From EPD Expertise to Certified Lifecycle Executive: Jackson’s Journey
LCANZ is proud to announce that executive committee member Jackson MacFarlane has received his Certified Lifecycle Executive (CLE) certification.
As the Group Sustainability Manager for Hynds, a core part of Jackson’s role is the calculation and communication of life cycle assessments (LCAs) for their products. Over the last four years, Hynds have published 29 third-party verified EPDs and had an internally developed carbon footprint calculator that generates custom-product carbon footprint reports externally reviewed.
In looking for a certification that would recognize his expertise in developing, managing and communicating EPDs, while not performing the LCAs himself, Jackson landed on the Certified Lifecycle Executive (CLE) exam as the best fit. The CLE is designed to recognize professionals working in project, program or business management roles reflecting their competency in the fundamentals of LCA and ability to interpret and communicate LCA results.
The most daunting aspect of preparing for the CLE exam was the lack of information on the exam content. ALCAS – who administer the accreditation provide a bullet point list of potential topics and a recommended text on their website. After some self-directed study on the listed topics, Jackson felt as prepared as possible for the 100 multiple-choice question, 60-minute online exam.
The first section of the exam covered ethics of LCA, a topic that was vaguely outlined in advance and was not at all what Jackson was expecting. After overcoming mild panic at the strangely worded questions, he got through them all and onto the more comfortable LCA-specific questions. The test also included a short section on statistics and project management.
Overall, Jackson feels that the work he had done in LCA over the years had prepared him relatively, and he is now a Certified Lifecycle Executive!
We wish you all the best Jackson!
The LCANZ team