Life Cycle Analysis and Sustainability (250MEA000) – Course 2025/26 PDF
Syllabus
Learning Objectives
This subject presents the most important aspects related to Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) tools for the analysis of environmental, social and economic impacts and the sustainability analysis of products, activities, technologies or processes related to the environmental engineering. Students will be introduced to concepts related to sustainable development, Sustainable Development Goals, Life Cycle Thinking and Sustainability Assessment: environmental and social LCA, Life Cycle Costing, carbon footprint and water footprint. Ecodesign and Ecolabel. The learning objectives are: - To describe the fundamentals of LCA, including its four main phases and LCA report content - To carry out a LCA project by: o Compiling an inventory of relevant energy and material inputs and environmental releases o Evaluating the potential impacts associated with identified inputs and releases o Interpreting the results o Writing the LCA report according to ISO Standards - To Identify the potential and limitations of LCA in practice - To apply LCA and sustainability assessment results to support decision making
Total hours of student work
| Hours | Percentage | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Supervised Learning | Large group | 35h | 77.78 % | |
| Laboratory classes | 10h | 22.22 % | ||
| Self Study | 80h | |||
Teaching Methodology
The course consists of 3 hours per week of lectures. Lectures are devoted to theoretical lectures, in which the teacher presents the basic concepts and topics of the subject, shows examples, solves exercises and develops practical sessions using software. The practical sessions are devoted to solve practical problems with greater interaction with the students and using specific software. The objective of these practical exercises is to consolidate the general and specific learning objectives. Specific software will also be used (English version). Teaching material is provided using the virtual campus ATENEA: content, program of learning and assessment activities conducted and literature. The teaching material will be in English, Catalan and/or Spanish. Although most of the sessions will be given in the language indicated, sessions supported by other occasional guest experts may be held in other languages.
Grading Rules
The evaluation calendar and grading rules will be approved before the start of the course.
The final mark of the course is obtained as follows: Coursework (report and oral presentation) (50%) + Final exam (test) (50%) Exams may include theoretical or applied questions. Students who have failed the ordinary evaluation and who have regularly taken the evaluation tests will have the option of taking a re-evaluation test in the period set in the academic calendar. Students who have already passed the test or students qualified as not presented or who have not delivered all the coursework and reports may not take the reassessment test. The reassessment will consist of a single exam that covers all the content of the course. The maximum grade in case of taking the reassessment exam will be five (5.00). If the student who appears in the re-evaluation exam does not pass, the highest grade between the result of the ordinary evaluation and that of the re-evaluation will be kept. The non-attendance of a student to the re-evaluation test, held in the set period, may not lead to another test at a later date. Extraordinary evaluations will be carried out for those students who, due to accredited force majeure, have not been able to take any of the continuous evaluation tests. These tests must be authorized by the head of studies, and will be carried out within the corresponding period.
Test Rules
To pass the course the student must have completed the course assignment and reach, globally, a score higher than or equal to 5/10. Failure to perform the continuous assessment activity in the scheduled period will result in a mark of zero in that activity. The tests will be carried out individually, with multiple choice questions that can be theoretical or problem-type questions. The exams can include short questions to be developed by the students and exercises to be solved.
Office Hours
Before and after each lecture, also by e-mail.
Bibliography
Basic
- World Commission on Environment and Development. Our common future. Oxford: Oxford University, 1987. ISBN 019282080X.
- European Commission - Joint Research Centre. ILCD handbook: general guide for life cycle assessment: detailed guidance. First edition. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2010. ISBN 9789279190926.
- UNEP. Guidelines for social life cycle assessment of products and organizations. Paris: Economy Division. United Nations Environment Programme, 2020.
- ISO. International Standard ISO 14040 : Environmental management - Life cycle assessment-Principles and framework. Delft : Nederlands: Normalisatie-Instituut, 2006.
- Hauschild, M.Z.; Rosenbaum, R.K.; Olsen, S.I. Life cycle assessment: theory and practice. Springer International Publishing, 2018. ISBN 9783319564753.
Complementary
- Goedkoop, M.; Oele, M.; Leijting, J.; Ponsioen, T.; Meijer, E. Introduction to LCA with SimaPro. Report version 5.2. Amersfoort, Holanda: Pré Consultants, 2016.
- ISO. ISO 14046:2014. Environmental management Water footprint Principles, requirements and guidelines. 2014.
- ISO. ISO/TS 14067:2013. Greenhouse gases Carbon footprint of products Requirements and guidelines for quantification and communication. 2013.