October 5, 2009

Getachew Assefa analyzes products and services and identifies the most environmentally burdensome. 
/ Photo: Ken Bendiktsen

New EVDS Athena Chair a first

As society shifts toward more sustainable practices, assessing the environmental impact of human activities becomes extremely important. The field of life cycle assessment (LCA) evaluates and compares the full range of environmental damage produced by products and services, in order to identify the least burdensome ones.

Getachew Assefa, one of the world’s top experts in LCA, has joined the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Environmental Design under the newly established Athena Chair in Life Cycle Assessment.

“I am very excited to be the first Athena Chair in Life Cycle Assessment as this is one of very few research chairs in LCA in the whole world,” says Assefa. “Our goal is to accelerate LCA research, education and practice in North America.”

Supported by FPInnovations—Forintek Division, the Ministry of Advanced Education and Technology and the Alberta Forestry Research Institute, the Athena Chair in Life Cycle Assessment is offered in collaboration with the Athena Institute and will focus on LCA application to new and existing buildings.

“This chair is particularly unique as it is held in the Faculty of Environmental Design rather than as a stand-alone chair,” says Assefa. “Being able to work closely with EVDS designers and researchers as well as the building and energy sectors and the Athena Institute will make this research even more relevant.”

Assefa will build the critical mass of researchers in EVDS, joining the Chair in
Integrated Design and the Chair in Sustainable Building Technologies, says Professor Jim Love, who chaired the selection committee.

FPInnovations Group Leader Jennifer O’Connor says the chair in will strengthen the academic backbone and profile of LCA, increase the knowledge base and help to develop a larger pool of trained practitioners.

“FPInnovations has been engaged in life cycle assessment work for many years, specifically in the area of building materials,” she says. “We have a strong interest in accelerating the uptake of LCA principles in design in order to truly improve the overall environmental footprint of the construction sector.”

Assefa is originally from Ethiopia but worked for many years as a senior researcher at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. He has a BSc degree in chemical engineering, an MSc in environmental engineering and sustainable infrastructure and a PhD in industrial ecology.