Life Cycle Thinking/Life Cycle Phase

Abstract

The economic model that has characterised the last 150 years is the so-called “linear model” and the extraction of new material and its decommissioning has led to the current climate crisis. Life Cycle Thinking (LCT) is an approach that looks for strategies to reduce the impact and the consumption of resources by goods and services throughout their entire cycle. LCT is needed to operate even where environmental impacts are forgotten, such as transitory residence situations like tourism, reception buildings for migrants, student/worker accommodation, and social housing. These buildings are rarely renovated and they are often at the end of their natural life, but are used again as a residence, giving rise to a new cycle with its own impact. Each type of approach based on the concept of life cycle provides for interventions, with precise purposes, differentiated for each single phase of an object. In this cycle, the phases alternate one after another, in a continuous transformation of matter and energy that leads to the creation and use of goods and services, and each phase brings with it a profound change in the conditions set in place in the previous one. Similarly, the life of each individual can also be divided into stages, with the most varied characteristics and facets, which mark the passage of years. For sustainable development, it is necessary to be aware that every phase of life of a good or person has an impact and must be studied and adjusted to minimise it.