Welcome to the homepage of the BVI methodology at the University of Augsburg. BVI is short for “Biodiversity Value Increment” and the methodology is used for the impact assessment step in life cycle assessment studies. It has been developed since 2011 and is continuously being improved. The driving force behind the methodology is Prof. Jan Paul Lindner, but many PhD candidates, master students, bachelor students, research partners, and companies have contributed to the methodology.
Biodiversity Value Increment
BVI methodology: impact assessment in life cycle assessment studies at the University of Augsburg
This website was originally designed in the BioVal project, funded by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research. BioVal has its own dedicated website here https://bio-val.de/
What is the BVI methodology?
What is the BVI methodology?
BVI is short for “biodiversity value increment” and the methodology is used for the impact assessment step in life cycle analysis studies. The BVI method is based on many years of preliminary work by several research institutions and allows the use of LCA to address issues that deal with the biodiversity impact of individual processes in the context of entire value chains. In order to manage biodiversity risks along supply chains, potential biodiversity impacts that arise during the manufacture, use and disposal of products and processes must be quantified and assessed. The BVI method enables this assessment of the impact on biodiversity along the entire life cycle. For this purpose, the BVI method is integrated into the life cycle assessment method in accordance with ISO 14040/44, which has been an established means of estimating the environmental impacts of products and processes along the entire life cycle for many years. Analogous to the estimation of the climate impact by determining the Global Warming Potential (GWP) in CO2-eq., the biodiversity impact of a product is calculated using the BVI method in BVI*m2*a. For direct impacts on an area, input data describing the management of an area (e.g. use of fertiliser, use of pesticides, structural elements on the area) are used. In addition, biodiversity impacts are included that not only have a direct effect on the utilised area, but also extend across a region (e.g. water use) or globally (e.g. GHG emissions). Where possible, the calculations take into account the prevailing background pressures or existing pressures at the respective locations.