Keywords: decision making tools, eco-efficiency portfolio, ecology fingerprint, LCA, life cycle assessment, LCM, life cycle management, SEEcube, SEEBALANCE, social fingerprint, social life cycle assessment, socio-eco-efficiency, sustainable development, social impact, sustainability, social indicators, eco-efficiency analysis
How to measure social impacts? A socio-eco-efficiency analysis by the SEEBALANCE® method
BASF has, in cooperation with Karlsruhe University, Jena University and the Oko-Institut e.V. (Germany), developed a socio-eco-efficiency analysis – the so-called SEEBALANCE®. The objective was the integration of quantified social indicators into the BASF eco-efficiency analysis. Many life cycle analyses do not include an assessment of social impacts and effects. However, in order to arrive at a comprehensive assessment of products or processes, it is necessary to include all three dimensions of sustainability. The objective was to develop a tool, comparable to the BASF eco-efficiency analysis, which is simple to use by LCA-experts and easy-to-understand for people without any prior experience in the field.