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The complexity of environmental problem is characterised by the typical difficulty to find an unique quantitative measure for “being green”. Environmental damage cannot easily be compared with parameters such as cost or time that are “hard” metrics. However, techniques like Life Cycle Assessment should make it possible comparing products based on the basis of their environmental profile. In this study a modelled approach that allows to integrate Life Cycle Assessment considerations within multi-criteria analysis methodology is described: this integration is clearly exemplified by a simple software tool called ECOCOST. ECOCOST represents an effort to join different field of evaluation, other than environmental, to the Life Cycle Assessment: then environmental results emerged from LCA can be matched with other kind of evaluation, economical and technical in particular.

Using the Life Cycle Analysis methodology, a detailed study of the car glass production phases (from the extraction of raw materials until the recycling) has been developped. This kind of approach goes in the board of the new Fiat strategies to achieve declared goals of environmental efficiency, not only to adapt its choices to new parameters of law, but also to obtain advantages of competitivity on the global market. In particular, with reference to the outline of FARE (Fiat Auto REcycling) project, the end of life of used glass for cars has been evaluated; the primary products of Fiat Punto model (windshield, windshield rear and lateral windows) are recovered to remanufacture and to get a new secondary product as the glass bottles for packaging (open loop recycling), since, until now, it is impossible to have a good quality of glass for cars from the same glass scraps.

In this work an LCA approach has been applied on an electric car prototype. In particular a city car was taken into account, because it presents several innovations for saving weight, in order to obtain more operating ranges. The study has calculated the energy consumption and the emissions for the production, use and recycling phases of the following components: space-frame in aluminium and RTM, magnesium alloy seat, SMC outer body parts, glasses, motor drive and Pb-gel batteries. The data for the Inventory were taken out from the databases for the raw materials extraction and from manufacturing sites for all the production steps. In the calculation the transports and the close-loop recycling were taken into account. The Use-phase was calculated with a simulation software, developed by Fiat Research Center. The analysis allowed to modelize the electrical car and to evaluate the main performances in according with the city cycle ECEELECT.

In the last few years the cost analysis methodologies have progressively become indispensable tools for the administrative management of a firm. In parallel, the need to integrate them to the quantification of the environmental impacts is getting stronger and stronger. One of the most innovative approaches of integration is “Life Cycle Costing” (LCC), which determines the costs associated to the life cycle of products and processes, including also the ones deriving from their environmental impacts. An example is shown here, with reference to the economical and environmental costs related to the life cycle of a metallic vehicle component.