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FRAMEWORK FOR RESPONSIBLE ENVIRONMENTAL DECISION-MAKING (FRED): USING LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT TO EVALUATE PREFERABILITY OF PRODUCTS
Citation:
Science Applications International Corporation, Research Triangle Institute, EcoSense, Inc., AND Five Winds International. FRAMEWORK FOR RESPONSIBLE ENVIRONMENTAL DECISION-MAKING (FRED): USING LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT TO EVALUATE PREFERABILITY OF PRODUCTS. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/600/R-00/095, 2000.
Impact/Purpose:
Information.
Description:
Framework for Responsible Environmental Decision-Making (FRED) demonstrates how the life-cycle concept can be used to quantify competing products' environmental performance so that this information may be integrated with considerations of total ownership cost and technical performance. Specifically, this report describes how life cycle assessment (referred to as the FRED LCA approach) can be applied to determine and compare the environmental and human health impacts of competing products. This report provides guidance on how to conduct a relative comparison between product types to determine environmental preferability. It identifies data collection needs and issues; and describes how to calculate numeric impact indicators for a given product or service across eight human health and environmental impact categories: Global Climate Change, Stratospheric Ozone Depletion, Acidification, Photochemical Smog Formation, Eutrophication, Human Health, Ecological Health, and Resource Depletion. Case studies were conducted on motor oil, wall insulation, and asphalt coating to evaluate the process as well as the output.
URLs/Downloads:
600R00095.PDF (PDF, NA pp, 578 KB, about PDF)600R00095APP.PDF (PDF, NA pp, 302 KB, about PDF)