Course in Life Cycle Assessment of Transport Infrastructure
Online course of 300 hours in life cycle assessment (LCA) of transport infrastructure, with 6 modules covering the ISO 14040/14044 framework, life cycle inventory, impact assessment, application to roads, railways and bridges, and decision-making, with an assigned technical tutor.
Course in Life Cycle Assessment of Transport Infrastructure — studying from Canada
Canada's infrastructure needs drive significant civil engineering activity, from highways and bridges to urban transit and water systems. Major transit projects in Toronto, Montréal, Vancouver and Calgary involve rail, tunnelling and smart city technologies. Rail operators and suppliers, including Canadian Pacific Kansas City and Canadian National, depend on engineering expertise in track, signalling and structures. Provincial ministries of transportation and municipal engineering departments are key employers, alongside consulting firms.
Fees for Canada: C$698 (Canadian dollar), with instalments and employer sponsorship available.
Relevant bodies in Canada
Typical roles
Questions from Canada
Who regulates civil engineering titles in Canada, and does SEIUM count?
Civil engineers in Canada are typically licensed as Professional Engineers by provincial associations, such as Engineers Canada's member bodies, which set licensing requirements including accredited education and experience. SEIUM is a private institute, and its qualifications are not official state degrees or accredited by a national body. They do not by themselves grant a P.Eng. licence, so check with the relevant association.
Are these qualifications useful to rail or smart city employers in Canada?
Canada has significant rail, transit and urban infrastructure work, including major projects in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia. Public agencies and consultancies usually prioritise licensed engineers and verifiable experience. A SEIUM qualification may complement your profile, but whether it is recognised is for each employer to decide, so it is worth asking them before you commit.
Can I study part-time while working, and is employer funding possible?
Yes, the programmes are 100% online, so you can study from home without a student visa and fit sessions around work. Specialist courses are 300 hours, postgraduate diplomas 800 and master's 1,900. Teaching is in English, and an assigned technical tutor supports you. Fees can be paid in instalments, and employer sponsorship is possible, depending on your employer's policies.
Take the controls.
Run a real engineering trade-off from this field. Move the sliders, watch the model react in real time and beat the challenge.
What you will be able to do
Define the goal, scope and functional unit of an infrastructure LCA.
Build life cycle inventories from project quantities and databases.
Assess environmental impacts using recognised characterisation methods.
Apply EN 17472 to roads, bridges and railway tracks.
Compare design and construction alternatives using life cycle indicators.
Interpret results with sensitivity and uncertainty analysis.
Communicate LCA results for decision-making and green public procurement.
Who it's for
- Life cycle analysts who want to specialise in life cycle assessment of transport infrastructure.
- Infrastructure sustainability consultants who want to specialise in life cycle assessment of transport infrastructure.
- Carbon engineers on transport projects who want to specialise in life cycle assessment of transport infrastructure.
- Environmental technicians at construction companies who want to specialise in life cycle assessment of transport infrastructure.
- Green public procurement managers who want to specialise in life cycle assessment of transport infrastructure.
- Environmental product declaration assessors who want to specialise in life cycle assessment of transport infrastructure.
- Engineering or science graduates looking to move into transport infrastructure.
What you'll work with
- ISO 14040 (LCA principles and framework)
- ISO 14044 (LCA requirements and guidelines)
- EN 17472 (sustainability of civil engineering works)
- EN 15804+A2 (environmental product declarations for construction products)
- ISO 14067 (carbon footprint of products)
- PAS 2080 (carbon management in infrastructure)
- ISO 21930 (EPDs for construction products)
- SimaPro
- openLCA
- Sphera LCA for Experts (GaBi)
- ecoinvent database
- Advanced Excel
6 modules
1.1ISO 14040 and ISO 140441.2LCA phases and their iteration1.3Goal and scope in infrastructure1.4Functional unit in transport projects1.5System boundaries and included processes1.6Cut-off and allocation rules1.7Data quality and representativeness1.8Critical review of the study1.9Environmental product declarations1.10Workshop: defining goal and scope
2.1Construction materials and their data2.2Transport of materials and machinery2.3Site consumption and energy2.4Maintenance and replacement2.5Use phase: traffic and upkeep2.6End of life: demolition and recycling2.7Inventory databases2.8Collecting primary data2.9Traceability and documentation2.10Laboratory: inventory of a section
3.1Common impact categories3.2Global warming potential3.3Acidification, eutrophication and ozone3.4Resource and water depletion3.5Characterisation methods3.6Normalisation and weighting3.7Interpreting results3.8Contribution analysis and hotspots3.9Uncertainty and sensitivity analysis3.10Laboratory: assessment of a bridge
4.1Roads: pavements and layers4.2Railways: track and electrification4.3Bridges and special structures4.4Tunnels and earthworks4.5Comparing alignment alternatives4.6Embodied carbon versus operational carbon4.7Service life and maintenance scenarios4.8Low-footprint materials4.9Circular economy on site4.10Case study: comparing two alternatives
5.1Integrating LCA into the project5.2Environmental criteria in tendering5.3Project and organisational carbon footprint5.4Third-party verification5.5Communication to clients and society5.6Risk of greenwashing5.7Public procurement requirements5.8Costs and benefits of reducing impact5.9Monitoring indicators on site5.10Workshop: executive report
6.1Choosing the infrastructure and scope6.2Complete inventory with sources6.3Impact assessment6.4Hotspot analysis6.5Proposing improvement alternatives6.6Quantifying the savings6.7Uncertainty analysis6.8Report in accordance with ISO 140446.9Presentation of results6.10Review with the tutor
How you'll learn
100% online training on the SEIUM campus, with downloadable material, recorded classes and an assigned technical tutor. There are no fixed timetables: you progress at your own pace within the intake, so it can be combined with work.
Each module combines theory, guided reading of the original standard and applied exercises. The working software is SimaPro, openLCA, Sphera LCA for Experts (GaBi), the ecoinvent database and advanced Excel, in free, academic or evaluation versions. Testing is studied through real procedures for LCA studies on real road and railway projects, comparison of pavement and alignment alternatives and critical review of environmental product declarations. Assessment is continuous by module, plus the final project.
Standards covered: ISO 14040, ISO 14044, EN 17472, EN 15804+A2, ISO 14067, PAS 2080, ISO 21930.
Build it end to end
Your final project follows the real engineering workflow, step by step, reviewed by your tutor.
Where this takes you
Requirements
- No previous qualification is required.
- An internet connection and a computer capable of running the programme software.
- English sufficient to read technical standards.
Ready to start?
Send your application today. Our admissions team replies within 72 hours with your study plan and funding options.
Frequently asked questions
The course totals 300 hours over 3 months. You set your own pace within each intake, and your tutor helps you plan the workload around your job.
You will work with SimaPro, openLCA, Sphera LCA for Experts (GaBi), the ecoinvent database and advanced Excel. Free, academic or evaluation versions are used, and your tutor indicates the free alternative where one exists.
A SEIUM Institute certificate, awarded on passing the continuous assessment and the final project. It is SEIUM's own qualification, not an official state degree; its recognition depends on the programme completed and the regulations of each country.
Yes. Modules passed are recognised in a higher programme in the same area (postgraduate diploma or master's). Ask about the recognition policy when you enrol.
No previous qualification is required. You need an internet connection, a computer capable of running the programme software, and English sufficient to read technical standards.
Start dates are set by SEIUM's faculty for each intake. Our admissions team will confirm the next available date when you apply.
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