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Recent years have seen advancements in the development and use of life-cycle assessment (LCA) analytic techniques. Although these techniques have highlighted the power of LCA to identifj, the environmental consequences of a product system through its entire life cycle, they have also highlighted a major shortcoming ofLCA-the lack of cost information. Because companies make daily decisions that involve trade-ors between economics and the environment, including cost information in LCA is critical for advancing its use as an overall environmental decision-making tool. This article outlines the current state of LCA methodology development, defines key life-cycle cost assessment terms and concepts, and evalriates existing cost assessment techniques with the objective of building an integrated life-cycle cost assessment tool.

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