ISO/TC 207/SC 5 - Life cycle assessment

This document provides regional case studies of good practices in land management to prevent or minimize land degradation and desertification in support of ISO 14055-1:2017. The case studies are presented to facilitate the application of ISO 14055-1 across a wide of range of geographical and local conditions. NOTE The cases studies are presented as different ways of applying good practice and do not preclude alternative ways of applying good practices in accordance with ISO 14055-1.

ISO/TR 14073:2017 provides illustrative examples of how to apply ISO 14046, in order to assess the water footprint of products, processes and organizations based on life cycle assessment. The examples are presented to demonstrate particular aspects of the application of ISO 14046 and therefore do not present all of the details of an entire water footprint study report as required by ISO 14046.

ISO/TS 14072:2014 provides additional requirements and guidelines for an effective application of ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 to organizations. This Technical Specification details ? the application of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) principles and methodology to organizations, ? the benefits that LCA can bring to organizations by using LCA methodology at organizational level, ? the system boundary, ? specific considerations when dealing with LCI, LCIA, and interpretation, and ? the limitations regarding reporting, environmental declarations, and comparative assertions. This Technical Specification applies to any organization that has interest in applying LCA. It is not intended for the interpretation of ISO 14001 and specifically covers the goals of ISO 14040 and ISO 14044.

ISO 14046:2014 specifies principles, requirements and guidelines related to water footprint assessment of products, processes and organizations based on life cycle assessment (LCA). ISO 14046:2014 provides principles, requirements and guidelines for conducting and reporting a water footprint assessment as a stand-alone assessment, or as part of a more comprehensive environmental assessment. Only air and soil emissions that impact water quality are included in the assessment, and not all air and soil emissions are included. The result of a water footprint assessment is a single value or a profile of impact indicator results. Whereas reporting is within the scope of ISO 14046:2014, communication of water footprint results, for example in the form of labels or declarations, is outside the scope of ISO 14046:2014.

ISO/TS 14071:2014 provides additional specifications to ISO 14040:2006 and ISO 14044:2006. It provides requirements and guidelines for conducting a critical review of any type of LCA study and the competencies required for the review. ISO/TS 14071:2014 provides: details of a critical review process, including clarification with regard to ISO 14044:2006; guidelines to deliver the required critical review process, linked to the goal of the life cycle assessment (LCA) and its intended use; content and deliverables of the critical review process; guidelines to improve the consistency, transparency, efficiency and credibility of the critical review process; the required competencies for the reviewer(s) (internal, external and panel member); the required competencies to be represented by the panel as a whole. ISO/TS 14071:2014 does not cover the applications of LCA.

ISO/TR 14049:2012 provides examples about practices in carrying out a life cycle inventory analysis (LCI) as a means of satisfying certain provisions of ISO 14044:2006. These examples are only a sample of the possible cases satisfying the provisions of ISO 14044. They offer "a way" or "ways" rather than the "unique way" for the application of ISO 14044. These examples reflect only portions of a complete LCI study.

The purpose of ISO/TR 14047:2012 is to provide examples to illustrate current practice of life cycle impact assessment according to ISO 14044:2006. These examples are only a sample of all possible examples that could satisfy the provisions of ISO 14044. They offer "a way" or "ways" rather than the "unique way" of applying ISO 14044. They reflect the key elements of the life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) phase of the LCA. The examples presented in ISO/TR 14047:2012 are not exclusive and other examples exist to illustrate the methodological issues described.

ISO 14045:2012 describes the principles, requirements and guidelines for eco-efficiency assessment for product systems including: the goal and scope definition of the eco-efficiency assessment; the environmental assessment; the product-system-value assessment; the quantification of eco-efficiency; interpretation (including quality assurance); reporting; critical review of the eco-efficiency assessment. Requirements, recommendations and guidelines for specific choices of categories of environmental impact and values are not included. The intended application of the eco-efficiency assessment is considered during the goal and scope definition phase, but the actual use of the results is outside the scope of ISO 14045:2012.

ISO 14040:2006 describes the principles and framework for life cycle assessment (LCA) including: definition of the goal and scope of the LCA, the life cycle inventory analysis (LCI) phase, the life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) phase, the life cycle interpretation phase, reporting and critical review of the LCA, limitations of the LCA, the relationship between the LCA phases, and conditions for use of value choices and optional elements. ISO 14040:2006 covers life cycle assessment (LCA) studies and life cycle inventory (LCI) studies. It does not describe the LCA technique in detail, nor does it specify methodologies for the individual phases of the LCA. The intended application of LCA or LCI results is considered during definition of the goal and scope, but the application itself is outside the scope of this International Standard.

ISO 14044:2006 specifies requirements and provides guidelines for life cycle assessment (LCA) including: definition of the goal and scope of the LCA, the life cycle inventory analysis (LCI) phase, the life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) phase, the life cycle interpretation phase, reporting and critical review of the LCA, limitations of the LCA, relationship between the LCA phases, and conditions for use of value choices and optional elements. ISO 14044:2006 covers life cycle assessment (LCA) studies and life cycle inventory (LCI) studies.

This Technical Specification provides the requirements and a structure for a data documentation format, to be used for transparent and unambiguous documentation and exchange of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) data, thus permitting consistent documentation of data, reporting of data collection, data calculation and data quality, by specifying and structuring relevant information. The data documentation format specifies requirements on division of data documentation into data fields, each with an explanatory description. The description of each data field is further specified by the structure of the data documentation format. This Technical Specification is applicable to the specification and structuring of questionnaire forms and information systems. However, it can also be applied to other aspects of the management of environmental data. This Technical Specification does not include requirements on completeness of data documentation. The data documentation format is independent of any software or database platform for implementation. This Technical Specification does not require any specific sequential, graphic or procedural solutions for the presentation or treatment of data, nor does it describe specific modelling methodologies for LCI and LCA data.

ISO/TR 14073:2016 provides illustrative examples of how to apply ISO 14046, in order to assess the water footprint of products, processes and organizations based on life cycle assessment. The examples are presented to demonstrate particular aspects of the application of ISO 14046 and therefore do not present all of the details of an entire water footprint study report as required by ISO 14046. NOTE The examples are presented as different ways of applying ISO 14046 and do not preclude alternative ways of calculating the water footprint, provided they are in accordance with ISO 14046.

ISO/TR 14047:2003 provides examples to illustrate current practice in carrying out a life cycle impact assessment in accordance with ISO 14042. These are only examples of the total possible "ways" to satisfy the provisions of ISO 14042. They reflect the key elements of the life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) phase of the LCA. NOTE The examples presented in ISO/TR 14047:2003 are not exclusive; other examples exist to illustrate the methodological issues described.

Provides examples about practices in carrying out an Live Cycle Inventory analysis (LCI) as a means of satisfying certain provisions of ISO 14041. These examples are only a sample of the possible cases satisfying the provisions of the standard. They should be read as offering a way of ways rather than the unique way of applying the standard. Also they reflect only certain portions of a LCI study.