"LCA to go" - Environmental assessment of machine tools according to requirements of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) - Development of the methodological concept

Abstract

The goal of the "LCA to go" project is to spread the use of LCA across European SMEs. For the sector of machine tools, a webtool will be developed to help SMEs carry out environmental assessments. Requirements to this tool were analysed through a survey, as well as research into case studies, standards and legislation. The simplified environmental assessment methodology follows a two step approach including a rough assessment of the Cumulative Energy Demand an a detailed analysis focusing on the most relevant life cycle phases. The progress to robust results is tracked using simplified Data Quality Indicator, which are proposed in this paper.