Abstract
The ultimate objective of the US Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) database project is to develop publicly available LCI databases for commonly used materials, products and processes. The purpose is to support public and private sector efforts to develop environmentally-oriented decision support systems and tools; to provide regional benchmark data for generating or assessing company, plant or new technology data; and to provide a firm foundation for subsequent life cycle assessment tasks such as characterization, normalization and impact assessment. The first phase of the project, funded by the US Department of Energy and the General Services Administration through the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), is being undertaken by the Canadian not-for-profit ATHENATM Sustainable Materials Institute in conjunction with two US consulting firms, Franklin Associates Ltd. and Sylvatica, and will be completed by the end of November.
