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Critical review of life cycle assessment

Solinnen / Our services / Critical review of life cycle assessment

The critical review provides many benefits:

  • Improve the quality of the work by benefiting from external expertise and a critical review
  • Ensure compliance with the requirements of the standards
  • Ensure the validity of the conclusions with regard to the objectives defined and the data collected
  • Anticipate stakeholder comments and guard against misinterpretation of the study’s results and conclusions

Philippe OSSET participated in the development of the ISO/TS 14071 standard, which describes the critical review process as part of life cycle assessment.

Our recommendations

Setting up a panel

Thanks to our network, we can mobilize a set of experts with varied skills that are complementary to ours, to ensure a broader critical review.

Commentaires
Producing detailed comments

Detailed review of the report, 'on site' analysis of the database and modeled systems, drafting a report reflecting the opinion of each panel member, we will make every effort to guarantee the quality and independence of the critical review.

Réunion
Meeting

Organize meetings to discuss comments and validate each proposal for changes. We recommend involving the Critical Review Panel as early as possible in the study, to limit downstream work.<br />

Avis de revue
Producing a final critical review report

Once the report is finalized, the panel chair verifies that the comments are taken into account and draws up a final harmonized and communicable critical review opinion, taking into account the final opinions of each panel member.

A service tailored to your needs

Review of a tool or database

There is now a wide range of “LCA tools”, from generic tools to model the complexity of any life cycle, to more specific tools to address a specific problem (such as the end-of-life management of waste) through the modification of some well-chosen parameters. These tools are based on LCA databases and characterization factors, various life cycles modeling using specific parametrization, and the use of specific rules and calculation modes.

Solinnen has developed a methodology dedicated to tool and database developers and their users to help them:

  • to specify the key points to be treated systematically by the review,
  • to specify the review process to be followed, in order to identify the major problems,
  • to identify the relevant tools in relation to the objectives to be covered, and the expectations expressed by the actors, particularly in the field of environmental labelling (ADEME / AFNOR platform),
  • to maintain the trust of users in LCA practice,
  • and even to improve the development of new tools by providing them with contributions for their specifications, and thereby improve the quality of LCA studies carried out using such tools.
Critical Review of a Comparative LCA Report

Do you want to make available to the public a life cycle assessment report that compares several products or services? An advertisement whose argument is based on a life cycle assessment? To comply with the ISO 14044 standard, this study must be submitted to a critical review by a panel of at least three experts.

Solinnen can provide an expert to chair the critical review panel, and help build the rest of the panel. Our experts can also act as panel members.

Critical review of a non-comparative LCA report

In the case of a life cycle analysis dedicated to a single product or service, which does not involve any comparison, the ISO 14 044 standard requires a critical review be carried out by an independent expert.

Critical review of a third-party study

Have you read a comparative document that provides quantified environmental information and you want to assess its reliability? Whether or not it has been the subject of a critical review under ISO 14 044, Solinnen can make a critical assessment of the relevance of its conclusions to you. To comply with the ISO 14 071 standard, the sponsor of the assessed study must be informed of the completion of this critical review.

Extracts of references in critical review

More references