Sustainability Principles and Practices 2023 Assignments - Project University of Windsor 1
Sustainability Assessment
Overview:
Conduct a conceptual life cycle assessment on a conceptual or proposed project or process,
and compare it to its next, already available alternatives that fulfills the same need or function.
You will work both individually and in a group for this end-of-term project.
Project Specifics:
The focus of the project is to use the knowledge and techniques about life cycle assessment (LCA)
gained in class to assess the sustainability issues facing a new conceptual or proposed project or
process. The subject to be assessed must not already exist: it can be be proposed, but has
not yet been constructed, made, or otherwise fabricated. If it does exist, no LCA must have
been already been performed on it.
This project or process must then be compared to the next, best already available alternatives.
You may select up to two other, available alternatives. The focus of the project should be on the
engineering related aspects: for example, how is a particular material extracted, processed, and
then assembled into a product, and what can be improved from an environmental standpoint. You
may also assess social and economic issues if they affect the engineering aspects. Your project
should present and compare the alternatives: using an LCA, come to a conclusion about
which one is preferred.
BONUS: Extra consideration will be given if one of the alternatives is based on a policy or
governance change, which then affects the engineered solution.
You will work in groups of 3 students: each student will assess one alternative. You may have
to modify the scope of your project to accommodate the number of students in your group. As a
group, you will need to decide your project system boundary and how to best divide the LCA
topics of your chosen project. These will form the major categories and/or life stages that will
be included and assessed in your LCA.
For example each person will for his or her alternative examine how it performs in the various life
stages (phases) of:
• Raw materials acquisition.
• Manufacturing.
• Product delivery.
• Use/reuse/maintenance.
• Recycle/waste management.
NOTE: As a group, you may select only some of the 5 stages if you can justify that some of the
stages are insignificant.
The project will be divided into three sections:
Sustainability Principles and Practices 2023 Assignments - Project University of Windsor 2
Part 1: Proposal and Interim Report
Submit a maximum 1 page proposal that outlines:
• The chosen LCA project, product, or service and the three total alternatives you will
evaluate. These include the conceptual alternatives you wish to evaluate.
• The overall, broad objectives and scope of your analysis (see details in Final Group and
Individual Reports section).
• A short paragraph on why your group chose this LCA subject justifying how your chosen
project will benefit from an LCA.
• This interim report is due on Monday, July 17th, 2023. It will count for 5% of your
course grade. All members of the group receive the same mark. I will report to you if
your chosen topic is suitable.
Part 2: Interim Report
Submit a maximum 3 page report that outlines:
• The chosen LCA project and the three total alternatives you will evaluate. These include
the conceptual alternatives you wish to evaluate.
• The detailed objectives and scope of your analysis (see details in Final Group and
Individual Reports section).
• A summary literature review that describes the issues behind your chosen project.
• A overview description of the life stages (and categories as applicable) that will be
examined as major parts of your project, and which group member will assess each life stage.
• The functional unit that you are proposing to use.
• The problems that your group anticipates.
• This interim report is due on Wednesday, July 26, 2023. It will count for 10% of your
course grade. All members of the group receive the same mark.
Part 3: Final Group and Individual Report(s):
As a group, prepare a 3-page overview report that will:
1. Define and discuss the major objective(s) of your LCA and scope the boundaries of your
project. You can expand on what you wrote in Part 2. This step is critical. There can be many
different ways to approach your analysis. For example, you should identify the purpose of the
LCA – is it to demonstrate what are the life cycle impacts and benefits and how they can be
improved, or it is more useful to compare it to other similar projects?
2. Present the major life cycle stages of your projects. You can expand on what you wrote in
Part 2. You should justify why your group feels these stages are the most important and what
their critical issues are. It may save time and effort and provide more clarity to the reader if you
supplement your text with diagrams.
3. Define and discuss the functional unit of your study. Consider what situation is actually being
measured and what other factors could be involved.
Sustainability Principles and Practices 2023 Assignments - Project University of Windsor 3
4. Assess and justify which of the alternatives is the preferred alternative based on your LCA.
A multiobjective evaluation or other similar decision method would be useful.
Clearly state any reasonable assumptions to help define your project.
This overview report should be no more than 3 pages (single spaced, not including title page, preface
pages, references, appendices). Unless you approach me to discuss an alternate grading scenario,
each person in the group will receive the same grade for this portion of the report. This group report
will count for 3% of your course grade.
As an individual, prepare an individual, 5-page report that will:
1. Describe in detail one of the significant alternatives your group identified previously that fulfill
this product or process. Alternatively, describe in detail one of the significant aspects that you
will be assessing.
2. Undertake a conceptual life cycle inventory (LCI) for your alternative. You may wish to focus
on the key life cycle stages or categories of concern. Be consistent with the group.
3. Analyze the implications of this LCI and what it means for the life cycle assessment. In other
words, what are the significant issues and what are possible improvements or mitigation
measures? You may use diagrams or graphical depictions to show the type and degree of
severity of the issues. Avoid using too many simplifying assumptions.
4. Assess how accurate are your LCI and LCA, and what would need to be undertaken to improve
your analysis to arrive at a preferred solution (if applicable) or at a credible analysis.
5. If applicable, assess the LCA issues within your alternative. Again, a multiobjective evaluation
or similar decision method may be useful.
Your individual report should be no more than 5 pages (single spaced, not including title page,
references, appendices) and it will be marked individually. You are encouraged to check and edit
each other’s work. However, the work must be your own. This individual report will count for
17% of your course grade.
The final report (group and individual) is due on Friday, August 4, 2023.
Not Permitted:
The following subjects are not permitted for this project:
1. Comparing paper versus plastic bags versus reusable bags for consumer use.
2. Comparing beverage containers (e.g., Styrofoam versus paper coffee cups).
3. Comparing cloth versus plastic diapers.
4. Comparing solar versus wind technologies.
5. Comparing hybrid gasoline-electric vehicles versus gasoline vehicles vs electric vehicles.
6. Comparing LCD/plasma display screens versus CRT monitors/TVs.
7. Comparing compact fluorescent light bulbs versus incandescent light bulbs vs LED bulbs.
8. Comparing books versus electronic readers or media (e.g., iPad, Kindle, etc.).
9. Comparing cell phones versus landline phones.
10. Comparing the bridge or third crossing between Windsor and Detroit.
11. Comparing the transport of oil using rail, pipe, truck or ship.
Sustainability Principles and Practices 2023 Assignments - Project University of Windsor 4
Note: As instructor, I reserve the right to disallow an LCA related topic that has been
thoroughly researched and which has readily available literature.
Project Format:
Include a title page for the overall report.
Charts, tables, and other methods of organizing data are encouraged throughout.
Include a list of references used. There must be a minimum of four monographs and/or
refereed articles used in the assignment.
Literature must be properly referenced throughout. Use the citation and referencing
convention normally found for the Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering or the SAE
publications.
Use minimum 1 inch margins.
Use Times New Roman font size 12 for the main body of the text.
