A

Allocation: The method used in life cycle assessment to divide the environmental burdens of a shared process among multiple co-products, by-products, or outputs, based on a chosen basis such as mass, economic value, or energy content.
Assessment: The process of gathering data and performing calculations to develop results to describe a situation or process.

B

BACT: Best Available Control Technology, an air permitting requirement under the Clean Air Act's Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) program. New or modified major sources must apply the most effective emissions control technology or method that is technically and economically feasible, determined case-by-case considering energy, environmental, and economic impacts.

C

Carbon footprint: An estimate of the amount of greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen dioxide, and various CFCs) released as a result of a series of actions or the manufacture and use of a product.
Carbon intensity analysis: A determination of the amount of greenhouse gases (see Carbon footprint) associated with a specific quantity of material, for example a unit of mass or volume, expressed in units such as kg of carbon dioxide equivalent per kg of material manufactured (kg CO2-e/kg).
Carbon Trust certification: The Carbon Trust is a not-for-profit UK-based company that has developed a process for performing third-party validation of estimates of carbon footprints. carbontrust.com
CDP: The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) is a not-for-profit charity that runs the global disclosure system for investors, companies, cities, states, and regions to manage their environmental impacts. cdp.net
CO2e / CO2-eq: Carbon dioxide equivalent, a standard unit used to compare the warming impact of different greenhouse gases by converting them to the amount of CO2 that would produce the same global warming effect over a given time horizon (typically 100 years), using each gas's Global Warming Potential (see GWP).
Consent Decree: A regulatory enforcement agreement entered into between a company and a regulatory agency, frequently the US EPA, after a company has been found to have violated laws and thereby gained some environmental benefit. These agreements are typically associated with fines and may include stipulated penalties for additional self-reported exceedances or other non-compliance events after signing.
Cradle-to-gate: The designation of a carbon footprint or life cycle assessment as covering the life cycle stages from the extraction of raw materials from the earth (the cradle) to the exit of the manufacturing process for that product (the gate, sometimes further defined as the plant gate).
Cradle-to-grave: The designation of a carbon footprint or life cycle assessment as covering the life cycle stages from the extraction of raw materials from the earth (the cradle) to final end-of-life for the product (the grave). Where recycling occurs, this may also be included, up to the point where the material has entered its next use as a raw material or product substitute.
CSRD: The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive is an EU directive requiring large companies, including many non-EU companies with significant EU operations, to report detailed sustainability information following the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). ec.europa.eu

E

ecoinvent: A widely used commercial life cycle inventory (LCI) database containing standardized environmental impact data for thousands of materials, energy sources, transport modes, and processes. It serves as the underlying dataset for many LCA and product carbon footprint studies, including xLCA engagements. ecoinvent.org
EcoVadis: A widely used third-party sustainability ratings platform that assesses companies across environmental, labor and human rights, ethics, and sustainable procurement criteria. Results are delivered as a scorecard and medal (Bronze, Silver, Gold, or Platinum), and an EcoVadis assessment is often required by large customers as part of supplier due diligence. ecovadis.com
EHS: Abbreviation for Environmental, Health and Safety. These words may appear in various orders, resulting in varying abbreviations (e.g., HES, SHE).
EMS: Abbreviation for Environmental Management System.
EPA: Abbreviation for Environmental Protection Agency.
EPD: An Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) is a user-friendly summary based on a life cycle assessment of a product or service. It is similar to a Safety Data Sheet (SDS) in that it follows a prescribed tabular format, but instead of health and safety information, it covers the environmental impacts from the life cycle of manufacturing, using, and disposing of a product. EPDs are often published by a program registrar and placed online for reference. environdec.com

F

Functional unit: A quantified description of the performance of a product system, used as the reference basis to which all inputs and outputs, and therefore results, in a life cycle assessment are normalized. It enables fair comparison between alternative products or systems that deliver the same function.

G

GHG Protocol: The most widely used international accounting framework for measuring and reporting greenhouse gas emissions, developed by WRI and WBCSD (see WRI/WBCSD). It divides emissions into Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 categories. ghgprotocol.org
GREET: Argonne National Laboratory (operated by the US Department of Energy) has developed a fuel and transportation model, the Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Technologies Model (GREET), to describe greenhouse gas emissions, water use, and other criteria pollutants from the manufacture and use of a wide range of fuels. greet.es.anl.gov
GRI: The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is an independent, non-profit institution based in the Netherlands that has published comprehensive guidelines on developing corporate sustainability reports. In 2016, the guidelines became GRI Standards, now widely accepted by the investment community as a required standard and process. globalreporting.org
GWP: Global Warming Potential, a measure of how much energy the emissions of a given greenhouse gas will absorb over a set period of time (usually 100 years), relative to the emissions of an equal amount of carbon dioxide. GWP values are used to convert emissions of different gases into CO2e.

H

HAP: Hazardous Air Pollutants, a list of air pollutants regulated by EPA under the Clean Air Act that are known or suspected to cause cancer or other serious health effects, also referred to as air toxics. Facilities that emit HAPs above certain thresholds are subject to additional permitting and control requirements, such as MACT standards. epa.gov

I

Impact category: A class of environmental issue of concern, such as global warming potential, acidification, eutrophication, or resource depletion, to which life cycle inventory results are assigned and characterized in a life cycle impact assessment.
ISO 14040 and ISO 14044: These two standards govern the development of formal life cycle assessment studies and are also often applied to aspects of carbon footprint studies. They are available for purchase through various vendors such as TechStreet. techstreet.com
ISO 14064: A family of international standards specifically governing greenhouse gas accounting, reporting, and verification at the organizational level (Part 1), project level (Part 2), and for validation/verification bodies (Part 3). It is distinct from ISO 14040/14044, which govern product-level life cycle assessment rather than GHG inventories.

L

LCA: A life cycle assessment (LCA) is a standardized, comprehensive method to evaluate potential environmental and human health impacts throughout the life cycle of a product or service, from raw materials to end of life, or to some other stopping point short of that based on the situation, such as a manufacturing plant gate (in which case the study would be called a cradle-to-gate assessment). The stages included or excluded may depend on the goal of a comparative study, where some life cycle stages are the same for both products being compared.
LDAR: Leak Detection and Repair (LDAR) is a process of monitoring volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that leak to the air from process piping components, pumps, and compressors. Refineries and chemical plants are generally required by EPA regulations to conduct periodic monitoring of these emission sources and may be required to repair components that leak above a certain threshold. States and regional air regulatory agencies may add monitoring and reporting requirements beyond those mandated by EPA, for example in Texas and California, typically for refineries or chemical plants located in ozone non-attainment areas.
LEED: The Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI) administers LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) registration and certification, performing third-party technical reviews and verification of LEED-registered projects. The use of products with an EPD in a building can count toward credits for various levels of sustainability recognition, such as Gold or Platinum.
Limited assurance vs. reasonable assurance: Two levels of rigor used in third-party verification of GHG or sustainability disclosures. Limited assurance is a lower level of scrutiny, in which the verifier concludes that nothing has come to their attention indicating the data is materially misstated. Reasonable assurance is a higher level of scrutiny, comparable to a financial audit, in which the verifier actively gathers evidence to support a positive conclusion that the data is free of material misstatement.

M

Market-based vs. location-based: Two methods for calculating Scope 2 (purchased electricity) emissions under the GHG Protocol. The location-based method uses average emission factors for the regional grid where the electricity is consumed. The market-based method uses emission factors from the specific contracts a company has entered into, such as renewable energy certificates (RECs) or utility green power products, reflecting the supplier-specific choices a company has made.
Materiality Assessment: A Materiality Assessment identifies critical elements of a system, process, product, or company that positively and negatively impact the ability to achieve goals across each facet of ESG and sustainability programs. Material issues identified represent a company's most significant environmental, social, and governance concerns from the standpoint of stakeholder interests and its license to operate.

N

NAAQS: National Ambient Air Quality Standards, EPA-established limits on ambient concentrations of six criteria air pollutants (particulate matter, ozone, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and lead) that states must meet. Areas that fail to meet these standards are designated as non-attainment, which can trigger stricter permitting requirements. epa.gov
NSR: New Source Review, a Clean Air Act permitting program that requires new stationary sources or major modifications to existing sources to obtain a permit and, in many cases, install pollution control technology such as BACT before construction begins.

P

PCR: Product Category Rules (PCRs) are developed for classes of products or services by an EPD Registrar to give the methodology for performing LCAs and the required content and format for resulting EPDs. Standardizing results this way lets the registrar more easily organize them for online access.
PSD: Prevention of Significant Deterioration, a Clean Air Act permitting program that applies to new major sources or major modifications in areas that are in attainment with NAAQS. It requires an air quality impact analysis and application of BACT to prevent significant deterioration of air quality in those areas.
Product Life Cycle: A description of the process that starts from extracting raw materials from the earth, through the product manufacturer's own processing steps, to sales and distribution, and on through use by the consumer and the ultimate disposal or recycling of the product at the end of its useful life.

Q

QA/QC: Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC) refers to the process by which measurement data from a process or collection of processes is reviewed and judged. This can include adjusting for missing data, replacing or excluding outliers, applying assumptions for data that cannot actually be measured, and performing checks and further analysis on the suitability of calculated results. Best practice often includes a sensitivity analysis, an uncertainty analysis, and benchmarking results against data and calculations performed by others that should be similar.

R

RCRA: The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) of 1980 directed EPA to develop a comprehensive set of regulations requiring care in the handling, treatment, and disposal of hazardous wastes. These regulations can be found in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) at 40 CFR 261 to 268. ecfr.gov

S

SB 253: The California Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act, a California law requiring large companies doing business in the state, with total annual revenues over $1 billion, to publicly disclose their Scope 1, Scope 2, and (later) Scope 3 GHG emissions, with third-party assurance requirements phased in over time. arb.ca.gov
SBTi: The Science Based Targets initiative is a partnership organization that defines and validates corporate greenhouse gas emission reduction targets in line with climate science. It provides target-setting standards and a formal process for companies to have their targets independently assessed and approved. sciencebasedtargets.org
Scope 1: Life cycle scientists divide environmental impacts into three broad categories depending on which part of the life cycle contributes them to the environment. Scope 1 emissions are referred to as "direct" because they are the direct responsibility of the site operator's actions. They include combustion of fuels at the site, venting of greenhouse gases (e.g., methane), or the extraction of materials from the earth at the site (e.g., mining).
Scope 2: Scope 2 emissions are labeled "indirect" because they do not occur at the product manufacturer's plant site but are a consequence of its operations. Examples include electricity (since the power plant is typically neither on the manufacturing site nor operated by that company), offsite steam production, and heated media delivery such as a circulated hot water system.
Scope 3: Scope 3 emissions are those that cannot be classified as Scope 1 or Scope 2. Examples include impacts from raw material manufacture, transportation steps upstream and downstream of the manufacturing site, distribution and sales operations, use of the product by the consumer or downstream business, and end-of-life impacts from waste treatment, disposal, and/or recycling.
Sustainability: There are many ways to describe sustainability. Perhaps the clearest comes from the 2005 World Summit on Social Development, which framed it in terms of three goals: economic development, social development, and environmental protection. Wikipedia provides a broader spectrum of ways to describe the term.
Sustainability Plan: A sustainability plan is developed by a company to communicate internally and externally its intended process for establishing governance, policies, and procedures to reach sustainability goals. It is typically based on a set of business priorities established by a materiality assessment.
System boundary: The set of criteria specifying which unit processes, life cycle stages, and inputs/outputs are included within a life cycle assessment, defining what is and is not accounted for in the study (see also Cradle-to-gate and Cradle-to-grave).

T

TSCA: The US EPA Toxic Substances Control Act covers a number of aspects of chemical manufacturing. Most significant for most manufacturing facilities are the requirements to submit a Pre-Manufacturing Notification (PMN) before initial production of certain chemicals, and to submit a Chemical Data Report (CDR) if manufacturing or importing chemicals over certain thresholds. The CDR covers quantities manufactured or imported by year, reported historically every four years. federalregister.gov
Tier 2: The Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (SARA) created the requirement to report an industrial facility's hazardous chemical inventory: the average and maximum inventory of chemicals stored on site during the report year with physical or health hazards significant enough to appear on a Safety Data Sheet (SDS), if present over a specified threshold quantity (over 25,000 lb for many chemicals). Many states have added their own reporting elements and submittal portals. epa.gov
Title V: An operating permit program under the Clean Air Act covering major sources of air pollution. It consolidates all applicable air quality requirements for a facility into a single, comprehensive, and legally enforceable permit that must be renewed periodically, typically every 5 years.
TRI: A Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) is an annual accounting by major manufacturing facilities of releases of a specified list of hazardous chemicals to air, water, and land. These reports are mandated by EPA, which has established a comprehensive process for the required calculations, following a hierarchy of emissions estimation methods that prioritizes measurements over emission factors. Results are publicly accessible, and an entire year's reporting can be accessed via a single downloadable file. epa.gov

W

WRI/WBCSD: The Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol) was jointly convened in 1998 by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and World Resources Institute (WRI). Two key standards developed by these groups are the Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard and the Product Life Cycle Accounting and Reporting Standard. ghgprotocol.org

Glossary of Terms