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The automobile painting is a very energy and emission (solvents) intensive process step in the production of automobiles with regard to the small amount of paint applied to the car body. The awareness has risen that cleaner production technologies must substitute end-of-pipe control technologies. If these technologies strive for being a competitive option in corporate decision-making process, not only their environmental but also their technical and economical performance has to be on the same or better level compared to conventional technologies. The approach of Life-Cycle Engineering (LCE) by PE and IKP investigates technical, environmental and economical aspects of products and technologies. It is developed to a simulation tool to analyse weak points and optimisation potentials as well as to support product and technology development in the painting industry.

Total Life Cycle studies of systems like automotive parts, systems or entire vehicles are characterized by an enormous complexity and amounts of individual data points. A full assessment of this variety of information and data requires suitable and reliable data processing systems. The recently developed software system GaBi 3 allows the flexible modeling of life cycles with parameterized process modules. In this way GaBi 3 provides the basis for parameter variation and scenario analysis. Besides these essential elements for identifying improvement potentials, the system enlarges the environmental calculations by an economic and a technical dimension.

LCA studies aim at an integrating system assessment as a comprehensive and holistic approach to prevent tradeoffs and guide users and decision makers for better informed decisions. The total life cycle approach aims at informing and supporting decision making and management support. To better inform the decision making process for product design or product optimization, reliable tools are necessary which mirror the complexity and provide enough concentrated information at the same time. These management tools also need either to be included into the existing technical and economical information at the same time, or, as a minimum, allow interfaces to those other disciplines. Often full LCA studies are too expensive and also to time intensive, as they could really serve as input into decision making. Therefore new approaches are inevitable to supply relevant information in time. Screening LCA's have been proposed from different sides.