An adapted LCA approach for the assessment of services
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Bart Krutwagen |
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Services and product-service combinations are considered to be less environmental burdening than products and can therefore contribute to a more sustainable society. The application of services are considered to decrease the use and need for products and other material resources by substituting the products. The emerging "new economy" which is driven by the booming application of Information and Communication Technology is expected to turn our product based economy into a service based economy. A shift towards a services and knowledge based economy may look very promising. But there is no solid evidence that this transition will not leave us with severe rebound effects due to unexpected change of consumer behaviour and will not add to, rather then replace, the conventional product oriented economy. Recent research by IVAM has shown that product-services are not by definition beneficial and can be even counterproductive. A service is therefore not by definition an 'Eco'-service. In order to better understand the environmental impact of services, it becomes necessary to adapt analysis tools such as LCA and LCC to services and make them more applicable for this task. Services have less clear system boundaries and functional units then products because their impact is often financial rather then physical. Also the role of the consumer becomes more important in assessing services because services can influences the use behaviour of consumers in a strong way. Is the service adding to or replacing consumption? Are there rebound effects to be expected due to changing spending behaviour? Up until now these and other aspects of services have been neglected in many LCA product studies. Important questions concerning rebound effects are often not addressed. In order to include these aspects IVAM is adapting the LCA approach to a more complete assessment of services. Based on economical input/output analyses different indicators are being developed to take the impact of consumer behaviour into account and to assess the greenness of services in a better way. Back to Top | Back to 3S abstract programme Last updated: 13 November, 2008 |