Environmental evaluation platform

The environmental evaluation platform proposes methods and tools for analyzing the environmental performance, in the broadest sense, of the products and processes developed at TWB.

The platform uses evaluation methods recognized by the scientific community, e.g. Analysis of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), carbon footprint assessment, assessment of emissions-related environmental risks, energy analysis, exergy analysis and emergy analysis.

A number of tools (software, databases) need to be mastered before implementing these methods, and know-how and expertise is required in the respective domains.

It possesses IT tools marketed for applying the LCA method, such as the SimaPro and Umberto software and the ecoinvent database.

Methods are used for:

• the environmental diagnosis of processes (or products), carried out either on existing systems with a view to possible improvement, or in the design phase from an eco-design perspective;
• and multi-criteria system analysis for mathematical optimization, e.g. consideration of environmental impacts when optimizing processes.

We have for example developed a tool for the integrated LCA modelling of water treatment processes (EVALEAU), which is used in the project phase for process eco-design. The tool performs an environmental analysis, calculates technical parameters and identifies the operating parameters responsible for the environmental impacts generated by the process (plant).

Manager: Ligia BARNA (e-mail: ligia.barna@insa-toulouse.fr)