life cycle assessment (LCA)

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a scientific method for evaluating the environmental impact of a product, service, or process across its entire life cycle — from raw material extraction through production and use to end-of-life disposal. The method provides a comprehensive view of environmental burdens and is a key tool for evidence-based decisions in public procurement.

How does a life cycle assessment work?

An LCA follows the international standard ISO 14040/14044 and consists of four phases:

• Goal and scope definition — Determining what to analyse and which environmental impacts are relevant
• Life cycle inventory (LCI) — Collecting data on all inputs and outputs across the value chain: energy, raw materials, emissions, and waste
• Life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) — Linking results to environmental categories such as global warming potential, acidification, eutrophication, and resource depletion
• Interpretation — Identifying the most significant environmental hotspots and improvement opportunities

Unlike life cycle costing (LCC), which calculates total economic costs over time, LCA focuses exclusively on environmental impact without putting a price tag on emissions.

Why is LCA important in procurement?

EU Directive 2014/24/EU enables contracting authorities to use environmental criteria in tenders, and LCA underpins the EU Green Public Procurement (GPP) criteria published by the European Commission. Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), standardised under ISO 14025 and based on LCA data, are increasingly required in tenders — particularly in the construction sector.

LCA supports procurement at multiple stages:

• Before — Identifying which product categories carry the greatest environmental burden and where in the life cycle it occurs
• In specifications — Setting concrete requirements such as maximum CO₂ emissions per unit or requiring EPDs
• After — Measuring actual environmental gains against sustainability targets

LCA results are not always suitable as direct award criteria, since different methodological choices can produce figures that are difficult to compare. LCA works best as the foundation for precise requirements in the tender documents. Tools like Cobrief can help tenderers understand which environmental requirements a contracting authority has set.

Life cycle assessment is a key enabler of green public procurement. By mapping environmental burdens from cradle to grave, public buyers can set requirements that deliver real climate impact, and suppliers can document their environmental credentials in a verifiable way.