ISO 14046:2014 Environmental management — Water footprint —

Principles, requirements and guidelines

2015 UN-WATER ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL ZARAGOZA CONFERENCE. WATER AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENTS FROM VISION TO ACTION.

JANUARY 14th, 2015 Antonio Carretero

Assistant Manager New Developments AENOR

1. Scope

2. Normative references

3. Terms and definitions

4. Principles

5. Methodological framework

6. Reporting

7. Critical review

Annex A (normative) Additional requirements and guidelines for organizations

Bibliography

CONTENTS OF THE STANDARD

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1. SCOPE

Scope:

Only air and soil emissions that impact water quality are included in the assessment and not all air and soil emissions are included.

ISO 14046 standard is based in the next concepts:

→ LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT (LCA)

→ WATER FOOTPRINT IMPACT ASSESSMENT (WFIA)

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2. NORMATIVE REFERENCES

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ISO 14040:2006. Environmental management - Life Cycle Assessment – Principles and framework

ISO 14044:2006. Environmental management – Life Cycle Assessment – Requirements and guidelines

ISO/TS 14071:2014 Environmental management – Life Cycle Assessment – Critical review processes and reviewer competencies: additional requirements and guidelines to ISO 14044:2006

ISO/TS 14072:2014 Life Cycle Assessment-additional requirements and guidelines for organizations.

3. TERMS AND DEFINITIONS

Classified by groups:

Terms relating to types and classifications of water

Terms relating to water

Terms relating to life cycle assessment and water footprint assessment

Terms relating to interpretation and reporting of water footprint results

Terms relating to products, product systems, processes and organizations

Terms relating to data and data quality

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4. PRINCIPLES

Transparency

Relevance

Completeness

Consistency

Accuracy

Priority of scientific approach

Geographical relevance

Comprehensiveness

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Goal and scope definition (5.2)

Water footprint inventory analysis

(5.3)

Water footprint impact

assessment (5.4)

Water Footprint assessment

Water Footprint Inventory study

Interpretation of the results

(5.5)

Direct

aplications: -Product

development and

improvement -Strategic planning

-Public policy making

-Marketing -Others

5. METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK: LCA&WFIA relation

The Water Footprint Inventory Analysis stage of an LCA is useful to:

Compilation and quantification of inputs and outputs (water, energy, raw materials, auxíliary materials, heat, fuels, co-products) and the potential environmental impacts of a product system

and consequently

Stablishment of material, water and energy balances throgouth its life cycle and its process

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5. METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK: INVENTORY

5. METHODOLOGIC FRAMEWORK: DATA COMPILATION AND CUANTIFICATION

Data

compilation

Primary data

Secondary data

Internal resources

and data bases or MS

Production/commerce administration

External

sources and databases

LIF

E C

YC

LE

AS

SE

SS

ME

NT

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Primary data (coming from processes/installations controlled by the organization)

Secondary data (when a lack of primary data, coming from bibliography, suppliers, consolidated sources, other organizations up/down streams and other sources)

Input data for calculation software (if any)

Data quality (representativeness, accuracy, precision, uncertainty)

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5. METHODOLOGIC FRAMEWORK: DATA COMPILATION AND CUANTIFICATION

• Raw materials

• Transport

EXTRACTION

• Production • Packing • Labelling • Storage

PRODUCTION

• Wholesale • Retailer • Transport • Storage

DISTRIBUTION

• Consumtion • End of life

treatment • Final disposal

USE

Cradle to gate WFAM

Cradle to grave ISO 14046

5 METHODOLOGIC FRAMEWORK: LCA STAGES

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Goal and scope definition

Preparing for data collection

Data collection

Validation of data

Relating data to unit process

Relating data to functional unit

Data aggregation

Refining the system boundary

Revised data collection sheet Data collection sheet

Collected data

Validated data

Validation data per unit process

Validation data per funtional unit

Calculated inventory

Allocation includes reuse and recycling

Additional data or unit process

required/omitted

Completed inventory

5. METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK: INVENTORY

Some water footprint references finalize their requirements at the end of this phase. Consequently Water Footprint Reports inform about different types of waters. Impacts associated are not reported.

Proceedings:

1. Data determination and selection

2. Software selection for calculations (if any) or spreadsheets

3. Balance calculation of water, energy, raw materials, etc.

4. Data relating to functional unit (if WF for products)

5. Associated impacts (if required by the reference applied)

6. Water footprint reporting performance

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5. METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK: INVENTORY

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5. METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK: IMPACT ASSESSMENT

Impact categories applying

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Figure 5- Concept of water footprint as a stand-alone assessment (i.e. only black boxes) or part of a life cycle assessment (i.e. entire life cycle impact assessment phase in grey boxes)

5. METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK: IMPACT ASSESSMENT

a) General aspects: who is the commissioner or practitioner of the study (internal or external), date of report, and statement that the study has been conducted according to the requirements of this International Standard.

b) Goal of the study: reasons for the study, its intended applications, the target audiences, study as a stand-alone assessment or a part of a LCA, and whether comparative assertion is intended.

c) Scope of the study: function, functional unit, system boundaries, input/output cut- off criteria, product, unit processes and stages of a WF LCA

d) Water footprint inventory analysis

e) Water footprint impact assessment

6. REPORTING

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f) Interpretation: of results, conclusions, assumptions and limitations both to data and methodologies, data quality, value choices, rationales and expert judgments, positive aspects, etc. The results obtained by standard application can be expressed with a single impact indicator or a as group of them. The standard offers multiple possibilities to present and communicate results.

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6. REPORTING

Optional. Only mandatory when the WF Report is intended to be used for a comparative assertion. Critical review is performed by:

internal or external expert or panel of interested parties

expert independent of the water footprint assessment team

7. CRITICAL REVIEW

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ANNEX A: ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR ORGANIZATIONS

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ISO 14046:2014 standard can be applied to different boundaries:

Organizations: number and type of locations (office buildings, trade centers, construction work sites, soils, industrial plants, etc.)

Products/services: with mention to the locations for each product process and its associated functional units

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ANNEX A: ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR ORGANIZATIONS

WF Reporting is a useful tool that contributes to:

efficiency in the water management for products and organizations in the climate change frame of reference

create lower water consumption of products and services market as an answer to the current social demands

Identify saving oportunities in the organizations due to the strong relation between energy and water management

explain comprimises of social responsibility to third parts related with the adaptation to climate change frame of reference

WATER FOOTPRINT BUSSINESS OPORTUNITIES

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NEW DEVELOPING WATER FOOTPRINT ISO STANDARDS

Currently, is being developed the standard ISO/TR 14073, with several case studies for ISO 14046, by the same WG that performed the ISO 14046 Standard, in the ISO 207 Technical Comeetee.

Publishing is expected for the last months of 2016 or first quarter of 2017

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