SPINE@CPM - the operational prototype for industrial LCA databases
Raul Carlson, project manager and developer of the database: |
The
SPINE@CPM LCA database was established to facilitate any type
of industrial LCA studies of products and business activities.
The LCI-part of the database holds well-documented data that
describes resource use and emissions from different industrial
production processes, plants and supply-chains. The impact
assessment (LCIA) part holds the three LCIA methods EPS 2000,
EDIP and Eco-indicator 1999. Hence, SPINE@CPM was built as an
operational prototype for how to build industrially useful,
transparent and general LCA databases.
To match the needs of the broad CPM
industrial group SPINE@CPM was established with focus on being
an operative platform where different industrial companies and
sectors can share LCA data. To facilitate data use and review,
it was decided that each data set in SPINE@CPM should be
well-documented and manually reviewed with focus on
transparency, consistency and understandability. The database
is based on the SPINE format, an open data format designed to
be independent of specific LCA software, industrial sectors or
industrial companies. SPINE was based on methodo-logical
analysis of LCA, its applications and expected future, with
emphasis on generality. For example, SPINE makes no
distinction between transport process or other production
processes, between individual processes or systems of
processes, and not between flows that are emissions, products
or resources. By leaving such distinctions to the user SPINE
was quickly spread to many different industries. SPINE also
introduced generality into LCIA by identifying the key general
concepts of category indicator, characterization and weighting
in a clear structure.
Many of the principles of SPINE are
acquired in LCI documentation formats like ISO/TS 14048, ELCD
and the SPOLD format. Dissemination of an international
understanding of the LCIA format of SPINE is in 2008 yet to
come.
Original documentation in pdf:
Strategy for the Work on CPM:s LCA Database
Carlson R, CPM-rapport 1997:4
Establishment of CPM's LCA Database
Carlson R, Pålsson A-C, CPM Report 1998:3
Documentation of environmental impact assessment, compatible with SPINE and ISO/TS 14048
Carlson R, Pålsson A-C, IMI-report 2002:1
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EPS - navigating through facts and opinions
Bengt Steen, author of the impact assessment method EPS:
The EPS system (Environmental Priority
Strategies in product design) was developed as an aid in
product development.
The system is basically a set
of hierarchic principle require-ments, such as working
with aggregated impact indices, with transparency
more...
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