Basing environmental arguments on ISO/TS 14048 documented facts
The aim of this strategy is to show how
the ISO/TS 14048 data documentation format can be used to assure that the
environmental arguments used by companies or other organizations are
well-founded and supported by accessible, understandable and reviewable
documents. The strategy is documented by Industrial Environmental Informatics,
Chalmers University of Technology.
Environmental data are used for decisions
Environmental data are used by different users that intend to take decisions
that support sustainable development, i.e. in some way improving the
environmental performance of product life cycles. This strategy describes a
solution for assuring that environmental arguments used by companies or other
organizations are well-founded and supported by accessible, understandable and
reviewable documents. The providers of environmental data can use the ISO/TS
14048 data documentation format to transparently document the basis for the data
and hence describe and increase the quality of the data. The users of the
environmental data get the possibility to determine the quality of the data.
Format for quality assured documentation of processes
The Technical Specification ISO/TS 14048 is part of the ISO 14040 series of
standards for life cycle assessment (LCA). ISO/TS 14048 supports transparent
reporting, interpretation and review of data collection, data calculation, data
quality and data reporting. It specifies and describes a data documentation
format intended for documentation of processes, such as individual production
processes, production lines, product systems, waste management systems,
transportation routes etc. In addition to LCA, it can also be applied for other
methods and tools used for the management of environmental data and assessment
of environmental performance, e.g. environmental management systems and emission
trading.
The format can be used both to document individual processes as well as
processes that are composed of a combination of processes.
The format is developed following the requirements and guidance on life cycle
inventory analysis (LCI) provided in ISO 14041. It handles the documentation for
all steps of a life cycle inventory (LCI), and is divided into the main parts
Process, Modelling and validation, and Administrative information
(illustrated in Figure 1 below):
Figure 1 Data documentation of processes. From ISO/TS 14048:2002(E).
Copyright © ISO 2002.
The data documentation is divided into data fields, which contain specific
information. The content of each data field is described in the document, and
the description of each data field is further specified by formatting
requirements and the structure of the data documentation format. It should be
noted that ISO/TS 14048 does not include requirements on completeness of data
documentation, i.e. that any specific data field must be filled in. Requirements
on completeness of documentation should be agreed between the provider and the
user of the information. The format is also independent of any software or
database platform for implementation. It can hence be used by any person or
organisation as basis for developing data documentation forms and reports,
databases and data exchange formats etc.
Working procedure
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