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E-book
Author Werner, Frank, 1968 August 2-

Title Ambiguities in decision-oriented life cycle inventories : the role of mental models and values / by Frank Werner
Published Dordrecht : Springer, 2005

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Description 1 online resource (xix, 420 pages) : illustrations
Series Eco-efficiency in industry and science ; v. 17
Eco-efficiency in industry and science ; v. 17.
Contents Introduction; LCA as Method and its Modelling Characteristics; Requirements of LCIs in Product Design-Related Decision-Making; Analysis of ISO 14041 for Mental Models and Values; Allocation Procedures for Open-Loop Recycling; The Decision-Maker's Mental Models and Values in Inventory Analysis; Introduction; Material and Market Characteristics of Aluminium; Development of the Value-Corrected Substitution for Aluminium Windows; Selected Allocation Procedures for Comparison; Application in an LCA of Aluminium Windows; Methodological Conclusions; Introduction
Summary In an environmental life cycle assessment of products (LCA), an unambiguous, scientifically based, 'objective' attribution of material and energy flows to a product is pure fiction. This is due to the fundamental epistemological conditions of LCA as a modelling process under the complexity of our socio-economic system. Instead, various mental models and values guide this attribution. This leads to a functional model in a specific decision situation. This book shows for the first time how mental models and values influence this attribution in the life cycle inventory step of LCA. One of the key findings is that the different management rules for a sustainable use of materials must be taken into account for the attribution of material and energy flows to a product. Otherwise, improvement options recommended by an LCA might turn out to even worsen the environmental situation if reassessed from a meta-perspective. As a consequence of this book, the claim of unambiguitiy ('objectivity') of the life cycle inventory must be abandoned. A group-model building process for LCA is developed that allows one to grasp the decision makers' mental models and values in the inventory analysis on a case- and situation-specific basis. Only by this, LCA results will become relevant in a decision-making process. Two case studies on the modelling of recycling and other end-of-life options of aluminium windows and beech wood railway sleepers in LCA complement the methodological part. This book is a 'must have' for researchers, consultants and practitioners in the fields of decision-oriented life cycle assessment as well as product-related environmental management, modelling and decision-making
Analysis economie
economics
bedrijfswetenschap
management science
milieueconomie
environmental economics
Management studies, Business Administration, Organizational Science (General)
Economics (General)
Management, bedrijfskunde, organisatiekunde (algemeen)
Economie (algemeen)
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 187-414) and index
Notes Print version record
In Springer e-books
Subject Environmental responsibility.
Environmental management.
Inventories.
environmental control.
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS -- Development -- Sustainable Development.
NATURE -- Environmental Conservation & Protection.
Environmental responsibility.
Environmental management.
Inventories.
Affaires.
Science économique.
Economie de l'entreprise.
Environmental management
Environmental responsibility
Inventories
Genre/Form Inventories
Inventories
Form Electronic book
ISBN 9781402032547
1402032544
1402032536
9781402032530
661031277X
9786610312771