US EPA

5038580 

Book/Book Chapter 

Overview of Goal and Scope Definition in Life Cycle Assessment 

Curran, MAnn 

2017 

LCA Compendium-The Complete World of Life Cycle Assessment 

1-62 

10.1007/978-94-024-0855-3_1 

WOS:000417720600002 

This chapter describes the goal and scope definition phase of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) including how to properly define the goal of an LCA, which then leads to defining the scope and boundaries of the system to be assessed. The chapter explores goals through various applications of LCA in the public and private sectors. It goes on to explore the connections between requirements for critical review, the approach to conducting impact assessment, and the interpretation phase of LCA. In the goal and scope definition phase of an ISO-standardized LCA, the purpose of the assessment is established and decisions are made about the details of the product system being studied. The goal and scope are defined at the outset of the study, before any data are collected. The importance of this first phase according to ISO 14040 and 14044 is often underestimated as it is much more than a simple introduction to the LCA process. It is a very important phase of LCA methodology because this is where the exact approach to be followed is determined. However, the goal, as well as the scope, can be modified during the course of the work as data are collected and new information is revealed, e.g., it may be discovered that the proposed co-product allocation scheme does not work, not enough data are available to assemble a full life cycle inventory, etc. Such modifications should be (and in some cases, have to be) described transparently in the data spreadsheets and final report. The rules given by the standards are intentionally loose to allow for a variety of possibilities to be defined in the goal and scope. Items to be defined in the goal and scope definition phase include the functional unit, system boundaries, data granularity reflecting process-specificity or genericness (i.e. foreground or background) data, exclusion of life cycle stages or inputs, and the selection of impact indicators and characterization factors. 

Attributional LCA; Consequential LCA; Critical review; Functional unit; Goal; Government decision making; Home/office delivery water; Interpretation; ISO 14040; ISO 14044; ISO/TR 14049; ISO/TS 14071; ISO/TS 14072; LCA; LCI; LCIA; LCA framework; Life cycle assessment; Life cycle impact assessment; Life cycle inventory analysis; Product manufacturer decision making; Scope