In MS word put your name on the first page. Make sure to “in-text cite” anything that is beyond our text book readings and attach a bibliography, in MLA format. (Or you can choose to insert footnotes with citations and links – this is fine and will arguably make the doc a bit cleaner. Just make sure I know your sources.) This assignment is more quantitative in spirit. length will be 4 pages not including the bib for the two questions combined. (Answer the TWO below questions and remember this is more quantitative in spirit so graphs, charts to demonstrate will be a plus)
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Q1: Pick two or three sustainability related “investments” in your own life that you have not yet done but that you know probably make sense financially and environmentally. To the best of your ability, research the financial case for these alternatives – looking up and researching the numbers as appropriate. Obvious examples: a heat pump for a furnace rather than a gas furnace, an electric car, double pane windows, solar installation. [Note: if you don’t have the initial resources, you can assume that you do – say up to 50-100k, or you can be as realistic as you want based on your resources]
Now draw from our book and resources on how to do financial calculations for these options [e.g. a heat pump furnace, an electric car, and solar panels – all three relative to the status quo]. You should strive to do more sophisticated financial analysis to make your case (payback, ROI, IRR, NPV), but the key is clarity and you can center on what makes sense to you. ((For example, you could calculate the “whole cost” of LED bulb installation vs. the “whole cost” of standard bulbs (up front cost plus use cost), laying out the raw numbers logically, and that would be sufficient for one of your options. For other options, e.g. insulation in your house walls, you should strive to approach them in the same way)) (Come up with new examples)
Which one came out on top financially [e.g. solar, the car, or the furnace]? Any surprises? Explain.
Is the most financially compelling alternative also the most environmentally compelling one? (make a pass at ranking these alternatives in terms of their environmental impact and their “non cash benefits.” If you do this, strive to be quantitative as well. Note: this is not as important – for example, you don’t have to look for full on LCA. Remember 80/20 – you could quickly find a decent estimate of what the electric car saves in CO2 relative to a gas car AND then what 30 LED bulbs save in CO2 relative to incandescent. No contest – car is way more impactful)
Could you “bundle” the two (or three) options and still have a compelling case financially and environmentally? Could you stagger the timing of these?
Is this more compelling than other options for you financially? (compare this to other ways you might invest your money). If so, are you going to actually act?
Note that I would like you to “go raw” as much as possible – for example, you can use solar ROI calculators etc as a reference, but try to work through the raw numbers in your writeup.
(End of Q1)
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Q2 : Life Cycle Analysis and Carbon Footprinting (a subset of LCA).
LCAs can be really instructive. Pick two or three similar products/ actions that you are genuinely curious about. Try to pick something that you know has probably been analyzed through LCA. (Somewhat tired examples – Wash the dishes by hand, or dishwasher? Paper or Plastic? Cans or bottles? Cloth diapers or disposable diapers?) More contemporary: shop at Amazon or at physical stores like Walmart/ Target (online or bricks and mortar)? Paper books or Ebooks? Electric cars, hybrids, or gas cars? Chicken, beef, pork, or Fake-but-delish-meat-cause-its-veggiebased^™?
Next, do your level best at finding the best research you can on the options, looking for good LCAs (note that comparative carbon footprints qualify – they are a subset of LCAs). You should try to find at least two or three different LCAs (for example, 3 different studies of gas/ electric and hybrid cars – same comparison, just different studies). Be specific about what environmental outcomes these LCAs are analyzing.
Summarize the results of your research without copying whatever you found verbatim (synthesize what you found in your own words).
Is there a clear winner? Which option seems the least impactful overall in terms of environmental outcomes? Is it ambiguous? Did anything surprise you?
How good is the LCA research, in your view? Note who sponsored the LCAs that you utilize in your writeup (Industry sponsored LCAs are generally less credible than academic ones).
Did you learn anything that was surprising, that would change your behavior, or that might change the behavior of organizations that you know?
(End of Q2 )
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Materials that you might find useful :
1- Life-cycle assessment definition
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life-cycle_assessment
2- ISO, Life Cycle Analysis (LCA), environmental and social footprinting tools/ resources
https://www.epa.gov/chemicals-under-tsca
https://www.epa.gov/energy/power-profiler
https://www.epa.gov/e3
https://www.iso.org/iso-14001-environmental-management.html
http://www.buildingtransparency.org/
3- LCA Handbook – Attached.
4- Reading Books (DE +SS ) Attached
**Please ensure that ALL instructions are followed and Either A Bibliography OR Footprint for citation is added**
**PHD level is what I have paid and requested for, Kindly ensure the writing and the analysis reflects that **
**Professional charts and graphs are added **
**The length of the pages should be 4 not including the charts, graphs, and bib )
Thanks and looking forward to getting some great work !
