GLOSSARY

GLOSSARY
Abiotic resource	Object that can be extracted from the environment to serve as an input for the product system, and is distinguished from a biotic resource by its non-living nature.
Allocation	Material input that is used by the unit process producing the product, but does not constitute a part of the product - e.g. a catalyst.
Ancillary input	Material input that is used by the unit process producing the product, but is not used directly as a part of the product.
Areas for protection	Broad social values with respect to the environmental policy (e.g. human health, ecological health, biodiversity, intergenerational material welfare, aesthetic values).
Biotic resource	Object that can be extracted from the environment to serve as an input for the product system, and that is distinguished from an abiotic resource by its living nature.
Category endpoint	Attribute or aspect of natural environment, human health or resources identifying an environmental issue of concern.
Category indicator	Quantifiable representation of an impact category - the full expression for this term is "life cycle impact category indicator" but a shorter form is used in the International Standard.
Characterisation	Second element within impact assessment succeeding the classification element and preceding valuation, in which analysis/quantification, and aggregation of the impacts within the chosen impact categories takes place.
Characterisation factor	Factor derived from a model which is applied to convert assigned LCI results to common unit for the category indicator - the common unit allows aggregation into category indicator result.
Classification	First element within impact assessment, which attributes the environmental interventions listed in the inventory table to a number of selected impact categories.
Comparative assertion	Environmental claim regarding the superiority or equivalence of one product versus a competing product which performs the same function.
Completeness check	Process of verifying that information from the different phases (inventory analysis, life cycle impact assessment ) are sufficient for interpretation to reach conclusions
Conclusions and recommendations	Conclusions summarise the identification and evaluation of significant environmental issues. Recommendations are those features that arise directly from conclusions, given the goal of the study.
Consistency check	Process of verifying that the interpretation is done in accordance with the goal and scope definition, before conclusions are reached.
Co-product	Any of two or more products coming from the same unit process.
Data category	Classificatory division of the input and output flows from a unit process or product system
Data quality	Characteristics of data that bears on their ability to satisfy stated requirements
Effect	A specific change in human health, in eco-system or the global resource situation as a consequence of a specific impact.
Elementary flow	Material or energy entering the system being studied, which has been drawn from the environment without previous human transformation. Material or energy leaving the system being studied, which is discarded into the environment without subsequent human transformation
Energy flow	Input or output from a unit process or product system, quantified in energy units - energy flow that is input may be called energy input; energy flow that is output may be called energy output.
Environment	Entire surroundings and conditions in which individuals, populations and organisations operate and interrelate. The surroundings include air, water, land, natural resources, flora, fauna and humans and extends from within an organisation’s location to the global system.
Environmental aspect	Element of an organisation’s activities, products or services which can interact with the environment.
Environmental index	Resulting score representing the perceived harmfulness to the environment, obtained by quantitative weighting as a result of the valuation element.
Environmental intervention	(environmental flow, environmental burden, stressor, elementary flow) Exchange between the atmosphere (the "economy") and the environment including resource use, emissions to air, water, or soil.
Environmental issue	Inputs and outputs (results from the LCI) and - if additionally conducted-environmental indicators (results from the LCIA), which are defined in general terms as being important in the goal and scope definition.
Environmental mechanismn	System of chemical and biological processes for a given impact category, linking LCI results to category indicators, and to category endpoints.
Evaluation	It is the second step within the life cycle interpretation including completeness check, sensitivity check, consistency check, other checks.
Feedstock energy	Heat of combustion of raw material inputs, which are not used as an energy source, to a product system - it is expressed in terms of higher heating value or lower heating value.
Final product	Product which requires no additional transformation prior to its use.
Fugitive emission	Uncontrolled emission to air, water or land e.g. material released from a pipeline coupling.
Functional unit	Quantified performance of a product system for use as a reference unit in a life cycle assessment study.
Goal and scope definition	Activity that initiates an LCA, defining its purpose, boundaries, limitations, main lines and procedures (see above).
Impact	The consequences for health, for the well-being of flora and fauna or for the future availability of natural resources, attributable to the input and output streams of a system.
Impact vs. effect	Most of the environmental problems treated in present characterization methods are quantified at the level of environmental impacts (e.g., ozone formation, H⁺ deposition, ozone depletion, rise of radiate forcing). Environmental effects are the chosen endpoints within these impact chains (e.g., reduced human health, reduced growth of crop, dying of plants, reduced biodiversity etc.). This means that all steps in the cause-effect chain are impacts while effects are the chosen endpoints.
Impact assessment	(life cycle impact assessment) Quantitative and/or qualitative process to characterise and assess the effects of the environmental interventions identified in the inventory table. The impact assessment component consists in principle of the following three or four elements: classification, characterization, (normalisation,) and valuation.
Impact category	Class representing environmental issue of concern into which LCI results may be assigned.
Impact score	Contribution of a product system to one impact category.
Impact score profile	(environmental profile) List of impact scores for all impact categories.
Indicator	A simplification and distillation of complex information intended as a summary description of conditions or trends to assist decisions.
Input	Material or energy which enters a unit process - material may include raw materials and products.
Interested party	Individual or group concerned with or affected by the environmental performance of a product system, or by the results of the life cycle assessment.
Intermediate product	Input or output from a unit process which requires further transformation.
Inventory table	List of environmental entities added to and taken from the environment (environmental interventions) through economic actions which are directly caused by processes within a product system. It is the main result of the inventory analysis.
Life cycle	Consecutive and interlinked stages of a product system, from raw material acquisition or generation of natural resources to the final disposal.
Life cycle assessment - LCA -	Compilation and evaluation of the inputs, outputs and the potential environmental impacts of a product system throughout its life cycle.
Life cycle impact assessment	Phase of life cycle assessment aimed at understanding and evaluating the magnitude and significance of the potential environmental impacts of a product system.
Life cycle interpretation	Phase of life cycle assessment in which the findings of either the inventory analysis or the impact assessment, or both, are combined consistent with the defined goal and scope in order to reach conclusions and recommendations.
Life cycle inventory analysis	Phase of life cycle assessment involving the compilation and quantification of inputs and outputs, for a given product system throughout its life cycle.
Life cycle inventory result - LCI result	Outcome of a life cycle inventory analysis that includes flows crossing the system boundary and provides the starting point for life cycle impact assessment.
Normalisation	An optional element within impact assessment which involves relating all impact scores of a functional unit in the impact score profile to a reference situation. The reference situation may differ per impact category, and is the contribution of a certain period of time to the problem type at hand. Normalisation results in a normalised impact score profile which consists of normalised impact scores.
Output	Material or energy which leaves a unit process - material may include raw materials, intermediate products, products, emissions and waste.
Practitioner	Individual or group of people that conducts a life cycle assessment.
Process energy	Energy input required for a unit process to operate the process or equipment within the process excluding inputs for production and delivery of this energy.
Process flow diagram	Chart containing labelled boxes connected by lines with directional arrows to illustrate the unit process or sub-system included in the product system and the interrelationships between those unit processes.
Product system	Collection of materially and energetically connected unit processes which performs one or more defined functions - in the InternationalISO Standard, the term "product" used alone includes not only product systems but also can include service systems.
Production and delivery of energy	The energy input into processes which extract, generate, process, refine and deliver process energy.
Raw material	Primary or secondary material that is used to produce a product.
Recycling, closed loop	Recovery of material on the same factory that produced the material. This kind of recovery require a "take back" arrangement.
Recycling, open loop	Recovery of material - but not on the same factory as produced the material. This kind of recovery require a central collection of used material.
Reference flow	Measure of the needed outputs from processesin a given product system required to fulfil the function expressed by the functional unit.
Sensitivity analysis	Systematic procedure for estimating the effects on the outcome of a study of the chosen methods and data.
System boundary	Interface between a product system and the environment or other product systems.
Transparency	Open, comprehensive and understandable presentation of information.
Uncertainty analysis	Systematic procedure to ascertain and quantify the uncertainty introduced into the results of a life cycle inventory analysis due to the cumulative effects of input uncertainty and data variability - either ranges or probability distributions are used to determine the uncertainty in the results.
Unit-process	Smallest portion of a product system for which data are collected when performing a life cycle assessment.
Valuation/weighting	Last element within impact assessment following the characterization/normalisation element, in which the results of the characterization/normalisation, in particular the (normalised) impact scores, are weighted against each other in a quantitative and/or qualitative way in order to be able to make the impact information more decision-friendly. This is an element which necessarily involves qualitative or quantitative valuations which are not only based on natural sciences. For instance, political and/or ethical values can be used in this element. The valuation can result in an environmental index.
Valuation factor	Factor in the evaluation element transforming the impact score profile in an environmental index.
Waste	Any output from the product system which is disposed of.
Weighting	Conversion of category indicator results by using numerical factors based on value choices - weighting may include aggregation of the weighted category indicator results.