Once a robust way of assessing social indicators is achieved, a systematic approach for sustainability assessment—including the simultaneous assessment of ecological, economic, and social dimensions—can be more easily realized. This will enable comparisons of different technology chains by presenting the results from three dimensions using a comprehensible number of indicators in the same diagram (see Fig. 4).
The systematic approach may not immediately tell decision makers which technology they should prioritise. However, it does provide information on the ecological, economic, and social performances of the alternatives using selected indicators to help them make a more informed decision without risking sub-optimisation. This will introduce a new perspective to decision making. The simultaneous assessment of the three dimensions is possible through the development and use of a computer-based tool that utilises concepts and methods of material flow analysis (MFA), substance flow analysis (SFA), and life- cycle assessment (LCA) for the ecological dimension; life-cycle costing (LCC) for the economic dimension: and SIA for the social dimension.
Once the tool becomes fully developed, one of its applications could be to produce state- of-technology sustainability reports that document the contribution of different technology chains to improved sustainability performance.