CAREER: Risk Modified Life Cycle Assessment

生命周期评估是一种广泛使用的工具，用于评估产品或服务在其整个生命周期中对环境的影响，并指导产品设计和政策决策。然而，目前的生命周期评估框架和数据库没有考虑到由于事故、泄漏或泄漏而造成的化学品和其他物质意外泄漏对环境的影响。无意的物质释放事件并不少见，而是每天都会发生。在环境评估中忽视这些风险可能会导致结果偏颇和决策短视。该研究项目旨在开发一个迫切需要的新框架和数据库，以便将潜在的无意物质释放风险和影响纳入基于生命周期的环境评估。本科生和研究生将接受关于尖端环境评估方法的培训。该研究项目还旨在实施一项教育计划，为学生、决策者和普通公众提供基于风险和生命周期的环境可持续性评估材料。精心设计和测试的教育游戏旨在帮助普通公众更好地了解环境可持续性，并培养K-12学生的系统思维思维。开放源码工具和在线学习材料旨在教育生命周期评估从业者和决策者进行风险修改的生命周期评估。本研究项目旨在识别产品生命周期中的无意物质释放风险，表征选定案例研究物质的无意物质释放影响，并将风险修改的生命周期评估应用于政策分析。制定的风险修正生命周期评估框架将使人们能够在产品设计或政策规划阶段审议潜在的无意物质释放风险。这样的框架还将更好地为决策提供信息，并以更低的经济、环境和社会成本带来更可持续的发展解决方案。免费提供的开源工具、数据库和在线学习材料将鼓励科学界应用风险修改的生命周期评估框架来应对额外的风险，并逐步集体开发更好的风险修改的生命周期评估数据库。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Life-cycle assessment is a widely used tool to evaluate the environmental impacts of a product or service throughout its life cycle and to guide product design and policy decisions. However, the current life-cycle assessment framework and databases do not account for the environmental impacts from unintentional release of chemicals and other substances due to accidents, spills, or leaks. Unintentional substance release incidents are not rare events and instead happen on a daily basis. Ignoring these risks in environmental assessments may lead to biased results and short-sighted decisions. This research project aims to develop a critically needed new framework and database to incorporate potential unintentional substance release risks and impacts into life cycle based environmental assessments. Undergraduate and graduate students will receive training on cutting-edge environmental assessment methods. This research project also aims to implement an education program to provide materials on risk- and life cycle-based environmental sustainability assessment to students, decision makers, and the general public. Well-designed and tested educational games are targeted to help the general public to better understand environmental sustainability and to culture a system thinking mindset for K-12 students. An open-source tool and online learning materials are aimed at educating life-cycle assessment practitioners and decision makers on risk-modified life-cycle assessment.This research project aims to identify the unintentional substance release risks in the product life cycle, to characterize unintentional substance release impacts for selected case study substances, and to apply risk-modified life-cycle assessment for policy analysis. The developed risk-modified life-cycle assessment framework would enable the consideration of potential unintentional substance release risks at the product design or policy planning phase. Such a framework would also better inform decision making and lead to more sustainable development solutions at lower economic, environmental, and social costs to society. Freely available, open-source tool, database, and online learning materials would encourage the scientific community to apply the risk-modified life-cycle assessment framework to address additional risks and gradually develop better risk-modified life-cycle assessment databases collectively.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.