VALID LCA
Carbon footprint data for products pursuing the Living Product Challenge come from LCAs completed to guidelines in ISO 14040 and 14044, or from Type III facility-specific or product-specific cradle-to-grave Environmental Product Declarations completed to a relevant Product Category Rule that are published by product manufacturers/declaration holders, or published by ISO 14025 program operators that have completed the third-party verification and registration of the EPD, as defined in ISO 14025, ISO 14044, and ISO 21930 and/or EN 15804. The LCA must have been completed and/or critically reviewed by an Approved LCA Practitioner and be made publicly available. The American Center for Life Cycle Assessment (ACLCA) maintains a list of active LCACPs.
An existing LCA may be used if it is still valid. However, manufacturers should note that they may have to further analyze the results or re-engage a consultant who created the LCA in order to discover required program information (e.g. Energy Hotspots) or to better reflect any Footprint reductions that have taken place.
INDUSTRY AVERAGE
Product manufacturers must demonstrate that their product’s water footprint is below the industry average. Manufacturers can submit the industry average, industry-wide or sector LCA or EPD commissioned and completed by their industry or trade association(s). The sector LCA or EPD should reflect the same geography as the final facility, or the final facilities respectively. If a product-specific industry average LCA or EPD does not exist, manufacturers may use a broader product type LCA or EPD that still represents the product seeking certification. Industry average LCAs or EPDs should be used for comparison purposes and relative performance only and does not take place of any other documentation related to product environmental impacts.
DEMONSTRATING CARBON NET POSITIVE
LPC has no on-site Carbon requirements. Achieving this Imperative focuses on the life cycle impacts and achieving Net Positive Carbon through impact reduction, Handprinting and/or purchasing approved carbon offsets. There is no regional requirement for Net Positive Carbon.
Non-quantifiable impacts (e.g. social impacts) resulting from manufacturer Handprinting actions are highly encouraged, but are not required for achievement of the Imperative.
For more information on achieving Net Positive Carbon, see the Handprinting Guide.
CARBON OFFSETS
Approved carbon offsets must be procured to cover the cradle-to-gate carbon footprint of the product on an annual basis, once any efficiency measures for footprint reduction efforts or Handprinting actions have been exhausted. Products that are calculated to have a net carbon-neutral or carbon-sequestering value based on their LCA are considered to comply with the intent of this Imperative and are not required to procure additional carbon offsets.
Approved Carbon Offsets
Carbon offsets must be certified by Green-e Climate or an equivalent program that ensures additionality, leakage prevention, permanence, and audited verification. Only Certified Emission Reduction (CER) and Verified Emission Reduction (VER) carbon credits are suitable for purchase; Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) are not acceptable alternatives for carbon offsets.
Green-e certified carbon offsets must meet an endorsed program currently limited to Gold Standard, Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS) or the Climate Action Reserve requirements for third-party verification. Other certification programs or verification standards must be submitted to the Dialogue for preapproval.
The types of CER and VER carbon offsets allowed are:
- Renewable energy projects. Note that offsets must be from projects that meet the ILFI definition of Renewable Energy, which may be more narrow than definitions used by Green-e Climate or comparable programs.
- Landfill gas-to-energy projects where the methane would otherwise be released to the atmosphere.
- Reforestation projects.
Carbon offsets may be sourced from any location in the world; consideration of local or community-based solutions is encouraged, but not required. Consideration of carbon offsets with additional ecological, cultural, human health or equity benefits is also encouraged, but not required.
Large-scale carbon sequestration assets or activities associated with the project owner must be audited through an approved third-party certifier in order to be claimed as a qualifying carbon offset. Such requests should be submitted to LPC.Support@living-future.org for pre-approval.
Prohibited Carbon Offsets
The carbon reducing function of on-site elements, such as native landscapes, may not be applied to the project as a carbon offset or otherwise accounted for in calculating the embodied carbon footprint of the project.
Although reforestation projects are allowed as offsets, forest management strategies, even those that have been shown to increase carbon capture, are not allowed as offsets under LPC because they do not increase the amount of forested area, or “have additionality.”
ESTABLISHING A FOOTPRINT BASELINE
The fossil energy Footprint baseline per functional unit should be established based on the most recent valid LCA data for the product. To establish the scale of fossil energy impact required to be offset through Handprinting, the manufacturer may use predicted sales volume for the three years of certification. If those values are too high or too low, the manufacturer may use the annual check-ins with their assessor to “true up” Handprinting impacts if they are too low, or establish how much is in their Handprint bank.
