Among the tools based on life cycle thinking is the life cycle
assessment (hereafter LCA) methodology, which is used in the
identification of the potential environmental impacts of a product
and highlights which of the direct and indirect processes of an
organization have meaningful environmental impacts in different
categories of impact such as climate change [18].
In this research, a life cycle assessment study was not conducted;
in fact, the focuswas on GHG emissions. Rather, the scheme
that is presented by the ISO 14040 standard [19,20] (which specifies
the requirements of life cycle assessment studies) is used as
a methodological reference to support the GHG Protocol and ISO
14064-1 in the identification of direct and indirect processes that
have a major impact on climate change.
Another important methodological reference is the BSI PAS
2050, a specification for the assessment of the life cycle greenhouse
gas emissions of goods and services [21,22]. The research, conducted
between 2005 and 2007, has not considered BSI PAS 2050
because it was published in October 2008. However, this methodological
reference has been considered in the discussion of the
results.
In line with the objectives of this study, the conducted research
is quantitative; it has a confirmative purpose and uses a single
study case [23].