| In response to growing interest in 'green' vehicles, Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) and Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) concepts can quantify the automobile's environmental impacts. Potential benefits include Design-for-Environment (DfE) opportunities, increased manufacturing efficiencies, and future application to consumer-based eco-rating systems.;A detailed LCI reference dataset was developed to include materials, energy, and emissions associated with the Pretreatment, E-coat, and Top Coat paint unit processes. The challenges and industry realities of completing the LCI enabled a detailed set of guidelines to be developed, adapting existing protocols to the specifics of the manufacturing paint process. (Abstract shortened by UMI.).;Detailed and up-to-date LCI data for general application by LCI practitioners does not exist at this time for the majority of Manufacturing/Assembly processes in North America, including the automotive paint process. With an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) industry partner's commitment to a publicly available LCI database (i.e., NREL LCI Database), however, a representative vehicle assembly facility was selected for completion of a paint process LCI. |
