New Zealand LCA conference – Review

The 2nd New Zealand Life Cycle Assessment Conference “LCA: A Business Compass for Sustainability,” was held in Auckland on 28-29 March 2012. The conference focused on the application of LCA and Life Cycle Management in business to express the increasingly important role of LCA in guiding and shaping business operations, management practices and strategies.

The conference attracted close to 100 participants from NZ, Australia and five other countries across Europe, Asia and Africa.  The final program can be viewed here: www.lcaconference.org.nz  “The number and high quality of papers submitted was overwhelming,” commented Barbara Nebel, Chair of the Scientific Committee.

Industry and user needs with regard to LCA were a key focus in all presentations. Keynote speakers included Prof. Matthias Finkbeiner (Technical University Berlin), Clare Broadbent (worldsteel), Dave Maslen (NZ Merino) and Dr. Alastair Woodard (Australian Life Cycle Assessment Society).

The conference was organised jointly by the Life Cycle Association New Zealand (LCANZ) and the New Zealand Centre for Life Cycle Management.

Trans-Tasman collaboration on development of an EPD scheme

Life Cycle Association New Zealand (LCANZ) and Australian Life Cycle Assessment Society (ALCAS) are currently working on the development of an Australasian EPD scheme based on the well-established German IBU EPD system.

Global markets increasingly demand science-based, verified and comparable information about the environmental performance of products and services. Environmental Product Declarations, or EPDs, provide a standardized report on the environmental impacts linked to a product or service over its entire life cycle. However, there is currently no standardized internationally-recognised EPD programme in place.

LCANZ and its Australian counterpart, ALCAS, are currently looking to fill this gap for Australasia. The two not-for-profit associations are partnering to investigate the development of an Australasian scheme similar to the well-established European scheme run by the Institute for Construction and Environment (IBU).

Barbara Nebel, President of LCANZ, is excited to work together with ALCAS to establish a cross-Tasman EPD scheme: “It makes most sense for New Zealand and Australia to have one scheme across the Tasman, making it a lot more efficient for companies to develop their EPDs.”

The impetus to examine IBU’s EPD scheme was that 25 European organizations recently signed a MoU to establish a Pan-EU EPD platform. “The European ECO-EPD platform with 17 countries and numerous GBC is the leading one in the world”, says Barbara Nebel, President of LCANZ.

David Baggs, ALCAS President, underlines the goal, “This initiative that the Board of ALCAS and LCANZ are undertaking, it will ensure that all EPDs performed in Australia and New Zealand will be compatible with those in the EU will facilitate the export of Australasian manufactured goods into the EU - the largest single marketplace in the world with a GDP of nearly USD$18 trillion.”

The German EPD scheme, administered by IBU, is a leading force in the ECO-EPD platform and has offered their support to developing an Australasian scheme.

Carbon Footprint Standard ISO 14067

Carbon Footprint Standard ISO 14067 is to be published in the next two years. This Standard will influence New Zealand’s marketing of export products and will ensure that reliable information is provided on the carbon footprint of products.

Barbara Nebel, PE INTERNATIONAL (Australasia) is New Zealand’s representative on the ISO committee developing this standard and co-chairs the Standards New Zealand International Review Group on Life Cycle Assessment (IRG LCA).


‘My role as Co-Chair of the IRG LCA is to represent New Zealand’s best interests in carbon footprinting,’ says Barbara. ‘I think it’s critical to get an internationally agreed Standard to provide a level playing field for all players. ISO 14067 will do that by providing a standardised approach to calculate and communicate carbon footprint.’

read the full interview with Barbara Nebel

Massey University offers PhD Scholarships

The New Zealand Life Cycle Management Centre is offering two exciting opportunities to outstanding candidates with research interests in Life Cycle Management.

You will study for a PhD at Massey University in association with a Crown Research Institute (AgResearch or Scion). The PhD is funded through a Massey University scholarship for three years of study; this includes all academic fees and a tax-exempt stipend of $25,000 per annum.

Applications close on the 30th September, and more information can be found on the NZCLM website.

The NZ Life Cycle Management Centre is a collaboration between Massey University and three research institutes to build capability in Life Cycle Management (LCM) in New Zealand.

Environmental footprinting in virtual space

Understanding and getting involved in environmental footprinting in New Zealand just got easier today with the launch of a new website hosted by the Life Cycle Association of New Zealand (LCANZ) - http://www.lcanz.org.nz/

Established in June this year, LCANZ is a special interest group open to everyone interested in environmental footprinting. Life Cycle Assessment and Carbon footprinting are increasingly being used in industry and government to measure and demonstrate the environmental impacts of products and services.

Barbara Nebel, President of LCANZ and Managing Director of PE Australasia, says the non-profit organisation was established with a representative membership, including industry, practitioners and researchers and has been supported by an initial grant from the Ministry for Economic Development. “The website is the first step towards raising awareness, building a community of interest, sharing information and ensuring more effective coordination of product related assessments in New Zealand”.

The second step is the hosting of the societies first conference in March 2010 in collaboration with the New Zealand Centre for Life Cycle Management. The conference, "Life Cycle Assessment and Footprinting: Bridging the Gap between Tools and Practice", will be held in Wellington on 24 and 25 March.

People interested in giving a talk at the conference are invited to submit an abstract by Friday 11 December. For more information on LCANZ, conference details and how to become a member visit the LCANZ website www.lcanz.org.nz or contact

Barbara Nebel

Managing Director

PE Australasia
11 Rawhiti Road

Pukerua Bay 5026, Wellington

New Zealand

 

Phone  (Australia)   +61 [0] 3 9015 9455

Phone (New Zealand) +64 [0] 4 889 2520

Fax +64 [0] 4 974 7223

E-Mail  b.nebel@pe-international.com
www.pe-international.com