The current study aims to (1) describe, with the aid of the LCA
method, the environmental impact, particularly greenhouse gases,
of copper and aluminum production in the Chinese indoor air
conditioner industry and (2) propose a comprehensive strategy for
the synergistic control of carbon footprint when copper is replaced
with aluminum. Section 2 describes the systematic methodology
for this study, comprising the pretreatment of the original data and
the application of the LCA method. Section 3 shows the accounting
process and the results on the carbon footprint of copper and
aluminum used in the indoor air conditioner industry from 2000 to
2009. Sections 4 and 5 respectively discuss the highlights of this
paper: the analysis of the developing trend of copper replacement
by aluminum and the cooperative strategy for controlling the carbon
footprint. Finally, comments and conclusions are provided in
Section 6.