Models developed by the MULTIDIMENSION team are adapted to cover the flowing methods:
– Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is an international standardized method (ISO14040; ISO14044) for assessing sustainability, which takes into account the life cycle for a product or service. In this method, all the stages for appearance of a product are evaluated, from the extraction of basic resources, producing the good, using it by people, until recycling / disposing of waste. Also, this method can help create the efficiency of producing goods, reduce the use of raw materials and energy consumption, reduce production costs, or solve environmental problems (ILCD Handbook: General guide for life cycle assessment – detailed guidance , 2010).
Sub-methods of sustainability assessment for LCA (Life Cycle Assessment):
– The “cradle-to-cradle” evaluation method of a product or service is a similar method to the “cradle-to-grave” method, but the difference is that the last waste disposal step is replaced by the recycling step (C.Cao, 2017).
– The “cradle-to-grave” evaluation method of a product or service covers the entire life cycle (from resource extraction to waste disposal), and is used in production systems (C.Cao, 2017).
– The “cradle-to-gate” evaluation method of a product or service partially covers the life cycle (from the extraction of resources to the final manufactured product) (C.Cao, 2017).
– The “well-to-wheel” evaluation method, refers to the estimation of greenhouse gas emissions and energy efficiency over the whole life of a vehicle.
– The “gate-to-gate” evaluation method of a product or service is a part of the LCA methodology that refers to the manufacture of products, and which can be correlated with the other steps within the LCA (eg resource extraction, distribution, use) (Jiménez-González et al, 2000).
