Life Cycle Assessment (a.k.a. Life Cycle Analysis) is commonly abbreviated to LCA and is an International Standard. LCA is a methodology used in environmentally-conscious manufacturing and supports the analysis of environmental burden accumulated during the product life cycle, with the intention of driving improvement programmes. There are several benefits of LCA which are discussed throughout the course but they essentially boil down to the improvement of environmental performance of products, systems and the related processes.

One key innovation offered by this course is that all the learning of the fundamentals of LCA is done through a powerful visual knowledge model. A visual knowledge model is a formidable asset that logically describes subject matter and it, therefore, captures all the main concepts and their relationships in order to explain the context of LCA. This visual knowledge model is made available for you to download in this course.

The curriculum is split into a number of sections starting with the introductory section, followed by an explanation of how to interpret the visual knowledge model, through to the elaboration of the various phases of the LCA methodology. These phases are: goal and scope definition, inventory analysis, impact assessment and life cycle interpretation. The course also sheds light on the approaches that promote improved environmental performance such as eco-design.

Consequently, this course is targeted at individuals who are aspiring to become product engineers, manufacturing engineers, industrial designers, etc., or any technology or engineering-related field. The course is also aimed at professionals who work in product-oriented functions like supply chain, buying and merchandising, etc., wishing to learn about LCA as a discipline in product development and improvement. The course can also be taken if you work as project manager, change champion, programme manager, etc., but have no prior knowledge of LCA. Additionally, even if you are not a technical individual, you may take this course if, for example, you would like to learn about a great tool to apply in the context of corporate social responsibility, from an environmental standpoint.

The bottomline is: if you care about the topics of sustainability and sustainable product engineering, then this is the one course you would not want to miss out on!