Visualization supported corporate decision making for life cycle sustainability assessment – Illustrated using a case study for selecting a sustainable packaging system for self-leveling compounds

Visualization and Interpretation of Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment—Existing Tools and Future Development

“…However, there are different realizations of a triangle as a visualization tool. With time, various models have emerged that are either partially based on each other, such as the 'posterior triangle' on the Life Cycle Sustainability Triangle (LCST) [21], or were developed independently from each other.…”

“…The posterior triangle is based on the LCST and was designed by Müller and Hiete [21] for companies, and provides an overview of the performances of all alternatives for every possible weighting of the three dimensions of sustainability. This model is intended to ensure that no a priori weighting or aggregation takes place.…”

“…In contrast to the LCST, however, a posterior triangle works with colors. According to Müller and Hiete [21] the posterior triangle is not applicable for more alternatives than three: which is why they created an additional visualization method that has an unlimited capacity of alternatives that can be assessed-the product selection map (PSM).…”

“…As soon as aggregation and weighting are involved, subjectivity automatically plays a role in the assessment. This uncertainty needs further research but was not addressed in the study of Müller and Hiete [21] (Figure 3).…”

“…An explanation of the evaluation criteria is not necessary, as the triangle is only used for weighting and not for evaluation. Furthermore, Müller and Hiete [21] criticize that the LCST cannot evaluate different scenarios in the visualization, and thus the LCST is not adaptable to external adjustable circumstances that are to be compared.…”