The LCI parametric model can be used to quantify the environmental impacts of the existing different product alternatives,but can be used in product design to assess the potentialimpacts of future products. Possible trade-offs between thedifferent impact categories and life cycle stages can be identifiedonce the most influencing parameters have been identified.Based on the selection of the most influencing parameters,correlation analysis between the LCI parameters andLCIA category indicators can provide a preliminary assessmentfor future product design, guiding the developmentprocess towards the selection of less impacting alternatives.
This procedure can be interpreted as a sort of “sensitivityanalysis”, where different parameters are varied in order todefine their relevance on the overall final score.