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Evergreen Brick Works, Toronto

This course is offered with support of our Program Partner, Evergreen, a national charity that makes cities more livable. The course will be held in Evergreen's LEED NC Platinum (pending)  Centre for Green Cities and is part of the Evergreen CityWORKS continuing education offerings. Learn more about Evergreen CityWORKS here.

Life Cycle Assessment for Marketing and Corporate Communications - 1 day

Leading companies, governments and citizens recognize that "Life Cycle Thinking" is essential to effective Government Policy development, profitable Business Operation and Responsible Consumption in a sustainable world.

The life cycle approach has become the major tool of businesses and governments in improving the sustainability of products, processes and services.  Businesses like 3M, Alcan, HP, Procteur & Gamble, Unilever and others are using Life Cycle Assessment to reduce product costs, increase market share and mitigate climate and energy risk.

Companies

Essentially, LCA can helps companies gain legitimate entry into the burgeoning "green marketplace" through eco-labels and declarations. Over 18% of companies are using LCA to support business strategy and R&D. 

Governments

Governments are applying LCA as a basis for policy and regulatory development. Current applications include: 1) helping to prioitize programs based on life cycle information, 2) making policies consistent among consumers, producers material suppliers, retailers, and waste managers and also among different policy instruments, 3) reducing the impact that government operations have on the environment, and 4) promoting pricing products and services to accurately reflect "true" costs.

 As a Marketer or Communicator you need to know how Life Cycle Assessment can help you position your products or your company in a "green" market predicted to double from $1.37 trillion a year in 2010 to $2.74 trillion by 2020.

• Life Cycle Assessment has been called the process that will provide "radical transparency" to green product claims.

• Researchers investigating environmental product declarations (EPD) in Europe and Japan are concerned that North American companies will not be able to compete in these markets without solid Life Cycle Assessment systems and formal EPDs.

• LCA is the process that will allow you to credibly gain entry into the burgeoning "green marketplace" through eco labels and environmental product declarations that meet the Federal Trade Commission's new Green Guidelines for Environmental Marketing Claims using LCA.

• Recently the US Federal Trade Commission said it will continue to apply its substantiation analysis to claims relying on an LCA to determine whether the assessment. Learn about these criteria.

Bonus:

•Register now and receive a complimentary copy of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to Life Cycle Assessment" by Henrikke Baumann and Anne-Marie Tillman. 

•Gain Access to the Sustainability Learning Centre's Community of Practice, a depository of course materials, connections and learning Forums.

Program Objectives

This course is the first day of the two day LCA program.  This registration page allows you to choose to attend only the first day of the two day program.

In this one day program you will get  an introduction to the life cycle concept, drivers and application for marketing, communication, branding and design. Case studies will be used to present the life cycle concept, basic principles and discuss its limits as an environmental assessment tool.

Using case studies, small and large group discussions participants will:

• Understand the applications of LCA to product, processes and service marketing and corporate brand equity.

• Learn about the FTC's Sustantiation Analysis for claims relates to Life Cycle Assessment.

• Examine Company Case studies of Life Cycle Processes and "green" labeling and claims.

• Examine LCA methods using common LCA frameworks and standards.

• Identify the goal and scope of a potential project looking at function, functional unit and reference flows.

• Understand system boundaries for an LCA project.

• Conduct a simple life cycle inventory for a project.

• Critically examine and interpret a life cycle impacts assessment.

The aim of this first Module is to better understand the significance of LCA (generated information and applications) in order to promote its implementation within a decision-making framework.

This workshop is delivered in partnership with CIRAIG, the Interuniversity Research Centre for the Life Cycle of Products, Processes and Services.  This world-wide renowned Life Cycle Assessment organization is an official partner of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)/Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) Life Cycle Initiative.

Since 2004, the CIRAIG is a renowned strategic alliance program of the Fonds de recherche sur la Nature et les Technologies (FQRNT) as well as the Fonds de recherche sur la Société et la Culture (FQRSC).

The lead trainer is Jean-François holds a Bachelor's Degree in Chemical Engineering from the Ecole Polytechnique de Montréal. He joined CIRAIG's start-up team in 2002. He is now Senior Analyst and has participated in numerous LCA studies in various sectors including aluminium production, waste management, municipal waste treatment, electricity distribution, road pavement and oil sands exploitation. He has extensive knowledge of the most used LCA software and has worked on the development of several LCA courses including graduate student training. Since 2002, he has provided LCA training to hundreds of participants from varied backgrounds.

Who Should Attend

This training course is designed for individuals from academia, industry, government or associations and other Non-Governmental Organizations. It is specifically addressed for people who wish to get introduced to and obtain basic knowledge in life cycle assessment (LCA) and also professionals who have responsibilities pertaining to the environment and/or sustainable development.

These might include, but are not limited to:

 Anyone seeking a basic understanding of the application of LCA to Business or Government such as:

Organization Leaders, Corporate Affairs, Communications & Public Relations Professionals, Marketing and Sales Personnel, Sustainability, CSR and Environmental Specialists and Engineers; R & D and Design Personnel, Procurement Personnel, Operations Managers, Project Managers and Researchers

Early Registration Price $ 495 until September 25, 2012

Regular Registration Price $ 695

CIRAIG Provides Participants with a Certificate for this Program.

Participants also receive .6 units of Continuing Education Units (contact hours) toward Green Team University Certification.