Life Cycle Assessment

elevate your product from conception through end-of-life

Life cycle assessment is a critical tool used to measure the environmental impact of different production processes, providing the data necessary to design with specific goals in mind.

Maybe you want to launch a new product line, change packaging material, or make a comparative product claim. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, using the insights of a life cycle assessment can help you reduce your environment footprint and influence the way you tell your story. No matter where you are in your environmental journey, our dedicated team of LCA experts can help you continue taking steps that make a difference.

Service Offerings

Life Cycle Assessment

Offering ISO 14040/44-conformant, comparative, and streamlined LCAs for products, materials, services, and supply chain, our team can conduct an LCA that fits your purpose, timeline, and budget. Attributes modeled include climate change, ozone depletion, eutrophication, acidification, water use and more.

Environmental Product Declaration

Our team is ready to assist in the development and/or update of your EPD in accordance to ISO 14025, ISO 21930, and EN 15804 standards. Our team has supported clients in multiple sectors including wood materials, iron and steel, petrochemical, renewable fuels, dairy and meat production, consumer products, and more.

Streamlined LCA

This is your parent-approved LCA. If you prefer a fast-paced or higher-level result, for internal decision making, JBE can offer a streamlined LCA. This can inform you of hotspots in the value chain and drive improvement methods, which you can use in R&D.

Third-Party Review

If you wish to share the results of your LCA publicly, or compare products, JBE can assist in the third-party review process. We have great relationships with multiple reviewers for different industries, and have taken many products and services through the review process successfully.

Customized Footprinting Tools & Models

Do you have a large product range or would like flexibility in your product design? JBE offers custom-built LCA tools and models to provide dynamic results for your products and services. The tool will be yours to use, and we can provide updates and maintenance if needed. Tools can also be critically reviewed.

Carbon, Energy, and Water Footprinting

In addition to our full LCA service offerings, JBE can assist in the development of footprints focused on carbon, energy, and water impacts. JBE can take you through on-site data collection, certification/label support, product claims, reduction implementations, and beyond.

Stages of Life Cycle

Each phase of the LCA cycle helps identify opportunities to reduce environmental impact and improve sustainability. 

1. Upstream Resources: Phase involves the extraction and processing of raw materials needed for production. It includes mining, harvesting, and refining materials, as well as the energy and water used in these processes.

2. Manufacturing: In this stage, raw materials are transformed into finished products. This includes all the processes involved in production, such as assembly, machining, and packaging. Energy consumption, emissions, and waste generated during manufacturing are also considered.

3. Distribution: Covers the transportation of finished products from the manufacturing site to the end user.

4. Use Phase: This stage assesses the energy and resources consumed during the product’s lifespan, as well as any emissions or waste generated. Maintenance and repair activities are also included.

5. Disposal/Recycling: This phase evaluates the environmental impact of waste management processes, including landfilling, incineration, and recycling. The potential for material recovery and reuse is also considered.

Sample Projects

  • Comparative LCAs of Beverage Containers

    Conducted a third-party analysis of more than a dozen life cycle assessment (LCA) studies found that aluminum beverage cans produce fewer carbon emissions than glass bottles and a similar level of carbon emissions as plastic (PET) containers.

  • Building Materials EPD Development

    Developed two A1-A3 (raw material extraction to finished products) product specific Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for bamboo plywood and carved bamboo flooring products. Both EPDs underwent third party review before publication.

    Bamboo EPD, LCA, product footprint

  • Customized LCA Scenario Tool

    Developed customer-specific customized, ISO-conformant LCA tools. Our Excel-based solutions enable the user to make dynamic changes to product specifications, manufacturing parameters, packaging alternatives, and more to evaluate changes in environmental impacts.