Environmental LCC based on input-output analysis

Abstract

However excellent a product may be environmentally, it would not come into wide use unless it is also economically affordable. For the purpose of evaluating environmental and economic sustainability of a product, an LCA of the product needs to be accompanied by a complementary evaluation of its life cycle cost, that is, LCC (life cycle costing). This paper introduces a hybrid approach to LCC based on the WIO (waste input-output analysis) due to Nakamura and Kondo (J. Ind. Ecol., 2002), and illustrates its application to a case study of air conditioners.