Scorecards, Databases, and Tools, pt. 1:

New Database Coordination Efforts

Sustainability Forum @ PaperCon 2010Atlanta4 May

Gregory A. Norris

Harvard / Univ of ArkansasSylvatica / New Earth

Overview

• Drivers of data development• LCA Basics• Driver Update• Database Status Summary• Data and Tool Projections

This Session:

• “Scorecards, Databases, and Tools”

General Relationships

Uses

DataTools

Methods

AnalystsUsers

General Relationships: LCA 1970 - 2010

LCA Studies

LCI DatabasesLCA Tools

ISO Standards; LCIA Methods

AnalystsUsers

IndustriesProducers

Evaluation Frameworks

General Relationships: LC Sustainability 2000 - 2010

Initiatives

LCI Databases

ISO Standards; LCIA Methods; Certification Systems

AnalystsUsers

Industries“Initiators”

General Relationships: LC Sustainability circa 2010

Initiatives

LCI Databases(Initiative

Tools)

AnalystsUsers

Industries

InitiativesInitiatives

IndustriesSupplyChains

ISO Standards; LCIA Methods; Certification Systems

Evaluation FrameworksEvaluation FrameworksEvaluation FrameworksEvaluation Frameworks

Initiators, Retailers

General Relationships: LC Sustainability next few years

LCI Data MarketVariety of tools for

Supply Chains & other Users

Helpers,trainers

Users

Movement

Supply ChainsBecome Analysts

ISO Standards; LCIA Methods; Certification Systems

Evaluation FrameworksEvaluation FrameworksEvaluation FrameworksInterplay of Frameworks

Initiators, RetailersGovernments

Demand → Breaking Point

Solution: technology and marketsupportingwin-win behavior that is cumulative & scalable

Current System

Cumulative, Scalable, Evolving

Technology Analogy?

Picture this:Open Street MapBeing widely applied forJourney Planning & Storytelling

Overview

• Drivers of data development• LCA Basics• Driver Update• Database Status Summary• Data and Tool Projections

Building Block Concepts for the new vision

• Unit processes– Input-output / Process models

• Life cycle inventory results (“footprints”)• Life cycle Impact Assessment Results• Industry Average / Product-specific• Databases• Software

Building Block of Footprint Computation: Unit Process

Inputs from nature

Outputs to nature

Inputsfromotherprocesses

Outputstoother processes

Life Cycle Inventory: Cradle-To-Gate “Footprint”

LCI -- LCIA method -- LCIA ResultsData1.0001.3001.6001.9002.2002.5002.8003.1003.4003.7004.0004.3004.6004.9005.2005.5005.8006.1006.4006.7007.0007.3007.6007.9008.2008.5008.8009.1009.4009.70010.00010.30010.60010.90011.20011.500

Beyond LCA: Extensible Data Standards for reportingon unit processes and supply chains

Data1.0001.3001.6001.9002.2002.5002.8003.1003.4003.7004.0004.3004.6004.9005.2005.5005.8006.1006.4006.7007.0007.3007.6007.9008.2008.5008.8009.1009.4009.70010.00010.30010.60010.90011.20011.500

Data1.0001.3001.6001.9002.2002.5002.8003.1003.4003.7004.0004.3004.6004.9005.2005.5005.8006.1006.4006.7007.0007.3007.6007.9008.2008.5008.8009.1009.4009.70010.00010.30010.60010.90011.20011.500

Impact Assessment Methods are mult-stage; and multipleData1.0001.3001.6001.9002.2002.5002.8003.1003.4003.7004.0004.3004.6004.9005.2005.5005.8006.1006.4006.7007.0007.3007.6007.9008.2008.5008.8009.1009.4009.70010.00010.30010.60010.90011.20011.500

Overview

• Drivers of data development• LCA Basics• Driver Update• Database Status Summary• Data and Tool Projections

Driver Update: Emergence of the Movement

• Data ROLES have changed (increased)• Data SCOPE is changing, as a result

– In (at least) Two Ways• Data NAKEDNESS has changed (and it ain't pretty yet)• The data DEADLINE has changed (and it's not later)• The Data PRICE TAG has changed (and it didn't go up)• Data EXPECTATIONS on supply chains are changing

(and they aren't going down)

• The necessary data future: Feedback Loops & Network Effects

Data ROLES are changing (increasing)

• Scorecards• Sustainability Measurement & Reporting Standards• Consumer-facing Web-based systems• Footprinting• Attempts to Harmonize/Consolidate Certification

Systems• Government Sustainable Purchasing

Movement

Things Have Changed

Data SCOPE is changing

• e.g., China

• e.g., “Social and Environmental”

When a Goal is Visibility Into Supply Chains...

• ...Transparency Becomes a Deliverable.

Visibility: Supply Chain Risk/Opportunity/Costs

Visibility: Supply Chain Risk/Opportunity/Costs

Visibility: Supply Chain Risk/Opportunity/Costs

Visibility: Supply Chain Risk/Opportunity/Costs

Responses to our Data in the Buff

1. “Wait a minute... are you telling me...?... Get that out of here!”

1. Get some better (more appropriate, more precise) data!a) Supplier-specificb) Industry Average

1. Help me understand, and use, uncertainty:a) Influence of data imperfectionsb) Priority data refinements

The Deadline Has Changed...

The Price Tag Has Changed...

Expectations on Supply Chains are Changing

• Compliance as a requirement• Risk reduction as a requirement• Innovation as a requirement – Track and report

progress• Transparency as a requirement – “What have you

done for my visibility lately?”

“Timeout”: Database Status Summary

• US LCI: 10 years, 200 unit processes)• ILCD: Handbooks, network• Ecoinvent: 5000+ unit processes

– Data-as-document becoming freely available• Finally becoming explicit (in Ecospold 2, database 3)

about global supply chains, and trade– Introducing markets

• Canadian Ecoinvent project launching– Make all obvious and possible replacements up front– Re-calibrate uncertainties throughout database– Develop new data for most important uncertainties– Continually improve quality (reduce uncertainty)

Uncertainty as the window onto upstream data

• Inherent uncertainty• Application uncertainty• Find and use lowest-uncertainty data• Capture uncertainty's influence• Register data needs in web• Interaction of needs and uncertainty reduction

becomes driver of a market for LCI data.

Expectations on Supply Chains are Changing

• Compliance as a requirement• Risk reduction as a requirement• Innovation as a requirement – Track and report

progress• Transparency as a requirement – “What have you

done for my visibility lately?”

Forecast: Crowd-Sourcing Data and Tool Development

The data, and tools with which we create, share, & use it

Data Feedback loops: Positive

Product-specific information:* Site-level validation;* Aggregate 3 or more to grow the resource of industry average unit processes.

The Semantic Web

• Use the web as a global, open-ended, database• Publish data, with metadata, so machines can read it

– Crowd-source this (and open-source it)• Publish models of data relationships (“Ontologies”)

– Document evaluation frameworks– Enable data to serve multiple frameworks– Enable users to compare frameworks

• → Marketplace for frameworks• → Linked Open Data

→ Agile data usage development→ Flexible data usage evolution

Linked Open Data

Linked Open Data: Agility, and Evolve-ability

“ We are seeing real benefits of having gone down the

semantic technology path. This manifests itself primarily

in flexibility and speed of development.

We can incorporate new data sources, whether

structured, semi-structured or unstructured...

and build and change applications at a pace that I could

only dream of in previous corporate incarnations.”

Tom Ilube is Chief Executive Officer of Garlik , a consumer company pioneering a range of services to help give people real power over their personal information in the digital world.

Until recently, Tom Ilube was Chief Information Officer (CIO) of the world's largest pure online bank , Egg PLC. Egg PLC was launched in 1998, and Tom was the original Launch Programme Manager. Today Egg is one of the world's largest online banks, with over 4 million customers.

Discussion