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| Building The
Sustainability Pathway!
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| EarthShift Newsletter |
February 2010 |
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 Greetings!
EarthShift is proud to announce the addition of a Canadian Consultant to our top notch team of LCA practitioners. In this issue of our newsletter we would like to take the opportunity to introduce you to him as well as some of the great new programs we have to advance your sustainability knowledge this winter.
If you are new to Life Cycle Assessment start with our LCA for Decision Makers seminar to learn the basics of LCA, the ISO 14040 series of standards, and why environmental labels and regulations are incorporating the methodology. If you are a seasoned LCA practitioner, join us for one of our advanced classes such as Impact Assessment Methods, Recycling, Parameters, and even a course on ReCiPe, the newest impact assessment method. If you are involved in the building industry, take advantage of our Beyond Building Green Seminar and explore the science of creating long lasting buildings that minimize their life cycle environmental impacts.
EarthShift will guide you through the proven methodologies used to build true sustainable practices. |
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Welcome Nathan, the newest member of EarthShift!
Nathan Ayer, our newest LCA analyst, comes to EarthShift after several years of project experience working as a professional environmental consultant for federal and provincial environmental agencies in Canada as well as non-governmental organizations.
Nathan has particular expertise on modeling food for LCAs, stemming from his Masters Degree in Environmental Studies and his Masters research on using LCA to study alternative salmon aquaculture systems and other primary food production systems.
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  Recycling in SimaPro - March 8 & 9
Have you ever thought about the life-cycle of a product that is made from recycled material? What about the life-cycle of a product that is recycled at the end of life? When you really think about modeling recycling it can make your head spin. For instance if you are building a product made from recycled materials should you account for the impacts of the raw materials extracted in a prior life? Or if your product is going to be recycled at its end of life, do you account for the impacts to refurbish your product in its next life? And if you are using recycled materials and also planning to recycle your product at its end of life, is it correct to ignore the prior life's raw material impacts and the future life's waste impacts? Where do the boundaries lie? How do you allocate for these issues?
This course, Recycling in SimaPro, will go over the methods used for recycling scenarios as well as how and why to use them. |
LCA for Decision Makers Seminar- Feb 16, March 30 & April 27
Environmental regulations, such as those requiring EPDs, are under consideration right now in Japan, France and the rest of Europe. And with current legislation to determine how companies will measure and report their environmental performance now being considered in the US House & Senate, there is reason to believe that the US will soon follow suit.
LCA is the science behind these green declarations, shouldn't you position yourself for the future? The LCA for Decision Makers seminar will quide you through the process of incorporating LCA into your company's business practices. You will learn the value that LCA can bring to your sustainability initiatives by serving as the cornerstone for your environmental claims. |
Beyond Building Green- March 16
So you are building with renewable materials? Cutting back on transportation by using local products? Using the sun to harvest power? Well, these are all good starts, and in yesterday's standards this might get you accredited "Green". But building professionals and standards are turning over a new leaf. The question you want to ask now is "How will this building perform in 10 or 20 years; will this building still be considered Green?"
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Parameters- March 16
Not sure of the exact distance your raw materials are being transported. Does the efficiency of your equipment vary? Would you like to automate a repetitive calculation or link a change in the density of your product to many processes automatically? How about linking to an Excel spreadsheet or database? These tasks become quick and easy once you understand the power of parameters.
Come take this course in Parameters and learn how to parameterize your models and quickly compare results under different scenarios! |
Sustainability in Packaging Conference- March 15-17
Join us at the Sustainability in Packaging Conference in Orlando. The conference covers all aspects of sustainability from materials, design, marketing, as well as consumer & supply chain demands as it relates to packaging.
Laurel McEwen, our training manager, will be teaching a pre-conference seminar titled, Making LCA work for you, on March 15. | |
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SimaPro LCA Software 
SimaPro is a tool to collect, analyze and monitor the environmental performance of products and services.
Drill down and get to the source with SimaPro
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Custom Tool Development
Get your own environmental impact calculator with:
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Easy to use & Simplified Interface
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Comprehensive Data & Calculation ability
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ISO Compliant Reporting Features |
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February's Ask EarthShift
Do you have questions on the latest developments in Environmental Product Declarations? Would you like to discuss using LCA for eco-lableing and/or marketing purposes?
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| Upcoming Training Sessions... |
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Intro to LCA - March 30
2.5 hr introductory course to the methods of LCA
ReCiPe Method- Feb 16 / April 27
1.5 hr course to introduce you to the new ReCiPe impact assessment method
LCA for Decision Makers Seminar- Feb 16 / March 30 / April 27
2 hr seminar to introduce organizations to the process and benefits of using LCA as the cornerstone of their sustainabilty claims
Applied LCA in SimaPro- April 6 & 7
Online course to introduce Life Cycle Assessment Methodology and the SimaPro LCA software.
LCA for the Building Industry- Feb 3 / March 3 / April 1
3hr course to introduce the steps of an LCA, how it applies to the building industry and how to use three tools, SimaPro, Athena's Eco-calculator and Athena's Impact Estimator
Intro to LCA in SimaPro onsite- Feb 10 & 11 / March 10 & 11
Our classic two-day in-depth introduction to LCA and SimaPro
Impact Assessment Methods- March 2
3 hr course on the major IAM's in SimaPro and how to choose the best method
Recycling- March 8 & 9
2 part/ 5 hr course on building recycling scenarios in SimaPro
Beyond Building Green- March 16
2 hr course on the scientific principles that dictate how a building performs over it's lifetime
Parameters- March 16 | 2 hr course on building parametrized models in SimaPro to quickly compare results under different scenarios.
3hr online course on creating your own IAM
1 Day on-site course on the theory behind impact assessment methods on toxicity
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| See our Full Training Schedule online! |
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Please feel free to contact us with any questions or comments. And remember, if you don't see what you want we also customize classes to meet your needs.
Sincerely,
The EarthShift Team
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| Contact Information |
| EarthShift LLC
802 434-3326
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