Skip to main content
A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a method for quantifying the environmental impacts of a product or service across its life cycle. In the context of carbon, that usually means:
Measuring greenhouse gas emissions from raw materials through to end-of-life, for a clearly defined product and use case.
LCAs are the backbone of credible product carbon footprints and many eco-labels and claims.

​
The basic idea

Rather than just asking:
“What are our emissions as a company?”
LCA asks:
“What is the impact of this product or service, per unit, across its life cycle?”
That means:
  • Defining a functional unit (e.g. “1 bottle of drink”, “1 t-shirt”, “1 use of the service”)
  • Setting system boundaries (which life cycle stages are included)
  • Quantifying emissions at each stage
  • Summing everything into a per-unit footprint (e.g. kg CO₂e per unit)
In Salvidia, this thinking underpins Product assessments.

​
Key LCA building blocks

We’ll walk through each.

​
Functional unit

The functional unit answers:
“What exactly are we measuring the impact of?”
Examples:
  • 1 x 500 ml bottled drink, delivered to customer
  • 1 t-shirt, washed 30 times, then disposed of
  • 1 kg of product sold at factory gate
  • 1 use of an online service
Why it matters:
  • It makes results comparable (e.g. Product A vs Product B).
  • It forces clarity about how the product is used.
  • It prevents misleading per-company or per-factory comparisons.
In Salvidia Product assessments, we encourage you to define the functional unit in the assessment description or methodology.

​
System boundaries

System boundaries define which parts of the life cycle you include. Common options:
Covers emissions from:
  • Raw material extraction
  • Manufacturing and assembly
  • Packaging
  • Distribution up to the “factory gate” or point of sale
It excludes:
  • Use phase (how customers use and maintain the product)
  • End-of-life (recycling, landfill, etc.)
Useful when:
  • You have good control over upstream activities
  • Use-phase and end-of-life are highly variable
  • You want a simpler starting point
In Salvidia, you can document your system boundary in the Product assessment details and methodology.

​
Typical life cycle stages

Most LCAs consider some or all of these stages:
  1. Raw materials and extraction
    • Mining, agriculture, chemical feedstocks
    • Transport of raw materials to processing
  2. Manufacturing and assembly
    • Energy use in factories
    • Processing, forming, assembly steps
    • Process emissions and waste
  3. Packaging and distribution
    • Primary, secondary, and tertiary packaging
    • Transport to warehouses and customers
    • Storage and handling
  4. Use phase
    • Energy and consumables during use
    • Maintenance, cleaning, replacement parts
    • User behaviour assumptions
  5. End-of-life
    • Recycling, reuse, recovery
    • Landfill and incineration
    • Transport to end-of-life facilities
In Salvidia Product assessments, these stages are reflected in data tables like:
  • Materials and components
  • Manufacturing and assembly
  • Packaging and distribution
  • Use phase and lifetime
  • End-of-life

​
LCA and carbon footprints

LCA can cover many impact categories (e.g. water use, toxicity, land use), but in Salvidia we focus on climate impact (CO₂e). So when we say:
“Product A has a footprint of 3.4 kg CO₂e per unit.”
We’re essentially giving you the climate part of an LCA for that product, based on your chosen:
  • Functional unit
  • System boundary
  • Life cycle stages
  • Data and emission factors

​
Data used in product LCAs

For product footprints, you’ll typically work with:
In Salvidia, these data points are entered into structured tables so the platform can apply relevant emission factors and aggregate everything.

​
Why LCA thinking matters (even if you don’t need a full ISO study)

You might not need a full, ISO-compliant LCA study for every product, but thinking like an LCA helps you:
  • Avoid tunnel vision on just manufacturing or shipping
  • Spot where the real hotspots are (materials vs use-phase vs packaging)
  • Make better design, procurement, and marketing decisions
  • Answer customer questions with credible, structured logic
Salvidia’s Product assessments aim for a practical, decision-focused LCA-style approach rather than a heavy academic exercise.

​
How Salvidia uses LCA concepts

When you create a Product assessment in Salvidia, you’re effectively setting up a mini LCA:
1

1. Define the product and functional unit

Name the product and specify what “one unit” means (e.g. 1 bottle, 1 garment, 1 service use).
2

2. Choose your system boundary

Decide whether you’re modelling cradle-to-gate, cradle-to-grave, or a specific segment. Document this in your assessment notes.
3

3. Add data by life cycle stage

Enter or import data into the tables for materials, manufacturing, packaging, distribution, use, and end-of-life, as relevant.
4

4. Review the per-unit footprint

Salvidia calculates the total impact per functional unit, and breaks it down by stage and category.
5

5. Compare scenarios

Duplicate assessments or use variants to compare design options (e.g. different materials, packaging, or suppliers).

​
Common uses of product LCAs

​
If you only remember three things

​
Where to go next