In order to analyse the environmental performance of products, it has become standard to use a life
cycle perspective to capture all impacts from resource extraction to the disposal of the product. The
benefits and the potential of the life cycle approach are not limited to an application on products. While
the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology was originally developed for products, its application at
the organizational level is becoming more and more relevant. However, an Organizational LCA (OLCA)
appears to be even more complex. There is more than one product life cycle to follow, as most organizations
are engaged in many product life cycles to different degrees and a large part of environmental impact
can reside outside the organization’s gate, upstream and downstream of the value chain.
The present Technical Specification (TS) is dedicated to the application of LCA to organizations. It,
therefore, extends the application of ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 to all the activities of the organization
that means the reporting unit of the system allows coverage of different products and unit processes of
any organization within the same LCA study.
The choice of goal and scope by the organization during its LCA study is key to assisting this organization
in making the relevant choices according to the present TS, including the products and unit processes
that are studied, the related system boundary, and the time frame which is covered.
This TS is applicable to an organization for a given time period.
This TS is applicable to all types of organizations. If properly justified, application of this TS to segments
or selected companies of an organization is possible.