A degradação ambiental proporcionada pelo consumo de produtos (JORGENSON, 2003) é fruto tanto da evolução de uma sociedade que se distancia da natureza (MORAN, 2011), quanto de suas reais necessidades (FRY, 2005). Da mesma forma, os interesses do mercado, de governos e de consumidores enrijecem a manutenção de uma sociedade hiperconsumista (FRY, 2005). Este fato é observado pela existência de políticas governamentais de consumo (corrente do consumo verde) que prezam pela rotulagem ambiental, depositam a responsabilidade da redução da degradação ambiental no consumidor (AKENJI, 2014), e que não consideram que o aumento da ecoeficiência, sem questionar quais são os limites ambientais impostos para a realização das atividades humanas, provocam um efeito de rebote que pode elevar ainda mais a degradação ambiental (HANLEY et al., 2009). Em contrapartida, a corrente do consumo sustentável afirma ser necessário repensar os níveis de consumo de modo a não ultrapassarmos os limites impostos pelo ambiente à realização das nossas atividades (AKENJI, 2014). Desta forma, a informação necessária para a corrente do consumo sustentável é aquela que indica em que medida as capacidades de suporte do ambiente foram superadas (ALCOTT, 2008). Dentre todos os instrumentos capazes de fornecer informação sobre os aspectos ambientais de produtos, a Avaliação do Ciclo de Vida (ACV) é o único instrumento desenhado para avaliar as consequências ambientais relacionadas ao ciclo de vida de um produto (CHEHEBE, 1997). Entretanto, as evidências encontradas na bibliografia indicam que os métodos utilizados pela ACV para mensurar as consequências ambientais do produto (métodos de AICV - Avaliação do Impacto do Ciclo de Vida) foram estruturados para calcular majoritariamente a ecoeficiência dos produtos, pois são poucos (ou não indicados pela bibliografia) os casos em que a capacidade de suporte do ambiente é avaliada por estes métodos (POTTING; HAUSCHILD, 2006). Diante deste quadro, esta dissertação se propôs a avaliar se os métodos de AICV existentes estão alinhados à sustentabilidade forte ou se estão alinhados à sustentabilidade fraca. Dois critérios de avaliação foram definidos com base nos princípios da sustentabilidade forte: (i) O resultado do indicador da Categoria de Impacto deve apresentar quanto da capacidade de suporte foi ultrapassada ou não para as emissões relacionadas ao ciclo de vida do produto - alinhado ao princípio (a) da sustentabilidade forte, de que as atividades humanas devem ser limitadas à capacidade de suporte do ambiente (COSTANZA; DALY, 1992) - e, (ii) Todas as Categorias de Impacto (CIs) do método de AICV devem atender ao requisito (i) - alinhado ao princípio (b) da sustentabilidade forte, de que não há substitutabilidade completa entre os diferentes elementos do capital natural (COSTANZA; DALY, 1992). Dos métodos de AICV avaliados (CML 2002, Eco-Indicator 99, Eco-Factors 2006, EDIP 2003, IMPACT2002+, MEErP 2011) verificou-se que nenhum método está alinhado aos princípios da sustentabilidade forte, pois os critérios (i) e (ii) não foram atendidos concomitantemente. Desta forma, concluiu-se que por não estarem alinhados aos princípios da sustentabilidade forte, os métodos de AICV avaliados não são capazes de atender à demanda do consumo sustentável por informações. Sua utilização demonstra que as políticas de consumo verde continuam a depositar a maior responsabilidade pela reversão da degradação ambiental nos consumidores, sem alterar a estrutura sistêmica criada pelos governos, pelo mercado e consumidores na qual o hiperconsumo prevalece. / The environmental degradation provided by the consumption of products (JORGENSON, 2003) is the result of the evolution of a society that distances itself away from nature (MORAN, 2011) and from its real needs (FRY, 2005). At the same time, the interests of the market, governments and consumers maintain the hyper-consumption society (FRY, 2005). This fact is noticed by the presence of government consumption policies that appreciate environmental labeling, lay the responsibility for the reduction of the environmental degradation on the consumer (green consumption current) (AKENJI, 2014), and do not consider that the increase in eco-efficiency, without questioning the environmental limits for human activities, causes a rebound effect that can further raise environmental degradation (HANLEY et al., 2009). In contrast, the sustainable consumption current claims to be necessary to rethink consumption levels in order not to overpass the limits imposed by the environment for our activities (AKENJI, 2014). Thus, the necessary information for the sustainable consumption current is the one that indicates to what extent the environmental carrying capacity is exceeded (ALCOTT, 2008). Among all the instruments able to provide information on the environmental aspects of products, the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is the only instrument designed to assess the environmental consequences related to the life cycle of a product (CHEHEBE, 1997). However, the evidence found in the literature indicates that the methods used by LCA to measure the environmental impact of products (LCIA methods - Life Cycle Impact Assessment) were structured to mainly calculate the eco-efficiency of products, once there are only a few cases (or no indicated by references) in which the environmental carrying capacity is assessed by these methods (POTTING; HAUSCHILD, 2006). Given this context, this work aimed to evaluate whether existing LCIA methods are aligned to the strong or weak sustainability currents. Two evaluation criteria were defined on the basis of strong sustainability: (i) The results of the Impact Category indicator should present how much of the carrying capacity has been exceeded or not by the emissions related to the product life cycle according to the principle (a) of the strong sustainability, which states that human activities should be limited by the environmental carrying capacity (COSTANZA; DALY, 1992) - and (ii) All Impact Categories of a LCIA method must meet the requirement (i) - according to the principle (b) of the strong sustainability, which states that there is no complete substitutability between the different elements of natural capital (COSTANZA; DALY, 1992). From the evaluation of the LCIA methods (CML 2002, Eco-Indicator 99 Eco-Factors 2006, EDIP 2003 IMPACT2002+ and MEErP 2011) it was found that any of these methods are aligned with the principles of the strong sustainability, once the methods do not comply with criteria (i) and (ii ) concurrently. Thus, it was concluded that once they are not aligned to the principles of strong sustainability, the evaluated LCIA methods are not able to meet the demand of sustainable consumption for information. Its use demonstrates that green consumption policies continue to place the greatest responsibility for the reversal of the environmental degradation on consumers, without changing the systemic structure created by governments, the market and consumers in which hyper-consumption prevails.

Apesar de ser uma técnica de avaliação de impactos ambientais reconhecida e utilizada internacionalmente, a Avaliação do Ciclo de Vida (ACV) encontra dificuldades em integrar aspectos espaciais e temporais em suas avaliações. Esta questão tem fomentado pesquisas voltadas à inserção da diferenciação espacial tanto na fase de inventário (ICV), por meio do levantamento de dados contendo informações espaciais em diversas escalas, quanto na fase de avaliação de impacto (AICV), por meio do desenvolvimento de fatores de caracterização espacialmente diferenciados. Os usos da terra e suas dinâmicas temporais e espaciais têm sido foco destas pesquisas de modo a verificar suas implicações sobre a biodiversidade e os serviços dos ecossistemas decorrentes, principalmente de atividades como a agricultura. Sendo a cana-de-açúcar a principal matéria-prima para o etanol combustível no Brasil e ocupando extensas áreas na Bacia Hidrográfica do Tietê-Jacaré-SP, o presente trabalho se propõe a discutir a aplicabilidade de modelos de caracterização de impactos relacionados aos usos da terra em uma abordagem específica ao local, adotando-se como base para aplicação o cenário de expansão da cana-de-açúcar nesta bacia. Para tal, foram selecionados três modelos de caracterização relacionados a três vias de impacto: biodiversidade, produção biótica potencial (PBP) e potencial de regulação da erosão (PRE). Esses modelos foram aplicados ao processo produtivo da cana-de-açúcar adaptando-os para a área de estudo, nos quais os dados de inventário foram levantados por meio dos softwares de SIG IDRISI TAIGA e ArcGis 10.2 e na literatura. Posteriormente esses modelos foram aplicados utilizando a abordagem loco-dependente e os resultados comparados com os da avaliação específica. Para a categoria biodiversidade houve maior dificuldade para obtenção de informações locais e, portanto, utilizou-se uma simplificação do modelo selecionado, não sendo possível sua aplicação loco-dependente. Já para as outras categorias, a aplicação apresentou acentuada diferenciação dos resultados em relação à abordagem loco-dependente, indicando que os valores globais de ICV sugeridos pelos autores para estas categorias não representam a realidade brasileira e, portanto, valores específicos ao local oferecem informações de maior qualidade para tomada de decisão em âmbito regional e local. Os resultados ainda apontam significativas diferenças nas avaliações segundo os diferentes tipos de solo e bioma nos quais ocorrerá a expansão da cana para as categorias PBP e PRE. Conclui-se que os modelos desenvolvidos para PBP e PRE possuem potencial de aplicação em escala local ao passo que os modelos desenvolvidos para biodiversidade necessitam de algumas simplificações e implicam em maiores incertezas. A disponibilidade dos dados necessários para esta abordagem pode constituir um fator limitante para sua aplicação, além disso, a escolha da melhor abordagem a ser utilizada irá depender dos objetivos do estudo. / Despite its international use and recognized nature as an Environmental Impact Assessment technique, the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) leads to difficulties on integrating spatial and temporal aspects in their assessment. There has been a rising interest in researches related to the inclusion of spatial differentiation both in the inventory phase (LCI), through data collection containing spatial information at various scales, and in the impact assessment phase (LCIA), through the development of spatially explicit characterization factors. Land use and its temporal and spatial dynamics have receive priority attention in order to verify their implications on biodiversity and ecosystem services derived mainly from activities such as agriculture. Since sugarcane is the main raw material for fuel ethanol in Brazil and occupying large areas in the Tietê-Jacaré-SP watershed, this study aims to discuss the applicability of characterization models of impacts associated to land uses in a site specific approach, adopting as the basis for application the expansion scenario of sugarcane in this area. This has been done by selecting three characterization models related to three impact pathways: biodiversity, biotic production potential (BPP) and erosion regulation potential (ERP). These models were applied to the sugarcane production process by means of their adaptation to the area of study and taking into account the literature and the inventory collected through GIS software IDRISI TAIGA and ArcGIS 10.2. Later, these models were applied using the site-dependent approach and the results were compared to the site specific assessment. Obtaining local information of biodiversity impact category was found to be difficult, therefore, simplifications of the model selected were employed, not allowing site-dependent application. Regarding the other categories, the research results demonstrate pronounced differentiation compared to site-dependent approach. This indicate that global values used on the papers of de the models developed do not represent Brazilian reality and therefore site-specific assessments have greater benefit for decision making at regional and local level. Moreover, the assessments show significant differences according to different soil types and biome in which sugarcane expansion will occur for BPP and ERP impact categories. Against this backdrop, it is concluded that the models developed for BPP and ERP have potential of application at local scale while the models developed for biodiversity require some simplifications and imply greater uncertainty. The availability of necessary data to this approach can be a limiting factor in their application. Furthermore selecting the best approach to be used will depend on the objectives of the study.

Competitive industries in the manufacturing sector have a holistic Life Cycle Management (LCM) view of business practices. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), which forms part of the LCM approach, is increasingly used as a decision support tool in the South African manufacturing industry. The Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) phase of the LCA tool has been standardised within the ISO 14000 family and aims to quantify the environmental impacts of economic activities. A number of LCIA methodologies have been developed in Europe, which can be applied directly when life cycle systems are assessed. The LCIA procedures that are most commonly used in the South African manufacturing industry include the CML, Ecopoints, EPS and Eco-indicators 95 and 99 procedures. The five European methods are evaluated based on the applicability of the respective classification, characterisation, normalisation and weighting elements for the South African situation. The evaluation and comparison is further based on a cradle-to-gate Screening Life Cycle Assessment (SLCA) case study of the production of dyed two-fold wool yarn in South Africa. Shortcomings are identified with the European methodologies in the South African context in terms of comprehensiveness and modelling approaches. A LCIA framework and calculation procedure, termed the Resource Impact Indicator (RII) model, is subsequently proposed for South Africa, which is based on the protection of four natural resource groups: water, air, land, and mined abiotic resources. A distance-to-target approach is used for the normalisation of midpoint categories, which focuses on the ambient quality and quantity objectives for the four resource groups. The quality and quantity objectives are determined for defined South African Life Cycle Assessment (SALCA) regions and take into account endpoint or damage targets. Following the precautionary approach, RIIs are calculated for the resource groups from conventional Life Cycle Inventories (LCIs). The calculation of the RIIs ensures that all natural resources that are important from a South African perspective are duly considered in a LCIA. The results of a LCIA are consequently not reliant on detailed LCIs and the number of midpoint categories that converge on a single resource group. The proposed model is evaluated with the SLCA wool case study. The case study establishes the importance of region-specificity, for LCIs and LCIAs. The proposed LCIA model further demonstrates reasonable ease of communication of LCIA results to decision-makers or managers. Subjective weighting values for the resource groups are also proposed, based on survey results from manufacturing industry sectors in the South African automotive value chain, and the expenditure of the South African national government on environmental issues. The subjective weighting values are used to calculate overall Environmental Performance Resource Impact Indicators (EPRIIs) when comparing life cycle systems with each other. The EPRII approach is applied to a specific LCM problem in the South African context, i.e. evaluating and comparing environmental performance for supply chain management purposes in the developing country context. Thereby, RIIs are provided for key Cleaner Production process parameters in the South Africa context: water usage, energy usage, and waste produced per manufactured product. / Thesis (PhD (Engineering and Technology Management))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Graduate School of Technology Management (GSTM) / unrestricted

An initial analysis of sustainable project life cycle management methodologies’ current status highlighted that social and environmental aspects of sustainable development are not addressed effectively. An acceptable model aimed at addressing the various sustainable development aspects from a project management perspective is thus needed. This study’s main research objective was consequently to develop the different elements of such a model for social business sustainability. The research focused on the three main research questions discussed below. Which lifecycles should be considered when evaluating the project’s possible impacts? Projects implement or deliver certain products, which in turn, can produce other commodities sold by the company. The three lifecycles, i.e. project, asset and product, were studied to determine which lifecycles to consider when evaluating projects’ possible impacts. It was concluded that it is specifically the project’s deliverables and its associated products that have economic, social and environmental consequences. These life cycles must therefore be considered as part of the project life cycle when evaluating social impacts. What social business sustainability impacts or aspects should be considered in the project life cycle? A sustainable development framework that can be applied to projects directly to ensure their alignment with sustainable development does not exist at present. A social sustainability assessment framework as part of a sustainability assessment framework for operational initiatives was consequently developed and introduced. The social framework was verified and validated by means of case studies, a survey and a Delphi Technique case study to test the framework’s completeness and relevance. How should project management methodologies be adopted to ensure incorporation of social business sustainability? The research indicated that the various social aspects are addressed in different ways in the individual asset life cycle phase. The social criteria in the framework should therefore also be addressed in different ways in the project management methodologies. A Social Impact Indicator (SII) calculation procedure, based on a previously introduced Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) calculation procedure for environmental Resource Impact Indicators (RIIs), was developed as a method to evaluate social impacts in the project life cycle phases. Case studies in the process industry and statistical information for South Africa have been used to establish information availability for the SII calculation procedure. / Thesis (PhD (Engineering Management))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Graduate School of Technology Management (GSTM) / unrestricted

O principal instrumento de avaliação dos impactos ambientais do ciclo de vida de produtos é a Avaliação do Ciclo de Vida (ACV). Uma de suas fases, a Avaliação de Impacto do Ciclo de Vida (AICV) refere-se ao processo quantitativo e/ou qualitativo aplicado na caracterização e avaliação dos impactos associados ao inventário do ciclo de vida. Dentre os impactos ambientais avaliados, estão aqueles relacionados ao uso da terra. Um dos grandes desafios no campo da ACV refere-se diferenciação espacial e temporal nos métodos de AICV, sobretudo para impactos devido à transformação e ocupação da terra. Torna-se necessário o desenvolvimento de modelos de caracterização e/ou adaptação daqueles já existentes de maneira que possam considerar as características ambientais regionais de cada país, visando à obtenção de resultados mais consistentes e precisos. Assim, este trabalho tem o objetivo de analisar a aplicabilidade e a regionalização dos principais modelos de caracterização de impactos do uso da terra para a Avaliação do Impacto do Ciclo de Vida no Brasil. Para tanto foi conduzida uma revisão bibliográfica sistemática, a qual subsidiou a descrição e análise de dezesseis principais modelos de caracterização para avaliação de impactos do uso da terra. Durante a etapa de análise, as informações referentes a cada modelo foram classificadas de acordo com diferentes critérios, como: abordagem midpoint/endpoint, área de cobertura, área de coleta dos dados, diferenciação bio-geográfica, tempo de recuperação, situação de referência, robustez científica e relevância ambiental. Observou-se que seis modelos, de abrangência de aplicação global, apresentam robustez científica e relevância ambiental satisfatória para a avaliação dos impactos nos serviços ecossistêmicos e na biodiversidade: Brandão & Milà i Canals (2013); Müller-Wenk & Brandão (2010); Nunez et al. (2010); Saad, Koellner, Margni (2013); Souza (2010); Souza et al. (2013). Outra contribuição do trabalho refere-se às recomendações para a adaptação de modelos de caracterização, visando a regionalização, para a qual uma série de elementos-chave deve ser considerada, tais como o mecanismo ambiental modelado, a tipologia de uso do solo, o nível de diferenciação bio-geográfica usado para o cálculo dos fatores de caracterização e a situação de referência utilizada. / The main technique for assessing the environmental impacts of the product life cycle is the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). One of its phases, the Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) refers to quantitative and / or qualitative process applied to the characterization and assessment of impacts associated with the life cycle inventory. Among the environmental impacts evaluated in LCA are those related to land use. A major challenge in the field of LCA refers to spatial and temporal differentiation in LCIA methods, especially for impacts due to land occupation and land transformation. It becomes necessary to develop models for the characterization and / or adapting existing ones so that they can consider regional environmental characteristics of each country, in order to obtain more consistent and accurate results. Therefore, this work aims to analyze the applicability and regionalization of the land use impacts characterization models in the Life Cycle Impact Assessment in Brazil. To achieve that, a systematic literature review was performed, which subsidized the description and analysis of sixteen major characterization models for land use impact assessment. During the analysis, the information regarding each model were classified according to different criteria, such as midpoint/ endpoint approach, coverage area, area of data collection, bio-geographical differentiation, recovery time, reference land use situation, scientific robustness and environmental relevance. It was observed that six models, with a global scope, present scientific robustness and environmental relevance sufficient for the assessment of impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services: Brandão & Milà i Canals (2013); Müller-Wenk & Brandão (2010); Nunez et al. (2010); Saad, Koellner, Margni (2013); Souza (2010); Souza et al. (2013). Another contribution of this work were the recommendations for adapting characterization models, for which a number of key elements must be considered, such as the modelled land use impact pathways, the land use typology, the level of bio-geographical differentiation used for the characterization factors and the reference land use situation.

The growing industry of Information and Communication Technology requires higher computing capacity of data centers. The air conditioning in data centers is a key to assure a sustainable computing environment. However, the traditional cooling systems cost large environmental footprints especially on energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. As a result, a green innovation of data center cooling solutions is taking place. The telecommunication company Teliasonera is developing a high density data center cooling system - the “Green Room” and has been studying the environmental performance of this system using a Life Cycle approach. As an extension of the previous study, more aspects of the project i.e. the location of the data center, life span, alternative cooling solutions, energy recovery possibilities and uncertainty analysis is explored using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology. The comparison of locations of the Green Room indicates that the local temperature and electricity production sources are essential factors for the environmental performance of the Green Room. The analysis of the Green Room’s life span reveals that the utilization phase may not always cause the most significant impact during the whole life cycle of the Green Room. If the life span changes, the manufacture phase may predominate the life cycle of the Green Room. The comparative result of alternative cooling technologies addresses that utilizing “natural coolant” (e.g. geo cooling) is a key for sustainable cooling innovation as it could significantly reduce the environmental footprint of the cooling system. Besides, heating a single building (partly) by the waste heat generated from the Green Room could save 30% of cumulative energy input and could reduce more than half of the total environmental impact. Additionally, results uncertainties caused by the choice of different LCIA methods are discussed in the end of the study. / Teliasonera's Green Room concept

The growing industry of Information and Communication Technology requires higher computing capacity of data centers. The air conditioning in data centers is a key to assure a sustainable computing environment. However, the traditional cooling systems cost large environmental footprints especially on energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. As a result, a green innovation of data center cooling solutions is taking place. The telecommunication company Teliasonera is developing a high density data center cooling system - the “Green Room” and has been studying the environmental performance of this system using a Life Cycle approach. As an extension of the previous study, more aspects of the project i.e. the location of the data center, life span, alternative cooling solutions, energy recovery possibilities and uncertainty analysis is explored using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology. The comparison of locations of the Green Room indicates that the local temperature and electricity production sources are essential factors for the environmental performance of the Green Room. The analysis of the Green Room’s life span reveals that the utilization phase may not always cause the most significant impact during the whole life cycle of the Green Room. If the life span changes, the manufacture phase may predominate the life cycle of the Green Room. The comparative result of alternative cooling technologies addresses that utilizing “natural coolant” (e.g. geo cooling) is a key for sustainable cooling innovation as it could significantly reduce the environmental footprint of the cooling system. Besides, heating a single building (partly) by the waste heat generated from the Green Room could save 30% of cumulative energy input and could reduce more than half of the total environmental impact. Additionally, results uncertainties caused by the choice of different LCIA methods are discussed in the end of the study. / Teliasonera's Green Room concept

The growing industry of Information and Communication Technology requires higher computing capacity of data centers/technical sites. The air conditioning in data centers is the key to assure a sustainable computing environment. However, the traditional cooling systems cost are responsible for large environmental footprints especially on energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. As a result, a green innovation of data center cooling solutions is taking place. The telecommunication company Teliasonera is developing a high density data center cooling system - the “Green Room” and has been studying the environmental performance of this system using a Life Cycle approach. As an extension of the previous study, more aspects of the project i.e. the location, life span, alternative cooling solutions, energy recovery possibilities and uncertainty analysis is explored by using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology. The comparison of the locations of the Green Room indicates that the local temperature and electricity production sources are essential factors for the environmental performance of the Green Room. The analysis of the Green Room’s life span reveals that the utilization phase may not always cause the most significant impact during the whole life cycle of the Green Room. If the life span changes, the manufacture phase may predominate the life cycle of the Green Room. The comparative result of alternative cooling technologies addresses that utilizing “natural coolant” (e.g. geo cooling) is a key for sustainable cooling innovation as it would significantly reduce the environmental footprint of the cooling system. Besides, heating a single building (partly) by the waste heat generated from the Green Room could save 30% of cumulative energy input and could reduce more than half of the total environmental impact. Additionally, results uncertainties caused by the choice of different LCIA methods are discussed in the end of the study. / The Teliasonera Green Room Concept for high and mid density of ICT equipment

A Avaliação de Ciclo de Vida (ACV) é um método estruturado, compreensivo e padronizado a nível internacional que quantifica informações sobre emissões, recursos consumidos e impactos ambientais potenciais de produtos através do seu ciclo de vida. Uma das fases do estudo, a Avaliação de Impacto do Ciclo de Vida (AICV), refere-se ao processo quantitativo e/ou qualitativo aplicado na avaliação dos impactos associados ao inventário do ciclo de vida. Dentre os impactos ambientais abordados na AICV estão aqueles relacionados ao uso da terra, sendo avaliados segundo duas vertentes: impactos sobre a biodiversidade e impactos sobre Serviços Ecossistêmicos. A modelagem dos impactos dos serviços ecossistêmicos na ACV ainda apresenta limitações e alguns erros conceituais como, por exemplo, não avaliar de fato os benefícios fornecidos ao homem. Além disso, um dos grandes desafios na ACV refere-se à diferenciação espacial nos procedimentos metodológicos de AICV, sobretudo para impactos devido ao uso da terra. Assim, o principal objetivo desde estudo é discutir a inserção do conceito de serviços ecossistêmicos na ACV e obter fatores de caracterização de impactos em serviços ecossistêmicos relacionados ao solo para a AICV, aplicáveis de maneira regionalizada para o Brasil. A revisão de literatura e comparação do mecanismo ambiental para os impactos do uso da terra na AICV com o modelo em cascata de serviços ecossistêmicos possibilitou o desenvolvimento de um novo modelo conceitual para serviços ecossistêmicos relacionados solo. Cada uma das etapas do modelo de cascata foi alinhada à terminologia da ACV para coincidir com os níveis de modelagem de ponto intermediário e de danos ao mesmo tempo considerando os principais processos, funções, serviços, benefícios e valores relacionados ao solo. Além disso, foram calculados fatores de caracterização para impactos aos serviços ecossistêmicos relacionados à fertilidade do solo através da aplicação de um modelo de caracterização de AICV espacialmente diferenciado. O procedimento metodológico envolveu (i) a definição do mecanismo ambiental, tendo como indicador o teor de Carbono Orgânico do Solo (COS), (ii) a definição da Vegetação Natural Potencial como situação de referência e (iii) a definição das unidades biogeográficas de análise denominadas Associação Solo-Vegetação (ASV). Com base nestes parâmetros, foram calculados os estoques de COS para 32 classes diferentes de uso da terra e os estoques de COS para as situações referência, necessários para o cálculo dos impactos resultantes do uso da terra. Foram calculados e disponibilizados mais de três mil fatores de caracterização aos usuários de ACV, aplicáveis em 32 classes diferentes de uso da terra para 74 unidades biogeográficas (ASV). Além desses, foram obtidos fatores de caracterização também para as 27 unidades federativas do país, que apesar de estarem agregados em divisões políticas, levam em consideração dados regionais de COS. Por fim, os resultados e discussões deste trabalho contribuem na integração de dois campos de estudo e podem auxiliar ao melhor entendimento do sistema de produtos, não apenas focando em danos ambientais, mas também possibilitando a identificação de impactos positivos e agregação de valor. / Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a structured, comprehensive and standardized method at international level that quantifies information on emissions, resources consumed and potential environmental impacts of products through their life cycle. One of it phases, the Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA), refers to the quantitative and/or qualitative process applied in assessing the impacts associated with the life cycle inventory. Among the environmental impacts addressed in LCIA are those related to land use, being evaluated according to two pathways: impacts on biodiversity and impacts on ecosystem services. The ecosystem services impact modelling on LCA still presents limitations and some conceptual errors, such as not actually evaluating the benefits provided to humans. In addition, one of the major challenges in LCA relates to the spatial differentiation in LCIA methodological procedures, especially for impacts due to land use. Thus, the main goal of the present study is to discuss the ecosystem services concept integration in LCA and obtain characterization factors of soil-related ecosystem services impacts, regionally applicable to Brazil. The literature review and the LCA environmental mechanism of land use impacts and the cascade model of ecosystem services comparison allowed the development of a new conceptual model for soil-related ecosystem services. Each one of these steps in the cascade model was aligned with the LCA\'s terminology to match the midpoint and endpoint modelling levels while considering the key processes, functions, services, benefits, and values related to the soil. In addition, characterization factors for ecosystem services related to soil fertility were calculated applying a spatially differentiated characterization model. The methodological procedure involved the (i) environmental mechanism definition, establishing the Soil Organic Carbon content (SOC) as an indicator, (ii) the definition of Potential Natural Vegetation as a reference situation and (iii) the definition of the biogeographic analysis units denominated Soil Vegetation Association (SVA). Based on these parameters, SOC stocks were calculated for 32 different land use classes and SOC stocks for reference situations allowing the calculation of impacts resulting from land use. More than two thousand characterization factors were calculated, being available to LCA users, applicable in 32 different land use classes to 74 biogeographic units (SVA). In addition, characterization factors were also obtained for the 27 Brazilian federative units, which, although aggregated in political divisions, consider SOC regional data. Finally, the results and discussions of this study contribute to the integration of two scientific domains and help to better understand the product system, not only focusing on environmental damages, but also enabling the identification of positive impacts and value aggregation.

The prospect of reducing environmental impacts is a key driver for the research and development (R&D) of new forest products. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is often used for assessing the environmental impact of such products, e.g. for the purpose of guiding R&D. The aim of this thesis is to improve the methods and practices of LCA work carried out in the R&D of forest products. Six research questions were formulated from research needs identified in LCA work in five technical inter-organisational R&D projects. These projects also provided contexts for the case studies that were used to address the research questions. The main contributions of the research are as follows: Regarding the planning of LCA work in inter-organisational R&D projects, the research identified four characteristics that appear to be important to consider when selecting the roles of LCAs in such projects: (i) the project’s potential influence on environmental impacts, (ii) the degrees of freedom available for the technical direction of the project, (iii) the project’s potential to provide required input to the LCA, and (iv) access to relevant audiences for the LCA results. Regarding the modelling of future forest product systems, it was found that (i) it is important to capture uncertainties related to the technologies of end-of-life processes, the location of processes and the occurrence of land use change; and (ii) the choice of method for handling multi-functionality can strongly influence results in LCAs of forest products, particularly in consequential studies and in studies of relatively small co-product flows. Regarding the assessment of environmental impacts of particular relevance for forest products, it was found that using established climate impact assessment practices can cause LCA practitioners to miss environmental hot-spots and make erroneous conclusions about the performance of forest products vis-à-vis non-forest alternatives, particularly in studies aimed at short-term impact mitigation. Also, a new approach for inventorying water cycle alterations was developed, which made it possible to capture catchment-scale effects of forestry never captured before. To connect the LCA results to global challenges, a procedure was proposed for translating the planetary boundaries into absolute product-scale targets for impact reduction, e.g. to be used for evaluating interventions for product improvements or for managing trade-offs between impact categories.