Topic outline

  • Life Cycle Assessment of Industrial System's Environmental Impact: Principles and Practice

    Credits: 5 PDH

    PDH Course Description:

    This online engineering PDH course provides an introductory overview of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). As environmental awareness increases in the general public, many companies have begun to explore ways of moving beyond mere compliance with the law and instead have sought to evaluate the effects of the companies’ products and practices over their entire lifetimes.

    LCA is a tool designed to provide this evaluation. LCA is a “cradle-to-grave” approach for assessing industrial systems. “Cradle-to-grave” begins with the gathering of raw materials from the earth to create the product and ends at the point when all materials are returned to the earth.

    LCA evaluates all stages of a product’s life from the perspective that they are interdependent, meaning that one operation leads to the next. LCA enables the estimation of the cumulative environmental impacts resulting from all stages in the product life cycle, often including impacts not considered in more traditional analyses (e.g., raw material extraction, material transportation, ultimate product disposal, etc.). By including the impacts throughout the product life cycle,

    LCA provides a comprehensive view of the environmental aspects of the product or process and a more accurate picture of the true environmental trade-offs in product and process selection. The present course is designed to be an educational tool for someone who wants to learn the basics of LCA, how to conduct an LCA, or how to manage someone conducting an LCA.

    Topics:

    • Definition of life cycle assessment
    • Benefits of conducting an LCA
    • Limitations of conducting an LCA
    • Goal definition and scoping
    • Life cycle inventory
    • Key steps of a life cycle inventory
    • Life cycle impact assessment
    • Key steps of a life cycle impact assessment
    • Life cycle interpretation

    To take this course:

    1.) Enroll in Course: Click below to enroll:
    (must be logged into your user account)


    2.) Study: Once enrolled, click below to begin the course:

    Download the Study Guide

    3.) Test: Once you've thoroughly read the course materials, please click below to take the final examination.

    Take the final exam

    4.) Certificate: A passing grade of 70% or higher on the exam, is required to receive the certificate of completion for this PDH course.
         NOTE: After the exam is completed, you will need to return to this page, in order to print (download) the certificate of completion.

    Print the Certificate of Completion

    Intended Audience: This course is intended for engineers involved in determining the environmental impact of their organizations’ products and practices.
    Publication Source: This course is based on the Environmental Protection Agency document, “Life Cycle Assessment: Principles and Practice,” EPA/600/R-06/060, May 2006.


    Mark Rossow PhD, PE (retired)

    • Topic 1