Session: LCM & LCA Education

Building LCA Capacity through Curriculum at Community Colleges
Pinky Dale,   South Seattle Community College
Rita Schenck,^*   Institute for Environmental Research and Education

Most LCA professionals have learned how to perform LCA’s in graduate or professional settings, but the concepts of life cycle assessment do not require a bachelor’s degree as a basis for comprehension. The existence of software such as GaBi and SimaPro facilitate the creation of LCA studies such that the level of understanding and skill is well within the grasp of a high school student with facility with software.

South Seattle Community College is developing a curriculum for a two year degree to develop LCA professionals. These students will have a basic understanding of environmental science and environmental management, including environmental accounting and statistics. They will spend a year in progressive development of their skills in environmental life cycle assessment. And they will graduate with the skills necessary to measure sustainability and influence organizations towards more sustainable actions.

The project is underway: in winter 2008, the first classes will be offered. Best of all these classes will be available on the internet, and the curriculum will be open source, for other colleges to take up and integrate into their own programs. That will provide for exponential growth in the number of LCA professionals in the United States.

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