SM5002 Net Zero Analytics
The Complete Study & Assessment Guide · Sem 1 AY26/27SM5002 Overview
- National University of Singapore
- Semester 1, AY2026/27
- Postgraduate
- Thirteen lectures and workshops
What this course teaches
SM5002 Net Zero Analytics teaches process-based life cycle assessment as it is applied to healthcare products, procedures and pathways. The method follows four phases: setting the goal and scope, collecting life cycle inventory data, assessing impacts, and interpreting the results.
- Assessed entirely by coursework Participation, a group appraisal and an individual written model; the brief publishes no examination.
- The written model carries most The individual openLCA assessment of a single-use product is weighted at 60% in the section headings.
- Measure the service, not the object Compare one use against one use, scaling every input to the same functional unit.
- Change the context if you borrow A model built on a published study must alter manufacture, transport, use or disposal.
How SM5002 is assessed
| Component | Weight | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Attendance and class participation | 10% | Attend all lectures and contribute to discussion and collaborative tasks that apply the methods to healthcare examples; judged on engagement with case studies, peer interaction and critical thinking. |
| Oral presentation (group of six) | 30% | Critical appraisal of one published healthcare life cycle assessment in a 12 minute talk with a Vancouver reference page, delivered on 4 or 11 November 2026 and followed by questions; slides and a contribution declaration due by 2 November 2026. |
| Written assignment (individual) | 60% | A 1,000 word cradle-to-grave assessment of a commonly used single-use healthcare product modelled in openLCA with ecoinvent background data (cut-off, unit processes) and ReCiPe 2016 impacts under the Hierarchist perspective, with screenshots; due 15 November 2026. |
The three weights follow the section headings of the assessment brief and total 100%. The contents page of the same brief lists participation at 20% and the written assignment at 50%, also totalling 100%, so confirm which split applies with the teaching team in the first week. No hurdle, minimum mark or pass condition is stated for any component in the published brief, so none is claimed here. Attendance at both presentation sessions, and presenting part of the group talk, is stated as compulsory for every student.
Current SM5002 dates
| Date | Item | Control |
|---|---|---|
| 2 November 2026 | Presentation slides due | One copy of the slides through Turnitin with a declaration of each member’s contribution. |
| 4 November 2026 | Oral presentations | First of the two presentation sessions; each talk is followed by questions. |
| 11 November 2026 | Oral presentations | Second presentation session; attendance is compulsory for all students. |
| 15 November 2026 | Written assignment due | The 1,000 word report, due by the end of Sunday 15 November. |
Dates are as published in the assessment brief and assignment pages published for this offering. Confirm exact deadlines and submission settings in the live LMS.
What SM5002 covers
Ten chapters follow the lecture sequence from the four phases of life cycle assessment, through openLCA modelling and parametric analytics, to the appraisal and the written report that carry the grade.
Goal, Scope and the Functional Unit
Set the aim, functional unit, reference flows and system boundary before any data is collectedWhy the first phase decides the rest
A process-based life cycle assessment follows the four phases set out in ISO 14040:2006: goal and scope, life cycle inventory, life cycle impact assessment, and interpretation.
- The four ISO 14040 phases and why they iterate
- What a goal statement must contain under ISO 14044
- The scope checklist from product system to report format
- Function, functional unit and reference flow in comparisons
- System boundaries, cradle to gate and cradle to grave
- Cut-off criteria, materiality and allocation of shared processes
Collecting Life Cycle Inventory Data
Build the inventory from product data, published studies and ecoinvent background processesWhat the inventory phase produces
The life cycle inventory is the second phase of an LCA.
- Direct emissions, financial and process activity data
- Primary against secondary data
- Foreground against background data
- Process maps and data collection sheets
- Entering an inventory with Ecoinvent processes and transport in kg km
- Data quality indicators, validation and filling data gaps
Impact Assessment with ReCiPe Midpoints
Turn inventory flows into impact categories with ReCiPe characterisation factors, midpoint and endpointWhat the impact assessment phase is for
A life cycle inventory is a ledger of flows: the electricity, water, steel and fuel a product system draws in, and the carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, fine particulates and waste it sends out.
- Mandatory and optional elements of life cycle impact assessment
- Impact categories, indicators, characterisation models and end-points
- Classification of inventory results into categories
- Characterisation factors and emission factors with unit checks
- The eighteen ReCiPe midpoints and three areas of protection
- Individualist, Hierarchist and Egalitarian perspectives
Interpretation, Sensitivity and Uncertainty
Read contribution results, run sensitivity checks with parameters and state the uncertainty honestlyInterpretation is where an LCA earns trust
The fourth phase of a life cycle assessment takes the indicator results from impact assessment and decides what they mean.
- The three parts of interpretation under ISO 14044
- Contribution, dominance, influence, anomaly and Pareto analysis
- Completeness, sensitivity and consistency checks
- Parameter, scenario and model uncertainty
- Scenario analysis compared with probabilistic uncertainty analysis
- Local and global parameters in openLCA, with an optional Monte Carlo run
Modelling a Product System in openLCA
Model single-use and reusable surgical scissors as processes, flows and providers, then compare per useWhy the course teaches the software early
The written assignment asks for a cradle-to-grave life cycle assessment of a single-use healthcare product, built in openLCA on Ecoinvent background data (cut-off, unit processes) with ReCiPe impacts under the Hierarchist perspective.
- Setting up the course database and unit groups
- Flows, processes, product systems and projects
- Building the 60 g single-use scissor unit process
- Steam sterilisation as a separate process with a derived waste output
- Scaling lifetime and sterilisation processes to one use
- Comparing product systems in a project and reading result tabs
Parametric Modelling and Lancet MedZero
Extend the evidence base with parametric models and spend-based carbon analytics at health-system scaleThe scale problem behind this week
Process-based life cycle assessment, as practised in the openLCA workshops, produces careful results one product at a time. That precision has a cost.
- Why product-by-product assessment cannot cover health care
- Parameters and what parametric modelling predicts
- The four steps of building a parametric model
- How a pharmaceutical product is parameterised
- Customising footprints on the Lancet MedZero platform
- Costing and carbon-counting a hospital intervention
Carbon Footprint Scopes and Their Limits
Separate scope 1, 2 and 3 accounting from product assessment and know what a footprint cannot answerWhy emissions are sorted into scopes
Every net zero pledge in healthcare eventually turns into an inventory, and an inventory needs rules about which emissions belong to whom.
- Scope 1 direct emissions from owned or controlled sources
- Scope 2 emissions from purchased electricity, steam, heat and cooling
- Scope 3 value chain emissions and why they are optional and hard to compare
- Equity share and control approaches to the organisational boundary
- Assigning electricity emissions along a supply chain without double counting
- Corporate, Scope 3 and Product Standards and the five product life cycle stages
Reusable and Single-Use Devices Compared
Read published device comparisons and find the assumptions that decide which option winsWhy this comparison keeps coming back
Once the life cycle method has been learned in software, the later lectures of the course turn it on real clinical choices: individual products in anaesthesia and intensive care, then procedures, products and processes in surgery.
- Where reusable versus single-use comparisons sit in the later lectures
- Laryngoscope handles and blades: life cycle assessment with life cycle costing
- Flexible cystoscopes: amortising manufacture over lifetime cases
- Central venous catheter kits: electricity source and a reversed verdict
- Laparoscopic trocars: single-use, reusable and mixed systems
- Four inputs that decide the direction of a reuse comparison
Critically Appraising a Published LCA
Appraise method, alternatives and implications of a published study for the 12 minute group talkWhat the group appraisal is for
The second assessed piece of work in the module is a group talk rather than a model.
- The oral presentation brief and its deadlines
- Seven rubric criteria and the weight on method
- Setting, date and transferability of results
- System boundaries and what a study leaves out
- Functional equivalence in reusable versus single-use comparisons
- Funding, omitted alternatives and greenwashing risk
Writing the Single-Use Product LCA Report
Plan the 1,000 word cradle-to-grave report, its screenshots and its rubric weightsThe task in one paragraph
The largest single assessment in the module is an individual report of at most 1,000 words describing a life cycle assessment you build yourself.
- Choosing a single-use product and its data sources
- Modelling an alternative context instead of replicating a paper
- Goal, scope and the system boundary figure
- The inventory table with Ecoinvent providers and quantities
- ReCiPe 2016 Hierarchist results and the three screenshots
- Contribution analysis, uncertainty and limitations
Students learn the phases in two lectures and then apply them in openLCA, the software used throughout, with ecoinvent background processes and the ReCiPe impact method.
How the thirteen lectures build
The published lecture sequence opens with the goal, scope and inventory phases, followed by impact assessment and interpretation.
Three workshops then build product models in openLCA: an introductory exercise on a single-use surgical scissor of 60 grams, a consolidation exercise on reusable scissors and other products, and an advanced session on parameters, sensitivity and uncertainty. A fifth lecture covers parametric approaches and the Lancet MedZero platform.
The later lectures turn to critical appraisal and greenwashing, advanced topics, and applications in anaesthesia, intensive care, surgery, care pathways and pharmaceuticals, before closing with the use of assessments to decarbonise health product markets and two sessions of group presentations.
The question the method answers
A life cycle assessment compares the environmental burden of delivering one defined service, the functional unit, across every stage from raw material extraction to disposal.
The comparison is only as fair as that unit. One use of a reusable instrument and one single-use item deliver the same service; one reusable instrument and one disposable item do not. Much of the course is spent learning to see where that choice, and the boundary drawn around the system, decides the answer before any data is entered.
What is assessed
There is no examination.
Attendance and class participation, judged on engagement with case studies, peer interaction and critical thinking in class activities, carries 10%.
A group oral presentation carries 30%: groups of six critically appraise one published healthcare life cycle assessment in a 12 minute talk, delivered on 4 or 11 November 2026. The written assignment carries 60% and is an individual cradle-to-grave model of an everyday disposable healthcare product, written up in 1,000 words and due on 15 November 2026.
Where the published weights disagree
The assessment brief states its weights twice.
Its contents page gives participation 20% and the written assignment 50%, while the section headings that describe each component give 10% and 60%. Both total one hundred and the oral presentation is 30% in each.
This guide follows the section headings, where each component is actually set out, and recommends confirming the split in the first week.
How to use this guide
Each chapter takes one part of the method or one assessed task and works a case with real quantities from the workshops or the assigned papers.
Read the first four chapters before the first workshop, keep chapter five open while you build your model, and return to the last two chapters when your group chooses its paper and when you draft the report.
Worked example · free
Choosing a functional unit for a reusable instrument
- 2Define the functional unit as a service rather than an object.
- 2State the reference flow for each option.
- 2Name the processes the reusable option adds per use.
Key terms
- Life Cycle Assessment
- A method that totals the environmental burdens of a product or service across every stage from raw material extraction to disposal.
- Functional Unit
- The defined service that every option in a comparison must deliver, against which all inputs and outputs are scaled.
- Reference Flow
- The quantity of product needed to deliver one functional unit, such as one disposable item or one share of a reusable one.
- System Boundary
- The line that sets which life cycle stages and processes are inside the model and which are left out.
- Life Cycle Inventory
- The table of material, energy, emission and waste flows for each process in the product system.
- Characterisation Factor
- The number that converts one inventory flow into its contribution to an impact category, such as carbon dioxide equivalents.
- Midpoint Indicator
- An impact result measured part way along the cause and effect chain, such as global warming potential.
- Sensitivity Analysis
- A check of how far the result moves when one assumption or parameter is changed.
- Parametric Model
- A model whose inputs are expressed as adjustable parameters so similar products can be assessed quickly.
- Scope 3 Emissions
- Indirect emissions in an organisation’s value chain, including purchased goods and their disposal.
SM5002 FAQ
How is the course assessed and is there an examination?
There is no examination. The brief sets out three components: attendance and class participation at 10%, a group oral presentation at 30% and an individual written life cycle assessment at 60%. The contents page of the same document gives 20% and 50% for the first and last, so check the split in the first week.
Which software and databases does the written assignment require?
The model must be built in openLCA using ecoinvent cut-off unit processes for background data and the ReCiPe 2016 Hierarchist method for impacts. Screenshots of the model inputs and outputs, the impact results and the contribution analysis must appear in the report.
Can I base my model on a published study?
Yes, but copying it is not enough. The brief requires a hypothetical alternative context, for instance a different place of manufacture, shipping route, place of use or disposal route, and every assumption for each life cycle stage must be justified and referenced.
What does the group presentation have to cover?
Six students appraise one published healthcare assessment in twelve minutes. The talk explains and critiques the methods, weighs alternative methodological approaches, draws out what the results mean for clinicians and for policy, and relates them to wider literature, with a Vancouver reference page.
Why does the choice of functional unit matter so much?
Every input and output is scaled to it, so it decides what is being compared. Setting one reusable instrument against one disposable item ignores how many uses the reusable one delivers, while one use on each side compares the same clinical service.
What is the difference between a carbon footprint and a full life cycle assessment?
A footprint reports greenhouse gas emissions only, while a full assessment with ReCiPe also reports categories such as water use, land use and human toxicity. A product can look better on climate and worse on another category, which is why interpretation matters.
Which parts of the written report carry the most marks?
The rubric gives 25% to understanding and applying the method, 20% to the inventory, 15% each to goal and scope, impact assessment and interpretation, and 10% to referencing and presentation in Vancouver style.
Questions students ask in each SM5002 chapter
- Can a study of a single-use medical device stop at the factory gate?
- Not if the device is a final product. The GHG Protocol standard requires final products to be assessed cradle to grave, and a cradle-to-gate boundary is reserved for intermediate products whose use is unknown, with the choice disclosed and justified in the report. Chapter 01 · Goal, Scope and the Functional Unit
- Is a figure taken from a journal article always background data?
- No. Background and foreground describe where a process sits in the system, not where the number came from. Sterilizer electricity reported in a paper still describes a foreground process; it is simply secondary rather than primary. Chapter 02 · Collecting Life Cycle Inventory Data
- Why does this course report midpoints rather than damage scores?
- Midpoint results sit nearer to the emissions and use accepted models such as the IPCC global warming potential, so they carry less uncertainty. Damage-level scores are easier for lay audiences but stack further modelled assumptions on top. Chapter 03 · Impact Assessment with ReCiPe Midpoints
- How large does a change have to be before a result counts as sensitive?
- There is no fixed threshold. The useful test is whether the conclusion changes: a seven percent shift that leaves the ranking of alternatives intact is worth reporting as a limitation, while a smaller shift that reverses the ranking is decisive. Chapter 04 · Interpretation, Sensitivity and Uncertainty
- Why does the reference flow use number rather than mass?
- Scissors are counted and used as whole pairs, so the functional unit is one pair or one use. Material exchanges such as steel and waste stay in grams, and openLCA scales them from the counted reference. Chapter 05 · Modelling a Product System in openLCA
- Is a parametric estimate as reliable as a full openLCA model?
- Not usually. Estimation methods trade data requirements against uncertainty, so a parametric value with little input data carries more uncertainty, which is why platform footprints come with a quality rating you should report. Chapter 06 · Parametric Modelling and Lancet MedZero
- Why is purchased electricity reported by the hospital and not by the power station?
- The power station does report the combustion, as its own scope 1. The hospital reports the same tonnes as scope 2 because its demand caused the generation, and keeping the two in different scopes prevents any one category from containing them twice. Chapter 07 · Carbon Footprint Scopes and Their Limits
- Are reusable devices always better for the climate than disposables?
- No. Laryngoscopes, cystoscopes and trocars favoured reuse, but reusable catheter insertion kits sterilised with coal-fired electricity emitted about three times the carbon of the disposable kits, so the result depends on device and setting. Chapter 08 · Reusable and Single-Use Devices Compared
- How much of the oral mark depends on methodology?
- Three criteria concern method directly: explaining it, critically appraising it, and weighing alternative approaches. Together they carry fifty five percent, so judgement about methods outweighs presentation polish and referencing combined. Chapter 09 · Critically Appraising a Published LCA
- Do tables and figures count towards the word limit?
- No. Tables, figures and references sit outside the 1,000 word maximum, so put inventory numbers and results in tables and keep the prose for justification, interpretation, uncertainty and limitations. Chapter 10 · Writing the Single-Use Product LCA Report
How to prepare for the assessments
Pick your single-use product in the first fortnight and run every chapter against it: write its functional unit after the first lecture, draft its inventory table during the workshops, and test its weakest assumption in the sensitivity session. The report then becomes an edit of work already done rather than a fresh build in November.
