By the end of this course, students will have an understanding 
of how to perform a complete life cycle assessment of a 
product, process or facility.  This includes the evaluation of 
materials and energy use for manufacturing or construction, 
packaging and handling, energy requirements, solid and liquid 
wastes, and the associated environmental impacts including 
water discharges, air emissions and the associated potential 
for climate change impacts.  Students will learn to use current 
analytical techniques as well as develop methods for 
identifying and deriving the necessary input data.

1)	A study of the parameters involved with conducting a 
thorough environmental life cycle assessment and how to think 
in the broader perspective for considering the overall impact.  
2)	A review of the main analytical tools available for 
summarizing a life cycle assessment, the inputs needed, 
assumptions that the tools make and how to interpret the output 
results.  
3)	Case studies that will complete life cycle assessments 
for the following examples: 
a)	representative manufactured product, 
b)	building construction and operation, 
c)	urban infrastructure systems.
4)	Summarizing the results and conducting analyses for 
reducing the environmental impact for each case study example 
or compare their results to alternative products or systems.

All academic work must meet the standards contained in "A 
Culture of Honesty".  Students are responsible for informing 
themselves about those standards before performing any academic 
work.