Overview
ISO/TS 14076:2025 - Environmental management - Environmental techno‑economic assessment (eTEA): Principles, requirements and guidance - defines a standardized approach for combining economic analysis with environmental impact assessment for process systems. Applicable to processes of any size or production scale, the Technical Specification helps practitioners produce transparent, reproducible eTEAs that support decision making across design, development and commercialization phases.
Key search terms: ISO/TS 14076:2025, environmental techno‑economic assessment, eTEA, TEA, LCA, process systems, documentation, transparency
Key Topics and Requirements
ISO/TS 14076:2025 structures eTEAs around clear principles and a methodological framework that aligns techno‑economic analysis (TEA) with life cycle assessment (LCA). Main technical topics and requirements include:
- Principles: iterative approach, transparency, comprehensiveness, and prioritizing sound scientific and economic methods.
- Goal and scope definition: define the purpose, system boundaries, functional unit, basis of production and reference flows.
- Technical analysis (TEA): collection of technological parameters, process modelling and calculation of performance metrics.
- Economic analysis: defining financial parameters, computing cost and profitability metrics, and incorporating influences outside process boundaries when relevant.
- Life cycle assessment (LCA): integration of ISO 14040/14044 LCA methods to quantify environmental impacts across the product system’s life cycle.
- Sensitivity analysis: evaluate how key assumptions affect results and robustness of conclusions.
- Documentation: explicit requirements to record results, assumptions, parameters, methodologies and digital files to ensure reproducibility and effective interpretation.
- Guidance and examples: Annexes provide an illustrative eTEA and guidance for selecting basis of production.
Applications and Who Uses It
ISO/TS 14076:2025 is designed for practitioners who perform eTEAs, including professionals in:
- Industry (process design, product development, sustainability teams)
- Government agencies (policy analysis, regulatory assessment)
- Academia and research organizations (techno‑economic and environmental studies)
- Consultants providing lifecycle, cost‑benefit and sustainability services
Practical uses: compare alternative processes or technologies, inform investment and scale decisions, support environmental product declarations, and improve transparency in sustainability reporting.
Related Standards
ISO/TS 14076:2025 complements LCA standards by prescribing how to integrate economic and environmental perspectives into a single, well‑documented eTEA for better decision support.