1: basic explanation of the four alternatives. Some major features and characteristics such as price were given, but no environmental data. Level 2: on explanation of an LCA of the four alternatives, given in nine impact classes and the Eco-indicator 95. Level 3: an explanation of the EVR model and the EVR data of the four alternatives. Each time the group was asked to rank the proposed alternatives in terms of expected environmental performance and of ‘best choice in general’ (‘Which system would you have bought in a real life situation?’). From the experiments it can be concluded that: • The concept of eco-costs was accepted by the majority of the non-experts: they based their ranking on it. and they preferred it rather than direct LCA output or the damage based eco-indicator 95 data. • The environmental experts in the governmental group did not directly accept the concept of eco-costs model (they wanted in depth information first); they tended to stick to their existing knowledge of LCA data and the Eco-indicator 95. • ‘Overall’ preferences of the customers and business representatives were primarily ranked on the ‘perceived value’/costs ratio of the product–service combination; the sustainability of the product–service combination played a secondary role.

The virtual eco-costs ‘99 A single LCA-based indicator for sustainability and the eco-costs-value ratio (EVR) model for economic allocation

AbstractIn literature, many models (qualitatively as well as quantitatively) can be found to cope with the problem of communicating results of LCA analyses with decision takers. In a previous article of this Journal, an LCA-based single indicator for emissions is proposed: the ‘virtual pollution prevention costs ‘99’ (Vogtländer et al. 2000a).In this article, a single LCA-based indicator for sustainability is proposed. It builds on the virtual pollution prevention costs ‘99 for emissions, and adds the other two main aspects of sustainability: material depletion and energy consumption. This single indicator, the ‘virtual eco-costs ‘99’, is the sum of the marginal prevention costs of:Material depletion, applying ‘material depletion costs’, to be reduced by recyclingEnergy consumption, applying ‘eco-costs of energy’ being the price of renewable energyToxic emissions, applying the ‘virtual pollution prevention costs ‘99’ The calculation model includes ‘direct’ as well as ‘indirect’ environmental impacts. The main groups of ‘indirect’ components in the life cycle of products and services are:Labour (the environmental impacts of office heating, lighting, computers, commuting, etc.)production assets (equipment, buildings, transport vehicles, etc.) To overcome allocation problems of the indirect components of complex product-service systems, a methodology of economic allocation has been developed, based on the so called Eco-costs/ Value Ratio (EVR) model.This EVR calculation model appears to be a practical and powerful tool to assess the sustainability of a product, a service, or a product-service combination.

Characterizing the change of land-use based on flora: application for EIA and LCA

Abstract The environmental impact of land-use can be expressed in terms of a change in biodiversity of flora. We present two models that characterize the negative effects of land-use: a model on the basis of species richness; a model on the basis of the rarity of ecosystems and their vascular plants. Each of those models may serve in the EIA (environmental impact assessment) of the urban and rural planning of expanding cities, industrial areas, road infrastructure, etc. Moreover, these models might be applied by Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) practitioners to incorporate the aspect of land-use in the environmental assessment of a specific product design. The results of both models have been applied in practice. Maps of The Netherlands are provided for both models. The map based on the rarity of ecosystems differentiates the best of what experts (biologists and ecologists) define as botanical quality of nature; the methodology is operational in The Netherlands and might be applied to other countries as well, however, detailed botanical information is required. The map based on species richness has a weaker compliance with the botanical quality of nature, however, the model can more easily be applied to a wider area of the world, since indicative data about species richness is available on a global scale. The so called ‘eco-costs of land conversion’ is proposed as a single indicator, being the marginal costs of prevention (or compensation) of the negative environmental effects on biodiversity caused by change of land-use. These ‘eco-costs of land conversion’ for the botanical aspects are part of the much broader model of the eco-costs/value ratio, which has recently been published in this journal [Vogtlander et al., Journal of Cleaner Production 2002;10:57–671] .

Allocation in recycling systems

Abstract‘Design for Recycling’ and dematerialization by enhancing the durability of products are major aspects of the quest for sustainable products. This article presents an LCA-based model for the integrated analyses of the product chain, its recycling systems, and its waste treatment systems at the ‘End of Life’ stage. The model is an extension of the EVR (Eco-costs/Value Ratio) model which has been published in this journal (Vogtländer et al. 2001), but can also be applied to other life cycle interpretation models, since the model as such is not restricted to the use of the eco-costs as a single indicator. The model has been developed to evaluate the design alternatives of complex products like buildings and cars. These products comprise several subsystems, each with its own special solution at the End of Life stage: Extending of the product life, object renovation, re-use of components, re-use of materials, useful application of waste materials, immobilization with and without useful applications, incineration with and without energy recovery, land fill.Since complex product systems always comprise a combination of these design alternatives, a methodology is given to calculate and allocate the eco-costs of the total system in order to select the best solution for sustainability. The methodology is characterized by:•A main allocation model of the recycling flow based on physical relationships,•a strict separation of the market value, the costs and the ecocosts in the system,•a main allocation model for extension of lifetime based on ‘depreciation of eco-costs’, parallel to economic depreciation.

Carbon sequestration in LCA, a proposal for a new approach based on the global carbon cycle; cases on wood and on bamboo

PurposeThere are many recent proposals in life cycle assessment (LCA) to calculate temporary storage of carbon in bio-based products. However, there is still no consensus on how to deal with the issue. The main questions are: how do these proposals relate to each other, to what extent are they in line with the classical LCA method (as defined in ISO 14044) and the global mass balances as proposed by the IPCC, and is there really a need to introduce a discounting system for delayed CO2 emissions?MethodsThis paper starts with an analysis of the widely applied specification of PAS 2050 and the ILCD Handbook, both specifying the credit for carbon sequestration as ‘optional’ in LCA. From this analysis, it is concluded that these optional calculations give rather different results compared to the baseline LCA method. Since these optional calculations are not fully in line with the global carbon mass balances, a new calculation method is proposed. To validate the new method, two cases (one on wood and one bamboo products) are given. These cases show the practical application and the consequences of the new approach. Finally, the main issue is evaluated and discussed: is it a realistic approach to allocate less damage to the same emission, when it is released later in time?Results and discussionThis paper proposes a new approach based on the global carbon cycle and land-use change, translated to the level of individual products in LCA. It is argued that only a global growth of forest area and a global growth of application of wood in the building industry contribute to extra carbon sequestration, which might be allocated as a credit to the total market of wood products in LCA. This approach is different from approaches where temporary storage of carbon in trees is directly allocated to a product itself.ConclusionsIn the proposed approach, there seems to be no need for a discounting system of delayed CO2 emissions. The advantage of wood and wood-based products can be described in terms of land-use change on a global scale in combination with a credit for heat recovery at the end-of-life (if applicable).

The ‘Virtual Pollution Prevention Costs ‘99’

PreambleIn literature, many models (qualitatively as well as quantitatively) can be found to cope with the problem of communicating results of LCA analyses with decision takers. Most models translate data on emissions in a single indicator, using a classification and charac-terisation step. More than 30 of these models have been looked at, 14 of which have been studied in detail. From these analyses, it was concluded that there is still a need for further development.

Wood Acetylation: A Potential Route Towards Climate Change Mitigation

Climate change is increasingly acknowledged as a threat to human society. In the global warming debate, the role of forests and wood products increasingly gains attention considering their important impact – both negative and positive – through deforestation, forest conservation, afforestation and increasing application of wood in durable (construction) products acting as carbon sink. A promising route enabling legally and sustainably sourced non-durable temperate wood species to be used in high performance applications is through large scale non-toxic wood modification, of which acetylation is one of the leading methods. To gain a better understanding of the difference in greenhouse gas emissions of acetylated scots pine, tropical hardwood (azobe) and non-renewable materials (steel, concrete), this study first presents the emissions in terms of kg CO2 equivalent based on a cradleto-gate scenario. Since the cradle-to-gate assessment excludes relevant use-phase and end-of-life related aspects, the second part of this study takes the production results as input for an assessment of the full life cycle (cradle-to-grave) with the bearing structure of a typical pedestrian bridge as fair unit of comparison for all material alternatives. The results show that acetylated wood has a considerably lower carbon footprint than steel, concrete and unsustainably sourced azobe, and slightly lower than sustainably sourced azobe. Because of the limited emissions during production and carbon credits related to carbon sequestration as a result of land-use change and bio-energy production during the end-of-life phase, all sustainably sourced wood alternatives, including acetylated wood, show CO2 negative LCA results over the full life cycle.

Materials and Design: Investigating the Durability of Cork Products – a Longitudinal Study with Users

This paper investigates the life-span of cork products, and how the knowledge from use enables to learn about the material. This is accomplished through a longitudinal approach with users; several cork products are being used, and interviews are performed. In general, users are satisfied with the products, and the specific appreciation of aspects such as performance, quality and aesthetics is also good or very good. Main differences observed are dirt and other visual changes, and at this moment (three months) the life-span of the cork products is good, and the use of the material can be considered appropriate.