CHEE 4900

The tool used to evaluate the environmental impacts throughout the life of a product, process or service is referred to as life cycle assessment. System thinking enables understanding the complexity of the problem and helps with informed decision making to address environmental issues from a system perspective, rather than shifting the problem from one environmental impact to the other, or from one stage of the life cycle to another. This course aims to introduce the concept of life cycle assessment (LCA) and system thinking. The scope of the course extends to develop critical thinking and skills for the assessment of the environmental impacts of products, processes, and services. Qualitative and quantitative analysis required to conduct life cycle assessment, and analysis of multiple output processes and multifunctional product systems will be covered. Four major phases involved in LCA including “Goal and Scope”, “Inventory Compilation”, “Impact Assessment” and “Interpretation” will be examined through assignments, term project and various in-class activities.