LCA-based assessment of sustainability: the Eco-costs/Value Ratio EVR

degradation is a waste of opportunities and of resources. In particular it is a waste of human resources. These links between poverty, inequality, and environmental degradation formed a major theme in our analysis and recommendations. What is needed now is a new era of economic growth - growth that is forceful and at the same time socially and environmentally sustainable.' The key to such a better economy is the development of products and services which create more value and have a better eco-effi ciency as well. The model of the Eco-costs/Value Ratio is an indispensable decision support tool for architects, designers, engineers and business managers. The model is LCA based, and enables cradle to cradle design. The model features an innovative approach to the issue of a single indicator in LCA, being the so called eco-costs. The calculation is transparent and relative simple and requires no weighting steps. Since the eco-costs system is a monetary system, comparisons and analyses are possible in combination of the market value (the fair price). This book is a compilation of the original publications on the subject. For the convenience of the reader, all tables and other data have been updated with the new eco-costs 2007 dataset.