Social Life-Cycle Assessment for Building Materials

2020 ◽  
pp. 217-250
Author(s):  
Liz Kutschke
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Sustainable Design ◽  
Social Performance ◽  
Performance Standards ◽  
Social Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Science Theory

The goal of sustainable design and development is threefold, including economic, environmental, and social sustainability. While there are well-established methods for assessing the economic and environmental performance of products and buildings, the determination of social performance is less clear. This chapter explores the emerging field of social life cycle assessment (S-LCA), particularly as it relates to building materials and construction. This chapter includes 1) an introduction to and overview of S-LCA, summarized case studies of S-LCA; 2) a discussion of the relevance of S-LCA in sustainable design practice and education; 3) an examination of the role of environmental life cycle assessment (E-LCA) in building performance standards and certifications as a model for the incorporation of S-LCA; and 4) a reflection on areas for future research, including the addition of social science theory and practice for methodology, criteria, and metric development.

Social Life-Cycle Assessment for Building Materials

2021 ◽  
pp. 476-504
Author(s):  
Liz Kutschke
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Sustainable Design ◽  
Social Performance ◽  
Performance Standards ◽  
Social Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Science Theory

The goal of sustainable design and development is threefold, including economic, environmental, and social sustainability. While there are well-established methods for assessing the economic and environmental performance of products and buildings, the determination of social performance is less clear. This chapter explores the emerging field of social life cycle assessment (S-LCA), particularly as it relates to building materials and construction. This chapter includes 1) an introduction to and overview of S-LCA, summarized case studies of S-LCA; 2) a discussion of the relevance of S-LCA in sustainable design practice and education; 3) an examination of the role of environmental life cycle assessment (E-LCA) in building performance standards and certifications as a model for the incorporation of S-LCA; and 4) a reflection on areas for future research, including the addition of social science theory and practice for methodology, criteria, and metric development.

scholarly journals Social Sustainability Assessment in Livestock Production: A Social Life Cycle Assessment Approach

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (16) ◽  
pp. 4419 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adriana Rivera-Huerta ◽  
María de la Salud Rubio Lozano ◽  
Alejandro Padilla-Rivera ◽  
Leonor Patricia Güereca
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Social Performance ◽  
Livestock Production ◽  
Social Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
The Social ◽  
Significant Difference

This study evaluates the social performance of monoculture (MC), intensive silvopastoral (ISP), and native silvopastoral (NSP) livestock production systems in the tropical region of southeastern Mexico through a social life cycle assessment (SCLA) approach. The methodological framework proposed by the United Nations Environmental Program/Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (UNEP/SETAC) (2009) was employed based on a scoring approach with a performance scale ranging from 1 (very poor) to 4 (outstanding). Twelve livestock ranches for calf production were evaluated using 18 impact subcategories associated with the categories “human rights”, “working conditions”, “health and safety”, “socioeconomic repercussions”, and “governance”. The stakeholders evaluated were workers, the local community, society, and value chain actors. The ranches had performance scores between 1.78 (very poor) and 2.17 (poor). The overall average performance of the ranches by production system was 1.98, 1.96, and 1.97 for the MC, ISP, and NSP systems, respectively. The statistical analysis shows that there is no significant difference in the social performance of the livestock production systems. This assessment indicates that the cattle ranches analyzed in Mexico have poor or very poor social performance. The results show that socioeconomic and political contexts exert a greater influence on the social performance of livestock production systems than does their type of technology.

scholarly journals Integrating Individual Behavior Dimension in Social Life Cycle Assessment in an Energy Transition Context

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (22) ◽  
pp. 5984
Author(s):  
Georgios Archimidis Tsalidis
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Social Performance ◽  
Energy Transition ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Individual Behavior ◽  
Social Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
The Social ◽  
And Behavior

Energy transition is a result of mankind’s reaction to climate change and individuals are expected to have a crucial role in achieving it in developed countries. The purpose of this study is to apply the social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) tool and investigate the social performance of the Dutch energy transition while focusing on individual behavior, and if this is not possible, to develop indicators focusing on individual behavior dimension. The social performance of the energy transition in the Netherlands was assessed on a hotspot level. Additionally, the S-LCA guidelines were examined to identify the human dimension and behavior in the existing subcategories, and environmental psychology literature was explored to identify drivers and behavior that are important for the energy transition. Existing subcategories fail to show the extent of social progress of the Dutch energy transition nor how individuals perceive it. As a result, a total of 8 subcategories and 25 indicators at a hotspot and site-specific levels are developed. These subcategories and indicators focus on prosumer’s and individual’s behaviors, and traits of local communities. Application of the developed hotspot indicators shows that the Dutch government still subsidies fossil energy and, even though Dutch citizens show environmental concerns, the energy transition is delayed due to insufficient top-down coordination. Developed indicators are considered to be both feasible and relevant to investigate the social aspects of the energy transition in developed countries.

scholarly journals Are Renewables as Friendly to Humans as to the Environment?: A Social Life Cycle Assessment of Renewable Electricity

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 1370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shutaro Takeda ◽  
Alexander Keeley ◽  
Shigeki Sakurai ◽  
Shunsuke Managi ◽  
Catherine Norris
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Supply Chain ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Electricity Production ◽  
Social Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Solar Photovoltaic ◽  
Energy Technologies ◽  
Electricity Mix ◽  
The Impact

The adoption of renewable energy technologies in developing nations is recognized to have positive environmental impacts; however, what are their effects on the electricity supply chain workers? This article provides a quantitative analysis on this question through a relatively new framework called social life cycle assessment, taking Malaysia as a case example. Impact assessments by the authors show that electricity from renewables has greater adverse impacts on supply chain workers than the conventional electricity mix: Electricity production with biomass requires 127% longer labor hours per unit-electricity under the risk of human rights violations, while the solar photovoltaic requires 95% longer labor hours per unit-electricity. However, our assessment also indicates that renewables have less impacts per dollar-spent. In fact, the impact of solar photovoltaic would be 60% less than the conventional mix when it attains grid parity. The answer of “are renewables as friendly to humans as to the environment?” is “not-yet, but eventually.”

scholarly journals Sustainable Agri-Food Processes and Circular Economy Pathways in a Life Cycle Perspective: State of the Art of Applicative Research

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 2472
Author(s):  
Teodora Stillitano ◽  
Emanuele Spada ◽  
Nathalie Iofrida ◽  
Giacomo Falcone ◽  
Anna Irene De Luca
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Social Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Qualitative Synthesis

This study aims at providing a systematic and critical review on the state of the art of life cycle applications from the circular economy point of view. In particular, the main objective is to understand how researchers adopt life cycle approaches for the measurement of the empirical circular pathways of agri-food systems along with the overall lifespan. To perform the literature review, the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) protocol was considered to conduct a review by qualitative synthesis. Specifically, an evaluation matrix has been set up to gather and synthesize research evidence, by classifying papers according to several integrated criteria. The literature search was carried out employing scientific databases. The findings highlight that 52 case studies out of 84 (62% of the total) use stand-alone life cycle assessment (LCA) to evaluate the benefits/impacts of circular economy (CE) strategies. In contrast, only eight studies (9.5%) deal with the life cycle costing (LCC) approach combined with other analyses while no paper deals with the social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) methodology. Global warming potential, eutrophication (for marine, freshwater, and terrestrial ecosystems), human toxicity, and ecotoxicity results are the most common LCA indicators applied. Only a few articles deal with the CE assessment through specific indicators. We argue that experts in life cycle methodologies must strive to adopt some key elements to ensure that the results obtained fit perfectly with the measurements of circularity and that these can even be largely based on a common basis.

scholarly journals Sustainability Assessment with Integrated Circular Economy Principles: A Toy Case Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 3856
Author(s):  
Rebeka Kovačič Lukman ◽  
Vasja Omahne ◽  
Damjan Krajnc
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Product Life Cycle ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Social Impacts ◽  
Life Cycle Costing ◽  
Social Life Cycle Assessment

When considering the sustainability of production processes, research studies usually emphasise environmental impacts and do not adequately address economic and social impacts. Toy production is no exception when it comes to assessing sustainability. Previous research on toys has focused solely on assessing environmental aspects and neglected social and economic aspects. This paper presents a sustainability assessment of a toy using environmental life cycle assessment, life cycle costing, and social life cycle assessment. We conducted an inventory analysis and sustainability impact assessment of the toy to identify the hotspots of the system. The main environmental impacts are eutrophication, followed by terrestrial eco-toxicity, acidification, and global warming. The life cycle costing approach examined the economic aspect of the proposed design options for toys, while the social assessment of the alternative designs revealed social impacts along the product life cycle. In addition, different options based on the principles of the circular economy were analysed and proposed in terms of substitution of materials and shortening of transport distances for the toy studied.

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