Firstly, let me thank Maartje Sevenster for her work as ALCAS President over the past 2 years. She has been a steady hand at the helm and has left the organisation in a solid position. Unfortunately, Maartje could no longer combine her Board position with her other responsibilities, but the door will always be open for her and we hope to see her return to ALCAS in the future.
Secondly, I would like to thank the Board in accepting my nomination to lead ALCAS for the next two years.
Having worked with the ALCAS Board for more than ten years and been a past President (2013-2015) I understand the important role our organisation can play in our sector. As President I hope to oversee the strengthening of ALCAS key programs to help members (and all LCA Practitioners) to strengthen this profession. I strongly believe that LCA practitioners need to come together and work collectively on maintaining and continuously improving the quality of our work. ALCAS provides the chance for our sector to do this in an open and constructive manner.
AusLCI Inventory Data: It is critical that we start to think about the value of having consistent LCA results when it comes to tackling the big environmental issues of our time. LCA is no longer a standalone science as it might have been five or ten years ago. We are increasingly connected to company sustainability reporting, as well as government data and reporting rules. AusLCI is a framework that provides us with key data, but it should be so much more. Our collective knowledge about materials and processes can be captured in this framework to lift the performance of our whole sector and everyone it touches.
Impact Assessment Best Practice Guide: It is great to see how a large number of ALCAS members and experts are coming together to provide an up-to-date overview of knowledge of impact assessment methods. A keen wish of many ALCAS members has been to see up-to-date normalisation factors, and the committee is hoping to include these in the next report.
LCA Practitioner Certification: The number of certified practitioners is growing steadily, and the program is moving into the digital era with online examinations. (More information in this newsletter.(
EPD Australasia: EPDs have become part of everyday conversation in the building and construction sector, and EPDs will only become more important with an increasing focus on the embodied emissions of buildings (see thinkstep/GBCA article). This would not have happened without a standardised approach to measure and report LCA results. We are now at a point where the EPD community will switch en-masse to an updated version of the EN 15804 standard, which will likely be the benchmark for years to come, demonstrating that standardisation and innovation can work together.
Student Webinars: The student webinars are accessible to students and other interested parties. They are a great opportunity for the next generation of LCA talent to learn from some experienced heads. The also provide an opportunity to join a network of LCA practitioners and we encourage ALCAS members to participate.
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