LCA Glossary of Terms - Sustainly Learning Page

Term	Definition
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)	Assessment of a product’s impacts across its full life cycle, beyond CO2e.
Environmental Product Declaration (EPD)	Third-party verified, concise public summary of an underlying LCA.
Product Environmental Footprint (PEF)	EU methodology for multi-indicator assessment and comparability within a category.
Functional unit	Unit based on service/use (e.g., 200 wears) to enable fair comparisons.
Declared unit	Unit per reference quantity (e.g., 1 kg, 1 piece) when function isn’t defined.
Impact categories	Indicators covering effects on nature, human health, and resources.
Hotspot analysis	Identification of lifecycle stages/materials that drive most impact.
Attributional modelling	Totals direct contributions across lifecycle stages (common for EPD/PEF).
Consequential modelling	Looks at system-wide effects and market changes (more academic/large-scale).
EF 3.1 methodology	EU method with 16 indicators; includes normalisation and weighting.
IPCC 2021 methodology	Carbon-footprint method focused on global warming potential (short/long term).
ReCiPe methodology	Method reporting three endpoints: human health, ecosystems, resource availability.
Carbon tunnel vision	Narrow focus on CO2e that overlooks other material impacts.
LCA databases	Measured elementary-flow data for materials, processes, and emissions.
Ecoinvent	Proprietary, transparent, editable LCA database.
European Footprint database	EU, aggregated, free-access database built from existing sources.
Digital Product Passport (DPP)	Standardised digital record of product lifecycle and supply-chain data.
EN 15804	European framework for construction EPDs, including recycling credit rules.
Normalisation & weighting	Processes to contextualise and prioritise indicator results.
Comparative LCA	LCA comparing alternatives on a common functional basis.

LCA Guideline