Delivering real carbon reductions: the role of life cycle assessment in design and engineering

National greenhouse gas emissions reporting frameworks take a territorial perspective, reporting on emissions produced within national territories. However, much of what we design, engineer and consume in the UK and Europe is manufactured abroad. This 'embodied carbon' is not included in national accounts, nor design and engineering processes, and so is traditionally ignored. There is therefore a significant risk that when taking actions to reduce emissions close to home, we inadvertently increase them elsewhere.

To avoid this, designers and engineers must take a full 'carbon footprint' perspective, using life cycle assessment (LCA) or related methods. This presentation will cover the cutting edge in applying LCA in design and engineering, covering a range of collaborative research between academia and industry. It will illustrate the importance of taking a life cycle approach, as well as how it can be done effectively in practice.