From grimoire
Applies life cycle thinking (ISO 14040/44) to evaluate environmental impacts from raw material to end-of-life. Guides design, procurement, or policy decisions to reduce total impact.
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Apply life cycle thinking — evaluating environmental impacts across all stages from raw material extraction through end-of-life — to identify where in a product or process's life cycle the highest impacts occur, and design or procurement decisions can reduce total impact.
Apply life cycle thinking — evaluating environmental impacts across all stages from raw material extraction through end-of-life — to identify where in a product or process's life cycle the highest impacts occur, and design or procurement decisions can reduce total impact.
Adopted by: ISO 14040/44 (Life Cycle Assessment standards) are the international reference framework adopted by the European Commission, US EPA, and companies including BASF, IKEA, Procter & Gamble, and Unilever for product environmental claims and ecodesign decisions. The EU's Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) methodology and the UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Initiative both build on ISO 14040/44. The EU Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (2024) requires LCA-based data for product categories sold in the EU. Impact: Without life cycle thinking, environmental improvement efforts focus on the most visible stage (often manufacturing or disposal) rather than the highest-impact stage. Studies show that for many consumer products, 70–80% of environmental impact occurs during raw material extraction or use phase (e.g., energy consumption while in use) — not in production or disposal. LCA thinking prevents "pollution shifting" — a change that reduces one impact while increasing another is not an improvement.
Before any calculation, define what is being compared:
Without a clear functional unit, comparisons are invalid — a cotton bag vs. a plastic bag can only be compared per "number of uses to carry groceries," not by weight.
Map the inputs and outputs at each stage:
| Stage | Inputs | Outputs |
|---|---|---|
| Raw materials | Energy, water, land | Emissions, waste, extracted materials |
| Manufacturing | Energy, materials, water | Product, emissions, waste, wastewater |
| Distribution | Fuel, packaging | Emissions, packaging waste |
| Use phase | Energy, water, consumables | Emissions, wastewater |
| End-of-life | Collection, processing energy | Recycled material, residual waste |
Use existing LCA databases (ecoinvent, SimaPro, OpenLCA) for emission factors and process data rather than calculating from scratch.
Without full LCA software: use a simplified screening LCA to identify where >70% of the impact likely occurs:
Common hotspot patterns:
Hotspot analysis tells you where to focus redesign or procurement criteria.
Product design decisions:
Procurement decisions:
Policy and communication:
LCA prevents "burden-shifting" — where reducing one impact increases another:
State explicitly which impact categories are being compared and which are being excluded.
npx claudepluginhub jeffreytse/grimoire --plugin grimoireQuantifies environmental impacts of products/services across full life cycle using ISO 14040/14044 methodology. Useful for sustainability assessments and eco-design decisions.
Compares 2+ products' EPDs side-by-side on environmental impacts like GWP. Normalizes declared units, checks system boundaries/PCR alignment, flags LEED v4.1 MRc2 eligibility.
Helps select and apply building sustainability frameworks including LEED, BREEAM, Passive House, WELL, DGNB, and Living Building Challenge.