Life Cycle Engineering (LCE) is an approach to assess the environmental impacts in conjunction with economic impacts under consideration of technical boundary conditions. Scope of the assessment is usually the whole life cycle of a product consisting of production, use phase and end of life. The environmental impacts are assessed according to the ecological life cycle assessment (LCA). The economic impacts are assessed according to the life cycle costing (LCC) approach. Technical boundary conditions are taken into account providing some limitations on the model, thus verifying the technical feasibility.
LCE aims to deliver a consistent standard of living for future generations that can be maintained indefinitely. Not only does LCE aim to reduce negative impacts on the environment but it can also be used to reduce monetary costs for businesses and every day society.
One aspect of LCE for businesses is the extension of a part of a products life cycle. The method of involving incremental innovation within production can be seen as a main way to achieve this. The combination of innovation together with technology allows for the function of products to be pushed further, allowing designers to improve the quality of how products meet expanding customer needs. The key themes are economic, social, environmental and technological. All these themes are interlinking and can be influenced by life cycle engineering.
Economic Factors
• Monetary costs
• Productivity
• Quality of products
• Impact on future investments
• Profitability
Social Factors
• Demographics
• Future Generations
• Backing from environmentalist
Technological Factors
• Manufacturing
• Efficiency
• Innovation
Environmental Factors
• Eco-design
• Waste Reduction
• Land Clearing
• Nature conservation