This guide is a basis for defining
country specific LCA guidelines for participating countries. The development of
national LCA guidelines for infrastructure will aim to address country specific
issues related to planning process stages, LCA study definition and applied LCA
tools as well as national legislation, which are not covered in this guide. In
addition, data quality issues such as the requirement for EPD data may be
included. It is recommended that the national guidelines are used to harmonize
and align methodology, agreeing on emission factors, system boundaries and even
RSL definition. This could be a first step in reaching a fully compatible
methodology and implementation across all Nordic countries. The content of the
national guidelines documents is not defined in detail in this guide, as it
will most likely vary with each country. The format could be an electronic
handbook, facilitating use-ability and updating.
7.1 Planning
stages and decision support
The planning process stages in this
guide represent the overall workflow of infrastructure projects in
participating countries but are not specific to any of them.
The development of national guidelines
will aim to define the specific planning process stages of infrastructure
projects for each country. In addition, critical points for decision making may
be defined, as well as specific presentation formats for LCA results.
7.2 GOAL
and Scope definition
Through the development of the national
guidelines, the study goal and scope may be further refined from the starting
point given in this guide to ensure applicability to country specific
processes. The Goal and Scope may also be defined separately for rail and road
infrastructure as there will be differences between the two.
Though the product system levels and
functional unit definitions provided here can be regarded as sufficient, it is
recommended to use the national guidelines to provide additional direction in
system boundary definition. System boundaries may be defined in further detail
to reflect country specific conditions in construction, operation and
maintenance as well as use of infrastructure and management of aspects related
to traffic.
7.3 LCA
tools
The focus of the present document is to
further define a methodological framework within ISO and EN standards. As
established country-specific tools vary in built-in methodology, it is
recommended that the development of the national guidelines addresses this
issue. In addition, differences between LCA methodology and implementation
practices defined in this guide and the specific built-in methodology and
implementation of country-specific LCA tools are evident. The national
guidelines are to function as a driver for further development of LCA tools and
implementation processes, with the end goal of consistent and transparent LCA
practices in road and rail infrastructure across Nordic countries.
Harmonization at a national level should be followed by a similar process at a
Nordic level, increasing data quality, comparability and transparency.