In 2003, to promote environmental management, Hitachi developed the method System Integration-Life Cycle Assessment (SI-LCA*1). The SI-LCA method assesses the burden on the environment (CO2 emissions) in the life cycle of service and solution products: from procurement, design, and development; to use and disposal. Introduction of service and solution products has the positive effects of being able to reduce movement of people and things and to reduce resource consumption. However, there is also a negative effect on the environment because IT devices are used and resources are consumed when the devices are manufactured and energy is consumed during their operation. SI-LCA calculates the burden on the environment during the entire life cycle of service and solution products by summing up the burdens at each of the 10 stages that have a great impact on the life cycle.
- *1
- SI-LCA (System Integration-Life Cycle Assessment): This conforms to "FY2005 Eco-Efficiency Assessment Guideline for Information and Communication Technology (ICT)" issued by the Japan Environmental Efficiency Forum (currently Life Cycle Assessment Society of Japan) in March 2006.
SI-LCA calculation method
The following figure shows an example of calculating the burden on the environment (CO2 emissions) and the content of assessment at each stage of the SI-LCA calculation method.
(The numeric values are assumed values.)
Making visible the reductions in the burden on the environment (reduced CO2 emissions) as a result of introducing services and solutions
Conduct assessment at the use stage of SI-LCA before and after services and solutions are introduced. Then, compare the results to calculate how much the introduced services and solutions reduced the burden on the environment (CO2 emissions).
| Assessment target | Main burdens on the environment |
|---|---|
| Workforce | Work hours of persons (customer, end users) |
| Use of ICT devices | Power consumed by the servers, storage systems, network, etc. |
| Traveling | Movement by cars, buses, and railroads |
| Shipping | Movement of devices, etc. by trucks, railways, etc. |
| Use of network infrastructure | Amount of network communication data in internet environments |
| Storage | Warehouse area (size) |
| Material/energy consumption | Number of sheets of paper, media, etc. |
