The Federal Environment Agency (UBA) is an institution from which politicians, associations and the population expect expert guidance. One core question is which products, procedures or services are the preferable choice under environmental aspects.

For issues of great importance and complexity, life cycle assessment (LCA) will be the method of choice, as it is the most technically advanced, recognized across industries and internationally standardized. However, the UBA's daily operations also require it to make environmental assessments or comparisons in a short time and with limited data.

In a previous project, a methodology was developed which enables a simplified, transparent and systematic ecological assessment and which leads to a plausible first environmental assessment even without complete, quantitative investigations.

The aim of the follow-up project is to apply the methodology in three case studies (long-distance buses, central heating systems, vacuum cleaners) to:

• Find ecological answers
• Train the application of the VERUM method
• Test and develop the methodology

Project duration:: 1 February 2015 - 30 November 2016

Contact
Dr.-Ing. Markus Berger
Room Z 202
Phone +49 (0)30 314-25084
E-mail: markus.berger(at)tu-berlin.de