Using Life Cycle Assessment on environmental management projects: a case study of a Brazilian vehicle development

Abstract

The work shows a case study where LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) was used as a tool-driven in the development of a Brazilian vehicle, namely a Buggy. It analyzed the environmental advantages to employ vegetal fibers in development products by LCA focus using the software SIMAPRO V7.1 based on stages of vehicle, from raw material extraction to production. The results are presented by means of confrontation jute fiber and fiberglass based on Eco-Indicator95. They show that materials are both the base of LCA and also too important to build and support an environmental management of products and process.