Welcome
Welcome to Course: Life Cycle Assessment Principles.
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has become one of the most widely used methods for evaluating the environmental performance of products, services, and organisations. However, sustainability requires more than environmental thinking. Throughout this course, you will also explore Life Cycle Costing (LCC), Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA), and Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA).
By completing this module, you will learn how sustainability assessments are designed, conducted, interpreted, and applied to support evidence-based decision-making.
This course was developed as part of the Erasmus+ project SymbioTech (Project ID: 101186405).
Course Learning Outcomes
After successfully completing this course, you will be able to:
✅ explain the principles of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA);
✅ distinguish between LCA, LCC, and S-LCA;
✅ apply the ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 framework;
✅ construct a basic Life Cycle Inventory (LCI);
✅ interpret environmental, economic, and social assessment results;
✅ identify sustainability hotspots and trade-offs;
✅ evaluate uncertainty and sensitivity in sustainability assessments;
✅ use basic LCA tools and databases;
✅ apply life cycle thinking to Circular Economy and Industrial Symbiosis;
✅ prepare a simplified sustainability assessment for a real product or service.
Course Structure
The course consists of 9 self-paced lessons.
Learning Approach
This course has been designed for independent, self-paced learning.
Each lesson follows the same structure:
📖 Introduction
🎥 Presentation and learning materials
📚 Reading
💡 Interactive activities
🧩 H5P exercises
📝 Knowledge check quiz
How to Complete the Course
To successfully complete the course, you should:
- Review the lesson presentation.
- Read the recommended learning materials.
- Complete all H5P interactive activities.
- Pass the lesson quiz with at least 80%.
- After completing all the lesson quizzes, proceed to the Final Exam quiz, which will be assessed manually by the instructor.
Those who complete the Final Exam quiz, earn the course certificate.
Assessment Overview
| Assessment Activity | Purpose | Requied to Pass the Course and Earn Certificate |
|---|---|---|
| Interactive Activities | Practice and self-assessment | No |
| Lesson Quizzes | Knowledge verification | Yes |
| Final Exam | Knowledge assessment | Yes |
Estimated Workload
| Activity | Estimated Time |
|---|---|
| Study of learning materials | 9 hours |
| H5P activities | 2 hours |
| Lesson quizzes | 3 hours |
| Final Exam | 1 hour |
Total workload: approximately 15 hours (equivalent to approximately 0.5 ECTS credit).
Software and Resources
During the course you may use:
- OpenLCA (optional)
- Footprint Calculator & Excel (recommended)
- Online LCA databases (introduced later in the course)
No specialised software is required for successful course completion.
Tips for Success
✔ Complete lessons in the recommended order.
✔ Take notes while reviewing presentations.
✔ Try to answer the reflection questions.
✔ Complete the H5P activities before attempting the quiz.
✔ Reflect on sustainability trade-offs rather than looking for a single “correct” answer.
