Abstract
The ISO-standard for LCA distinguishes four phases, of which the last one, the interpretation, is the least elaborated. It can be regarded as containing procedural steps (like a completeness check) as well as numerical steps (like a sensitivity check). This paper provides five examples of techniques that can be used for the numerical steps. These are the contribution analysis, the perturbation analysis, the uncertainty analysis, the comparative analysis, and the discernibility analysis. All five techniques are described at a non-technical level with respect to basic concept, possibilities, tabular and graphical representation, restriction and warnings, and all are illustrated with a simple example.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Burmaster DE, Anderson PD (1994): Principles of good practice for the use of Monte Carlo techniques in human health and ecological risk assessments. Risk Analysis 14 (4) 477–481
Consoli F, Allen D, Boustead I, Fava J, Franklin W, Jensen AA, de Oude N, Parrish R, Perriman R, Postlethwaite D, Quay B, Seguin J, Vigon B (1993): Guidelines for life-cycle assessment: a ‘Code of Practice’. Edition 1. SETAC, Brussels/Pensacola
Heijungs R, Guinée JB, Huppes G, Lankreijer RM, Udo de Haes HA, Wegener Sleeswijk A, Ansems AMM, Eggels PG, van Duin R, de Goede HP (1992): Environmental life cycle assessment of products. Backgrounds-October 1992. CML, Leiden
Heijungs R (1994): A generic method for the identification of options for cleaner products. Ecological Economics 10 (1) 69–81
ISO (1999): Environmental management-Life cycle assessment-Life cycle interpretation. FDIS 14043. ISO, Geneva
Huijbregts MAJ (1998): Application of uncertainty and variability in LCA. Part 11. Dealing with parameter uncertainty due to choices in life cycle assessment. International Journal of LCA 3 (6) 343–351
Johnson RA, Wichern DW (1992): Applied multivariate statistical analysis. Third edition. Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs
Morgan MG, Henrion M (1990): A guide to dealing with uncertainty in quantitative risk and policy analysis. Cambridge University Press, New York
Siegel S (1956): Non-parametric statistics for the behavioral sciences. Mc-Graw-Hill Book Company, Inc., New York
Vigon BW, Tolle DA, Cornaby BW, Latham HC, Harrison CL, Boguski TL, Hunt RG, Sellers JD (1993): Life-cycle assessment. Inventory guidelines and principles. EPA, Cincinatti
Weidema BP, Wesnaes MS (1996): Data quality management for life cycle inventories. An example of using data quality indicators. Journal of Cleaner Production 4 (3–4) 167–174
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Heijungs, R., Kleijn, R. Numerical approaches towards life cycle interpretation five examples. Int J LCA 6, 141–148 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02978732
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02978732