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NIST-BEES-Analysis
The
FB4P [Federal Biobased Products Preferred
Procurement Program] requires that the National
Institute of Standards and Technology [NIST]-OAE-BEES
Model-“Life Cycle Analysis”
be completed prior to becoming a designated
Biobased Product in FB4P.
The BEES Model “Life Cycle
Analysis” was completed in the Summer
of 2004 for the Utilithane® Polyurethane.
Recognizing the Utilithane® Polyurethane
has many different applications and uses,
five [5] studies were completed for the
Utilithane® Polyurethane for a variety
of product applications.
A description of the BEES Model “Life
Cycle Analysis” is below. Links
to the program are at the bottom of the
page
BEES
for USDA
Federal purchasers are increasingly asked
to address the issues of environmental
preferability and long-term cost performance.
Is a product automatically environmentally
preferable if it has recycled content?
Do mainstream products marketed and perceived
as "environmentally friendly"
perform better than emerging biobased
products? Do environmentally preferable
products always cost more? The BEES software
tool says, "not necessarily."
The 2002 Farm Bill mandated the creation
of a program awarding Federal purchasing
preference to biobased products. To address
the questions of environmental and cost
performance, candidate biobased products
will be evaluated by the BEES (Building
for Environmental and Economic Sustainability)
tool, and performance results shared with
Federal purchasers. While the BEES tool
has been primarily used to evaluate building
products to date, its evaluation methods
are applicable to any product, used for
any purpose. Indeed, its database has
recently been updated to include performance
data for the production of eight major
inputs to biobased products: soybeans,
corn, wheat, rice, cotton, canola, potatoes,
and wool. The National Institute of Standards
and Technology (NIST), an agency of the
U.S. Department of Commerce that works
with U.S. industry to develop and apply
technology, measurements, and standards,
began developing the BEES decision-making
tool in 1994. With over 9,000 users worldwide,
BEES has become the most popular tool
of its kind in the world. Its power lies
in providing understandable, science-based
information often lacking from "green"
marketing claims. BEES development has
been supported by the U.S. Department
of Agriculture, the U.S. EPA Environmentally
Preferable Purchasing Program, and NIST.
BEES measures the environmental performance
of products by using the internationally-standardized
and science-based life-cycle assessment
approach specified in ISO 14000 standards.
All stages in the life of a product are
analyzed: raw material acquisition, manufacture,
transportation, installation, use, and
recycling and waste management. Economic
performance is measured using the ASTM
standard life-cycle cost method, which
covers the costs of initial investment,
replacement, operation, maintenance and
repair, and disposal. The figure below
shows the impacts evaluated over time
for each performance measure. It is important
to distinguish between the time periods
used to measure environmental performance
and economic performance; these periods
begin at different times. The time period
over which environmental performance is
measured begins with raw material acquisition,
whereas economic performance is evaluated
over a period that does not begin until
purchase and installation of the product.
Due to its comprehensive, multi-dimensional
scope, BEES can account for shifts of
environmental and economic burdens from
one life-cycle stage to another, or one
environmental medium (land, air, or water)
to another. The tool highlights the tradeoffs
that must be made to genuinely reduce
overall environmental and economic impacts.
For example, environmental claims based
on recycled content alone do not account
for the fact that one impact may have
been improved at the expense of others.
And a short-lived, low first-cost product
is often not the cost-effective alternative.
A higher first cost may be justified many
times over for a durable, maintenance-free
product. In sum, the answers lie in the
tradeoffs.
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