Integration of CAD models with LCA

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is becoming increasingly more important as an assessment tool within the design of modern products. LCA may be used to minimize the environmental impact of a design during the entire life cycle of a product, and to highlight weak points and areas requiring special attention and improvement. However, obtaining the life cycle inventories (LCI) required for LCA is often too expensive, as data is difficult to obtain and the amount of data required is very considerable. This paper introduces a framework for the integration of data from a product model and an LCI data base. Within the approach taken, efficient access to the LCI-relevant data is realized by utilizing feature technology as a means to relate with a sound semantics framework and a geometrical model linked to individual product properties.