Which aspect should be included in a Total Life Cycle assessment?

A Total Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a comprehensive approach used to evaluate the environmental impacts associated with all stages of a product's life—from the extraction of raw materials, through production and usage, to disposal or recycling.

Including the cost of installation in an LCA is important because it reflects the energy and resource inputs needed to make a product operational. This aspect ties directly into the total environmental impact, as the installation process can have significant implications on resource usage, emissions, and overall sustainability. For example, the energy consumed during installation, the materials utilized, and the waste generated can all contribute to the environmental footprint of a product.

While aspects like market share, travel distance, and brand reputation may have relevance in different contexts, they do not encapsulate the comprehensive resource and environmental assessment that the cost of installation does during the product's life cycle. Market share does not directly relate to life cycle impacts, travel distance might impact carbon footprint but is more specific to logistics rather than a life cycle stage, and brand reputation is more concerned with perceptions than with the actual assessment of environmental impacts. Therefore, the cost of installation is key in evaluating the full life cycle implications of a product.