Spring - InsideOutdoor Magazine

Greensheets
Carbon Footprint 101
Part II: Preparing for a Life Cycle Assessment
by Ernest Shiwanov
In the last issue of Inside Outdoor (Winter 2008), we
covered the concept of carbon footprint and the tools used
to make that assessment (IO archives can be found at www.
insideoutdoor.com). Part II will cover what you probably will be
looking at in terms of dollars and time for your operation’s life
cycle assessment (LCA).
The good news is technological advances and recent
revisions in process LCAs and Economic Input Output LCAs
(EIO-LCAs) have made the process viable for just about any
level of business. Your LCA professional will guide you through
an evaluation of your business so you will know what level
of assessment would be appropriate. What follows is a brief
refresher on the LCAs and basic information on some of the
companies that are providing this service.
Let us begin by reviewing the three basic methods of
LCAs:
1. For process LCA or bottom-up LCA, ISO (International
Standards Organization) 14040-2006 and 14044-2006 is the
methodology.
2. Economic Input Output LCA (EIO-LCA) or top-down LCA is
based on the work of W. Leontief. It uses a general equilibrium
model that makes a simplified assumption regarding the
output of goods in a commodity sector and its proportional
relationships to other sectors. More and more, EIO-LCA
service providers are incorporating process LCA elements
into their analysis, if appropriate, for their clients.
3. Hybrid LCA, like the car that uses both gasoline and electricity,
runs on process LCA and EIO-LCA methodologies.
Process LCA
Five Winds International director John Heckman says that
Five Winds has done ISO 14040 conforming studies for under
$10,000 and in less than 30 days. He is quick to point out that
Five Winds also has undertaken studies that last several years
at cost commensurate with the commitment. Every business is
unique, so you can assume that your business probably will be
somewhere in between those two sets of circumstances.
As far as the nuts and bolts go, Heckman explains that the
starting point for an ISO 14040 study is the “goal and scope”
definition meeting with the client. He suggests if you want to see
what you need to prepare for an LCA, read ISO 14040 and 14044.
As it turns out, ISO 14040 and 14044 were simplified in 2006 to
make the standard more user friendly, cutting the amount of pages
nearly in half, resulting in ISO 14040-2006 and 14044-2006.
Heckman likens the standards to accounting rules for
mapping “all material and energy flows from cradle to end-oflife.
It’s very analogous to financial accounting, really.”
He goes on to say that the World Resources Institute (WRI)
and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development
(WBCSD) and ISO 14064.1-3 are on the same page in bringing
about carbon dioxide measurements. In fact, a quick check
revealed that ISO, WRI and WBCSD elected to jointly promote
both the ISO standards 14064 and WRI’s and WBCSD’s
GHG Protocol Initiative (GHG = greenhouse gas). Their first
promotional event was held at the UN Climate change meeting
last year in Bali.
On the differences between process LCAs and EIO-
LCAs, Heckman uses an analogy of a magnifying glass and a
microscope, “both being useful tools to a researcher.” However,
if you require the actual environmental impact analysis for the life
cycle of materials and their energy flow, and have the money to
do a complete study, process LCA is the most appropriate tool.
“There is no substitute for actual data,” he says.
Conscious Brands’ experience, meanwhile, lies in the organic
food and beverage industry. Guayaki (yerba matte tea, etc.) and
Manitoba Harvest are just two of Conscious Brands’ clients.
Rob Sinclair and Oliver Ferrari are the principle consultants that
have partnered with Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol
Initiative, see above), Zerofootprint and ISO 14040 in bringing
carbon mitigation strategies to their clients. A typical study will
take at least six months and cost around $10,000.
However, it is worth mentioning that both Sinclair and
Ferrari are on steering committees involved in the Carbon
Trust-sponsored British Standards Institution Publicly Available
Specification 2050 or BSI PAS 2050 standard.
According to the Carbon Trust Web site, “The PAS aims
to bridge the gap between the existing detailed (process
LCAs) and more general approaches (EIO-LCAs) and provide a
standardised, consistent method organisations can practically
use for measuring the GHG emissions embodied in products
and services.” The PAS 2050 standard has an egalitarian “for
the people, by the people” foundation, as Sinclair explains. It
was developed with the help of many businesses, industries
and thousands of individuals.
Despite this emerging hybrid LCA standard, Sinclair and
Ferrari feel there is a disconnect between the organic foods
consumers buy and the way carbon numbers relate to them.
For that reason, during the next six to 12 months, they will
be working on a method for taking the numbers derived from
the various assessment tools to the “next step.” That is a way
for consumers to get their hands around the meaning of GHG
mitigation. This effort will be represented in a scheme called
www.carbonlabels.org, a joint project by Conscious Brand’s
Sinclair and Ferrari and Zerofootprint. This initiative goes beyond
42 | InsideOutdoor | Spring 2008