The life cycle assessment (LCA) process is a multi-step calculation that is challenging even for seasoned LCA professionals to recite with precision. Do not feel alone; it is a complex process. Let’s break it down into simpler bites by examining the components of the LCA calculations.

The LCA process follows four steps:
• Process inventory data collection
• Impact characterization
• Normalization
• Weighting

We consider each step, first individually; then combined, in a continuous calculation. Please keep in mind that each of these steps is included in every Okala Impact Factor. Designers and product teams need not take the time to understand them in depth. They are included here to show the rigor behind the single-score assessment process.

Good question – the functional unit is one of the first steps in doing an assessment. It can be very simple, but be aware that that simplicity can be deceiving. By choosing the functional unit carefully, you leave options open for a variety of approaches and solutions – much like good framing for a design problem.

A functional unit should contain three characteristics, or precepts:

1. It should be a quantity of service that a user readily consumes.
2. It should include a physically measurable unit.
3. If the product involves time a part of the service, then a unit of time should be included.

Here are a few examples:

If you were assessing showers, for example, there would be many options for selecting your functional unit. Each would delimit the study in some way:

• If you chose to assess Okala millipoints per showerhead itself (without water or energy consumption to heat the water), then designs that affect water consumption are not factored into the assessment.
• If you chose Okala millipoints for one 8-minute hot shower, then the quantity of water would be assessed as a variable, depending on the quantity of water per minute that the showerhead releases.
• If you chose Okala millipoints per 10 gallons of 110 degree Fahrenheit shower, the quantity of water and energy would be set, not variable.

The Okala impact factor for thermoformed plastics includes the extrusion of the polymers into rigid (or semi-rigid) sheets and the subsequent thermoforming of the polymer sheet into the finished plastic part. Likewise, the Okala impact factor for blow molding of plastics includes the creation of the parision (usually through injection molding) and the subsequent blow molding of the parison into the finished plastic part. The preliminary steps required in these polymer forming processes is included in the overall Okala impact factor.

I understand your concern and I’ll add that your question is similar to many others I’ve addressed in recent weeks. There is no doubt that the current economic climate has forced many companies to rethink their new product development plans for 2009. And for those who began sustainable design initiatives recently and have yet to implement plans or realize results, it’s expedient to make this a lower priority.

One way to help you frame the larger design issues your question implies is through a brief review of some innovation history. The Sony Walkman® (shown above), Black & Decker’s Dustbuster®, and Motorola’s first Flip-phone® were all product innovations that at first were met with skepticism or ridicule. These now-notable designs were criticized for being unnecessary, over-priced, and appealing only to niche market segments. Of course, the market response proved the critics wrong. Why? Because these products represent strategic planning that anticipated imminent shifts in consumer lifestyles and attitudes.