2011 Directory of Sustainability Life Cycle Assessment Tools

Transcription

1 2011 Directory of Sustainability Life Cycle Assessment Tools Assembled by Darcy Hitchcock, Publications Program Manager, ISSP, Rita Schenk, ACLCA, & Tamara Gordy, Bainbridge Graduate Institute

2 Cover image: renjith krishnan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net Copyright 2011 International Society of Sustainability Professionals. Published in Portland, OR. All rights reserved. ISBN Directory of Sustainability Life Cycle Assessment Tools

3 Table of Contents Introduction...4 Reporting Tool Cross- Reference...8 Athena Impact Estimator for Buildings...14 CMCLA...18 COMPASS...21 everdee...26 GaBi Global Emissions Model for Integrated Systems (GEMIS)...36 openlca...40 REGIS 2.3 Corporate Ecoperformance Software...44 SavvyPack...47 Sustainable Minds...49 Umberto...52 Life Cycle Assessment Tool Input Form Directory of Sustainability Life Cycle Assessment Tools 3

4 Introduction Purpose of this guide Sustainability is a fast growing and fast changing field. Part of ISSP s mission is to stay on top of new developments and emerging tools and technologies to make sure professionals have the best possible resources to support their work. This directory compiles tools that help organizations plan and report on their life cycle assessment efforts. Lifecycle assessment analysis can help organizations and product designers evaluate the upstream and downstream impacts associated with operations and products. Reliable knowledge can help organizations measure existing impacts, and evaluate and choose among impacts associated with various design, materials, manufacturing, transportation, and operational scenarios. Types of reporting tools included in this directory The focus of this guide is on tools that help organizations perform, track and report sustainability life cycle assessment data. Some of the tools provide a broad set of metrics social, environmental, and economic while others focus on a narrow area such as environmental impact. Some tools are designed for use in all sectors of the economy, while others are intended to analyze a specific area such as packaging or construction. The field is changing quickly, and we erred on the side of including tools rather than excluding tools. In addition to the tools included in this guide, some organizations did not respond to our request. We provide that list in the sidebar, in case you want to investigate them as well. Methodology ISSP sent out requests, asking people who had reporting tools or might know others who did. We sent the owners of the tools an input form. Their forms are then assembled essentially verbatim in this guide in alphabetical order by the tool name. Part of the input form included information for a cross-reference table (see next chapter) so that we could compare and contrast the tools at a glance. We d like to thank Rita Schenk with the American Center for Life Cycle Assessment for her help identifying the tools and designing the questionnaire. How to use this guide Start with the Reporting Tool Cross-Reference table in the next chapter. This set of tables provides an overview of each of the tools included in this guide. You might highlight the rows representing the features or criteria important to you. Then see if you can find tools that have X s in those rows, indicating they meet those criteria. Then find the more detailed information about the tools that best meet your criteria in the directory Directory of Sustainability Life Cycle Assessment Tools

5 Each tool provides the following information: Application: What industry, product, or geographical area is covered by this tool? Type of Tool: Is this a modeling tool or a database? Tool Features: What can people do with the tool (ie, does it import and export data and have graphics capability, does it use the matrix algebra or substance flow method, does it have security features)? Support: How do people learn how to use the tool? What kind of training, manuals, customization, and help support is available? Platform: What system is used to run the tool (ie. PC/Windows, Mac, web-based, or mainframe)? Languages: What languages are available? Topics Covered: Does the tool address Environmental performance? Social performance? Economic performance? Cost: Does acquiring the tool involve an outright purchase or annual license? Is a free demo available? Follow the URLs included in each of the descriptions for even more information or to contact the owner of the tools directly. Criteria The reporting tool cross-reference compares the tools against the following criteria. Because these charts span several pages, we thought it would be useful to see the criteria on one page first. There are two sets of tables, one for the first set of tools and a second with the remaining tools Directory of Sustainability Life Cycle Assessment Tools 5

6 Criteria Descriptor Tool 1 Tool 2 Application (Fill in all that apply) Type of tool (check one or both) Tool features Support available Platform Lan guag es Topics covered (check or list in right column) Cost (enter the fields that apply to your tool) Economy-wide tool Industry: Specific to an industry (please specify in the right column) Product type: Specific to a type of product (please specify in the right column) Geographic region: Specific to a geographic region (please specify in right column; for example if energy data is only for USA or transportation data is for UK, list the geographic regions where the data are relevant.) Modeling tool Database (please indicate average age of the data in years in the right column) Imports/exports easily to spreadsheets and documents Graphical capability LCI data uses matrix algebra method LCI data using substance flow method Security features to protect user (describe briefly) Training (indicate workshops (face to face), distance learning and/or self study) Manual Design/customization LCA consulting services Help line (phone or chat) PC/Windows Mac Web-based Mainframe (specify platform in column to the right, eg, operating systems like UNIX,/Linux and/or application/enterprise software like SAS, SAP, etc.) English Others (specify the languages available) Environmental performance Social performance Economical performance Out-right purchase (first cost and annual fees if any) Annual license (specify categories and costs, eg, is there a special license for educators) Free demo available Other (please explain in column to right if appropriate) Directory of Sustainability Life Cycle Assessment Tools

7 Fine print Completeness: This is inevitably not an exhaustive list of all sustainability life cycle assessment tools that met our criteria. If you are aware of other tools that should be included in future directories, please with the name of the tool and the appropriate contact at the host organization. If you have such a tool, please see the input form in the Appendix. Accuracy and endorsement: Because most of the material in this directory was provided by the owners of the tools, ISSP cannot take responsibility for accuracy. Similarly, inclusion in this directory should not be interpreted as an endorsement. Non- Responses The following organizations did not respond to ISSP s request for information. We include them here in case they might have a tool that would meet your needs. PRODUCT ASSET BEES Boustead ECODESIGN X-CHANGE Eco-It EcoSpold v2 EIO-LCA Green-e GREET Model IDEMAT KCL-ECO 4.0 LCAPIX Llamasoft PIQET SimaPro TEAM URL Assessment Bemis-formerly Alcan. (unable to locate; status uncertain) (unable to locate; status uncertain) ENTIRE Directory of Sustainability Life Cycle Assessment Tools 7

8 Tools 1-5 Reporting Tool Cross-Reference Criteria Descriptor Athena Impact Estimator for Buildings Application Type of tool Tool features CMLCA COMPASS (Comparative Packaging Assessment) GaBi 4.4 Life Cycle Engineering Software Economy-wide tool No X No X X Industry: Specific to an industry (please specify in the right column) Product type: Specific to a type of product (please specify in the right column) Geographic region: Specific to a geographic region (please specify in right column; for example if energy data is only for USA or transportation data is for UK, list the geographic regions where the data are relevant.) Construction Packaging Industries include, but are not limited to Aerospace, Automotive, Banking, Building & Construction, Chemicals & Petroleum, Consumer Goods, Education, Electronics, Energy & Utilities, Financial Services, Food & Agriculture, Government, Healthcare & Life Sciences, Insurance, IT, Metals & Mining, and Transportation & Logistics GEMIS Energy, construction, food, transport Buildings Packaging All product types electricity, heat, transport fuels, construction materials, feed & food, textiles North America US, Canada, Europe Worldwide. Regionally specific and custom datasets available Individual EU countries + selected other OECD (AU, CA, CH, JP, MX, NO, US) plus selected developing countries (e.g., AR, BR, CN, ID, IN, MO, TH, ZA) Modeling tool X X X X X Database (please indicate average age of the data in years in the right column) Imports/exports easily to spreadsheets and documents Avg age of data = _5_ years NA Average age of data = 5 years, however is valid through 2012 X X X X Interactive and static charts can also be created within the software without need for conversion. Avg age of data = 1-5 years X Directory of Sustainability Life Cycle Assessment Tools

9 Criteria Descriptor Athena Impact Estimator for Buildings Support available Platform Languages Topics covered CMLCA COMPASS (Comparative Packaging Assessment) GaBi 4.4 Life Cycle Engineering Software Graphical capability X X Sankey diagrams LCI data uses matrix algebra method LCI data using substance flow method Security features to protect user (describe briefly) Training (indicate workshops (face to face), distance learning and/or self study) Workshops Distance learning, Self study X 2011 Directory of Sustainability Life Cycle Assessment Tools 9 Charts GEMIS X X X X X (possibility to lock data against unintentional change) Tutorial; Training may be organized SSL secure accounts Access rights Core data and data entries of registered users are writeprotected X Workshops Distance learning, Self study Modeling & Project Support Sessions X Workshops Self-study tours Manual X X X X Design/customization X X LCA consulting services Help line (phone or chat) X X X X Phone PC/Windows X X X Windows XP Windows Vista Windows 7 Mac X Via Windows emulator or parallel platform Web-based X GaBi Reader Mainframe (specify platform in column to the right, eg, operating systems like UNIX,/Linux and/or application/enterprise software like SAS, SAP, etc.) English X X X X X Others (specify the languages available) Environmental performance German, Japanese, Danish, Taiwanese, Portuguese, Spanish, Chinese, Italian, Thai, French X Czech, French, German, Spanish X X X X X Social performance X X Employment Economical X X X

10 Criteria Descriptor Athena Impact Estimator for Buildings Cost performance Out-right purchase (first cost and annual fees if any) Annual license (specify categories and costs, eg, is there a special license for educators) CMLCA COMPASS (Comparative Packaging Assessment) $750 outright Free $1000/yr for 5 seats for SPC member companies; $2000/yr for 5 seats for non- SPC member companies; No license, but $375 educational price GaBi 4.4 Life Cycle Engineering Software Contact GaBi Representative gabi@peinternational.com Free X No Free demo available X X X X Other (please explain in column to right if appropriate) GEMIS public domain (free of charge) Directory of Sustainability Life Cycle Assessment Tools

11 Tools 6 11 Criteria Descriptor openlca REGIS SavvyPack System Application Type of tool Tool features Economy-wide tool X X (no restriction for size or activities/products/ processes) Industry: Specific to an industry (please specify in the right column) Product type: Specific to a type of product (please specify in the right column) Geographic region: Specific to a geographic region (please specify in right column; for example if energy data is only for USA or transportation data is for UK, list the geographic regions where the data are relevant.) Unlimited EcoInvent data base (international) Sustainable Minds Umberto X X X Packaging Raw materials to Retail Global Consumer Electronics Household Appliances Toys & Games Apparel Outdoor Gear & Equipment Housewares Medical & Scientific Furniture Transportation Industrial Equipment Building Products Packaging Currently US based, will expand to Europe and Australia Modeling tool X X X X X Database (please indicate average age of the data in years in the right column) Imports/exports easily to spreadsheets and documents (depends on the imported data) Actual EcoInvent data base Avg age of data = one month Avg age of data = 8 years X X X X X Graphical capability X X X X X LCI data uses matrix algebra method X Optional 2011 Directory of Sustainability Life Cycle Assessment Tools 11

12 Support available Platform Language s Topics covered Cost LCI data using substance flow method Security features to protect user (describe briefly) Training (indicate workshops (face to face), distance learning and/or self study) X X Optional Consistency checks for calculations and before user delete action Workshops Online courses Hardlock Manual X Integrated in Helpfile Most secure database and facility Standard internet security protocols Password X all All Workshops Self-study handbook Online training X X X Design/customization X X X X X LCA consulting services Help line (phone or chat) X X X X X X X X X X PC/Windows X X X X Mac X X Web-based Mainframe (specify platform in column to the right, eg, operating systems like UNIX,/Linux and/or application/enterprise software like SAS, SAP, etc.) Linux Version in development English X X X X X Others (specify the languages available) Environmental performance Social performance Economical performance Out-right purchase (first cost and annual fees if any) German, other languages in preparation German, Japanese and Spanish X X X X X X X X X X X EUR (including EcoInvent license fee of EUR ) Per single user license* Educational license on request X Depends Directory of Sustainability Life Cycle Assessment Tools

13 Annual license (specify categories and costs, eg, is there a special license for educators) X Annual subscription Professional $700 Single user $1200 Multuser 2 $2500 Multiuser 5 Private SaaS, Custom & Proprietary Data $ available on request Education $350 Educator $10/mo Student Quantity Discount Education Program; 50 student packages Free demo available X X X Other (please explain in column to right if appropriate) No annual costs. There is a special license for educators Update and Support contract optional 2011 Directory of Sustainability Life Cycle Assessment Tools 13

14 Tool Summary Athena Impact Estimator for Buildings Creator/owner of the tool: Athena Sustainable Materials Institute Type of tool (put an X in one or both): X Database X Modeling URL: Description provided by: Grant Finlayson, grant.finlayson@athenasmi.org Details. What does this tool do? The Impact Estimator is a whole building, environmental life cycle based decision support tool for use by building design teams at the conceptual design stage of a project. The tool focuses on the conceptual stage because this is when key decisions are first made about the shape and material make-up of a building s structure and envelope. The Impact Estimator takes comprehensive life cycle inventory information and makes it easily accessible so the team can make more holistic and informed environmental decisions about the design and material make-up of a proposed building. The model provides a cradle-to-grave Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) profile for a whole building over a user-selected service life. The inventory results comprise a long list of highly speciated flows from and to nature in the form of energy and raw material flows as well as emissions to air, water and land, using a proprietary database. Modeling Features. What can people do with the tool? The Impact Estimator uses the US EPA TRACI impact assessment model. It is not possible to specify new impact or characterization factors. No normalization or weighting methods are included Users can compare the results of several building designs to each other in order to assess their relative impacts Directory of Sustainability Life Cycle Assessment Tools

15 Database Features. What can people do with the tool? Most data have been updated since 2005, although some data from the late 1990s and early 2000s The vast majority of our data has been developed in house in cooperation with various trade associations and provides industry wide representative data from different manufacturers, plants and regions across North America Data sets apply to Canada and the United States, and are regionalized within North America to reflect different energy grids and supply sources. It is not possible to add new data Allocation factors are fixed and cannot be modified Benefits/Distinguishing Characteristics: What s special about this tool (as compared to others)? As far as we know, it is the only tool that can model a whole building and provide the individual and cumulative environmental effects of all component assemblies in that building, for each life cycle stage in its life expectancy 2011 Directory of Sustainability Life Cycle Assessment Tools 15

16 Training and Support: How do people learn how to use the tool? The tool is designed so that users with a minimal knowledge of construction or design can create a building model. Assemblies are entered as overall sizes and load factors, and the software performs structural calculations to determine a bill of materials for the model. The following is an example of an input form for a wood stud wall, and a bill of materials Directory of Sustainability Life Cycle Assessment Tools

17 Support is available, and training sessions can be arranged on a case by case basis. Earthshift.com also includes Impact Estimator training as part of an Introduction to LCA course. Instructional manual: Is there a companion book or instruction manual that helps people use the tool? There is an extensive Help file in the tool, with overviews as well as specific instructions for individual assemblies. There is also an overview document that spells out the philosophy of the tool and its global assumptions Directory of Sustainability Life Cycle Assessment Tools 17

18 CMCLA Tool Summary Creator/owner of the tool: Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML), Leiden University Type of tool (put an X in one or both): X Database X Modeling URL: Description provided by: Reinout Heijungs, heijungs@cml.leidenuniv.nl Details. What does this tool do? CMLCA is a software tool that supports the calculation of: life cycle assessment (LCA), including social life cycle assessment (SLCA) and life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) input-output analysis (IOA), including environmental input-output analysis (EIOA) life cycle costing (LCC) and eco-efficiency analysis (E/E) hybrid LCA, combining LCA and EIOA CMLCA is an abbreviation of Chain Management by Life Cycle Assessment. It is a software tool that is intended to support the technical steps of the tools described. It does not support the procedural aspects, like peer review, involvement of stakeholders, quality assurance and usefulness of the analysis for the decision at stake. The program assumes that the user is aware of the basic principles of LCA, IOA, etc. CMLCA is just one of the many software tools that is available for the stated purposes. However, its philosophy is probably somewhat different. CMLCA does not provide a flexible user interface. Exchange of data with other programs is less extensive than with some other programs. There is only a small choice in Directory of Sustainability Life Cycle Assessment Tools

19 graphical output, and the graphs are not 'fancy': no 3-D bars with shadow, just straight bar charts. There is no helpdesk. It may contain programming errors. On the other hand, it is developed with the principles of LCA, IOA, etc. in mind, so that it is quite accurate and up-to-date as to methodological details. It is, for example, fully based on matrix algebra, although the user may be unaware of that whilst using the program. This implies that process trees with a recursive flow structures (steel production needing coal and coal production needing steel), provide no computational problems and are exactly solved. Moreover, the program is very flexible in dealing with allocation of multiple processes. In contrast with some other programs, such processes need not be allocated prior to their entry in the database, and the allocation method (substitution, partitioning, or no allocation at all) may be defined for each individual unit process. The program also supports fully hybrid inventories, consisting of process-based and IO-based data. It is rich in its analytical possibilities. The program will continue to develop, in a progressive way such that all present features will remain available, and that data saved with the present version may be retrieved in future versions. CML, the Institute of Environmental Sciences at Leiden University, has ever since the conception of LCA played a prominent role in developing LCA, and it is still at the forefront of activity, both in its methodological advances, and in its standardization and progress towards maturity. CMLCA will follow these developments, and sometimes it will even lead these. CMLCA is scientific software, in two senses: CMLCA has been developed at a university that has played an important role in LCA for more than 20 years. CMLCA has been designed with students and scientists as an important target group. CMLCA, finally, is freely downloadable and need not be installed. Modeling Features: What can people do with the tool? CMLCA does not use a pre-cooked impact assessment method. However, you can define or import your own or existing impact assessment methods. Some of these are available as separate downloadable files. Impact assessment includes characterization, normalization, and weighting Directory of Sustainability Life Cycle Assessment Tools 19

20 Database Features: What can people do with the tool? CMLCA does not contain data. You can define or import new or existing data, via several import formats. For instance, data from the US LCI database and from ecoinvent can be imported easily. Benefits/Distinguishing Characteristics: What s special about this tool (as compared to others)? CMLCA is freely downloadable. It has been developed with students and scientists in mind, and therefore includes many sophisticated analytical options, rather than fancy graphics. It can also do (E)IOA and hybrid LCA, LCC and eco-efficiency analysis. Training and Support: How do people learn how to use the tool? Training can be organized on request. Including preparation, think of 2000 euro per day. Instructional manual: Is there a companion book or instruction manual that helps people use the tool? There is an extensive help file, which also contains a tutorial. Some demo files are available for download. The more technical parts have been published as articles in scientific journals Directory of Sustainability Life Cycle Assessment Tools

21 COMPASS Tool Summary Creator/owner of the tool: GreenBlue/Sustainable Packaging Coalition Type of tool (put an X in one or both): Database X Modeling URL: Description provided by: Minal Mistry, minal@greenblue.org Details. What does this tool do? Purpose: COMPASS (Comparative Packaging Assessment) is online design phase web application that provides comparative environmental profiles of packaging alternatives based on life cycle assessment metrics and design attributes. COMPASS helps packaging designers make more informed material selections and design decisions by providing quick visual guidance on a common set of environmental indicators. Modeling Features: What can people do with the tool? COMPASS provides consistently modeled data sets for USA, Canada and Europe tailored for materials and processes used for packaging to allow reliable apples to apples comparisons of multiple scenarios. In addition, regionalized solid waste modeling provides a waste profile of each scenario to help understand the end of life (EoL) implications of packaging designs. COMPASS was developed by the Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC), a project of the nonprofit institute GreenBlue. The SPC is an industry working group with over 200 members from across the packaging supply chain, many of whom contributed expertise to the development of COMPASS. Database Features: What can people do with the tool? Not applicable. Benefits/Distinguishing Characteristics: What s special about this tool (as compared to others)? Rapid scenario testing for packaging using a user built Component Library Consistent modeling for each material and process included to ensure apples-to-apples comparison of packaging scenarios Three regional datasets available: US, Canada, Europe Models life cycle impacts for manufacture, conversion, distribution and end-of-life phases 2011 Directory of Sustainability Life Cycle Assessment Tools 21

22 Directory of Sustainability Life Cycle Assessment Tools

23 Models solid waste profiles for scenarios specific to the regional recovery data Life cycle metrics and attributes tracked for primary package, secondary package and packaging system (combination of primary and secondary) Identifies material health related substances of concern within cradle-to-gate data 2011 Directory of Sustainability Life Cycle Assessment Tools 23

24 Full analysis export in Excel format Export and import of component library to allow sharing Built via open stakeholder process that included LCA and packaging expertise, academia and USEPA. Method and data fully verified independently by industry users Training and Support: How do people learn how to use the tool? COMPASS features a very easy to learn user interface combined with a component library (reusable components in multiple scenarios) and copy function (for component, package or project), which allows rapid scenario building. Each user account comes with built-in samples designed to demonstrate the key features of the tool. Additional help features include video tutorials that step through each function of the application and comprehensive manuals. The Sustainable Packaging Coalition periodically presents webinars to demonstrate the functions, answer questions and take feedback for future enhancements Directory of Sustainability Life Cycle Assessment Tools

25 Instructional manual: Is there a companion book or instruction manual that helps people use the tool? Yes, comprehensive user manuals with functionalities, glossary and technical information on data are available online. Users can also access LCIA results tables Directory of Sustainability Life Cycle Assessment Tools 25

26 everdee Tool Summary Creator/owner of the tool: ENEA-Italian National Agency for new Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development Type of tool (put an X in one or both): X Database X Modeling URL: Description provided by: Patrizia Buttol, patrizia.buttol@enea.it Details. What does this tool do? everdee is a screening LCA tool. The version currently available is suitable for the manufacturing industry, and a version for agricultural products has already been developed and will be publicly available soon, together with an updated version of the dedicated database. The tool was developed according to the ISO series, but simplifications have been adopted concerning some methodological problems (system boundaries definition, choice of elementary flows and indicators/impact categories) and procedural aspects (visualization of the results, user-friendliness of the inventory procedure and availability of a methodological help-on-line). The database includes impact assessment data for common processes (energy, packaging, materials, transport) and for processes obtained from product chain studies, based on detailed LCAs. Impacts are quantified on the basis of 10 impact categories: consumption of mineral resources, consumption of biomass, consumption of fresh water, consumption of non-renewable energy, consumption of renewable energy, climate change, acidification, eutrophication, photochemical oxidation, ozone layer depletion. As the simplified inventory procedure does not include end-of-life treatment processes, the production of waste during the life cycle of a product is taken into account by using two environmental indicators (the amount of hazardous waste and total waste). The toxicity category is not assessed due to the low representativeness for this category of the reduced number of elementary flows that can be inventoried in everdee. However, a limited number of additional emissions can be recorded as indicators of air and water pollution. Modeling Features: What can people do with the tool? Due to the simplified approach adopted in everdee, the choice of the impact categories is predefined. Users cannot define new impact categories, characterization and normalization methods. Weighting methods are not included and cannot be added. The characterization factors for the impact categories are based on the CML Impact Assessment Database (2010). The normalization factors are calculated in agreement with the scope of everdee and refer to the global level and the year Directory of Sustainability Life Cycle Assessment Tools

27 Database Features: What can people do with the tool? The database includes impact assessment data produced by using the proprietary software DIM (Data Input Manager), which stores data of processes and materials, calculates impact assessment data and allows data documentation based on ISO/TS 14048: 2002, in order to guarantee transparency and quality of the whole database. The oldest data refer to the 1990 s and the average age is about 10 years. An update of the database is anticipated in Data from the ELCD database ( elaborated in agreement with the scope of everdee, will also be included. Major sources of data are publicly available reports for the common processes (for examples Plasticseurope and ETH-Zurich reports), and product chain studies, which involve stakeholders, sector-specific technical competencies and peer review by external experts, for the specialized database. Geographic reference is currently Western Europe. Benefits/Distinguishing Characteristics: What s special about this tool (as compared to others)? It is an on-line simplified LCA tool, designed for European SMEs and their consultants It can be used by people who do not have expertise in LCA Time and resources required for a case study are reduced very much if compared to a complete LCA study It is free of charge Training and Support: How do people learn how to use the tool? What are the associated costs? An on-line training course is available at The use of everdee is also supported by online instructions. Instructional manual: Is there a companion book or instruction manual that helps people use the tool? The methodological tutorial is available for downloading Directory of Sustainability Life Cycle Assessment Tools 27

28 GaBi 4.4 Tool Summary Creator/owner of the tool: PE INTERNATIONAL AG Type of tool (put an X in one or both): X Database X Modeling URL: Description provided by: Dylan Winbourn, d.winbourn@fivewinds.com and Peter Canepa, p.canepa@peinternational.com Details. What does this tool do? GaBi is a world-wide leading, all-in-one software tool for modeling products and systems from a life cycle perspective. Users can build models for any product or system, balance emissions and material and energy inputs and outputs, aggregate results, generate charts, and even create interactive reports. GaBi 4 software is packaged and sold together with the life cycle database of your choice. Our databases meet a broad range of client needs; we will work with clients to identify the most suitable solution to meet any users requirements. GaBi 4 has a standard set of functionalities, so regardless of the database selected the full range of features is at your disposal. GaBi 4 s visualization approach enables users to construct products and system models in GaBi just as you would sketch them on paper. An intuitive user interface, drag-and-drop feature, hierarchical database manager and advanced search function allow users to flexibly supplement models with your own data or with data from the database of your choice. Development of the GaBi life cycle databases began over 20 years ago and continues today with the same momentum and meticulous attention to detail. More than 60 life cycle experts contribute to the development of GaBi databases making PE INTERNATIONAL the largest life cycle data provider worldwide. With over 4000 ready-to-use LCI profiles within the GaBi professional and extension databases, as well as engineering capabilities to set up customized data on demand, major producers from every industry and research field across the globe choose PE INTERNATIONAL as their source of comprehensive, high-quality life cycle data. Even the European Commission s Joint Research Council relies upon PE INTERNATIONAL s database expertise to generate the European Life Cycle Database (ELCD) in cooperation with more than 25 industry associations. PE also contributes and supports the development of national database projects in Australia, Brazil, Germany, Malaysia and the United States. GaBi DfX is a GaBi 4 add-on for compliance and sustainable product development with a view to the end of life phase. If you want to consider different regulations during product design, such as the EU Directives Directory of Sustainability Life Cycle Assessment Tools

29 for end-of-life-vehicles, for waste electrical and electronic equipment, energy consuming products or for the restriction of hazardous substances, then GaBi DfX is your tool. GaBi Education is the free version of our world-wide leading, all-in-one software tool for modeling products and systems from a life cycle perspective, given to the academic community at no cost. You can build models for any product or system, balance emissions and material and energy inputs and outputs, aggregate results and generate charts. With this in mind, we help students to become engaged with life cycle thinking and support teachers in introducing life cycle thinking in their courses. GaBi i-report Creator enables your LCA experts to create ecodesign and decision making tools for your organization. It s an expert tool for non-experts that empowers more people to make decisions regarding the environmental performance of their products. GaBi Publisher is an additional feature that allows your LCA experts to publish i-reports for use in either GaBi reader (desktop) or GaBi reader (web-based). GaBi i-report creator & publisher allows organizations to build their own fully consistent tool. For example, for carbon footprinting within their organization, they can customize the tool according to their needs, with differing levels of detail and background knowledge. The complete solution required by a client can also be provided by consultants running GaBi i-report Creator & Publisher and a GaBi i-report creator software as a bundle. The web-based version of the GaBi i-report Reader allows the generation of SaaS solutions which could be used to generate industry-specific solutions at any level of detail. Modeling Features. What can people do with the tool? GaBi 4.4 The GaBi database content includes all major Impact Assessment methodologies included, such as: TRACI, CML 1996, 2001, and 2007, Ecoindicator 95 and 99, Ecological Scarcity Method (UBP), EDIP, USEtox and others. LCIA impact potentials that can be assessed within these methodologies include Global Warming Potential (GWP), Abiotic Depletion, Acidification, Eutrophication, Freshwater Aquatic Ecotoxicity, Human Toxicity, Marine Aquatic Ecotoxicity, Ozone Layer Depletion, Photochemical Ozone Creation Potential, Radioactive Radiation, Terrestric Ecotoxicity, Land Use (as developed through LANCA) and others. Users add their own impact methodologies into the GaBi databases at any time. Users can specify new characterization factors for existing impact methodologies and new impact methodologies that you have added. To help with the interpretation of results within the GaBi software, users can switch on Normalization and Weighting factors, and can even add normalization and weighting factors if desired Directory of Sustainability Life Cycle Assessment Tools 29

30 GaBi 4.4 Modeling Screenshot GaBi DfX Design for Compliance DfC RoHS Restriction of Hazardous Substances EU Directive on End-of-Life Vehicles (2000/53/EC) Road vehicles recyclability and recoverability (ISO 22628) WEEE Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (2002/96/EC and Amendment 2003/108/EC) Design for Environment DfE Extensive functions for transparently analyzing a product s life cycle: Modeling and presentation of the product structure Classification of the material composition Calculation of scenarios and alternatives Identification of optimization potentials Conduction of Life Cycle Assessment Design for Recycling DfR Supports recycling-orientated product design with: Descriptions and classifications of materials (for VDA or ISO 22628) Descriptions of the recoverability processes Calculations of road vehicles recyclability and recoverability (ISO 22628) Determination of recycling quotas according to material-specific recycling efficiencies Comparisons of end-of-life scenarios Directory of Sustainability Life Cycle Assessment Tools

31 Design for Disassembly DfD Supports analyses of disassembly processes: Modeling of assembly sequences and joining techniques Descriptions of disassembly sequencing Definitions of disassembly precedence Calculation of disassembly costs and duration Creation of IDIS reports Database Features. What can people do with the tool? We have a number of datasets available to use for all of our GaBi products. See below for more information on sources of all available datasets. Professional Database The professional database is the standard database provided with the GaBi 4 software. It is the most robust life cycle inventory on the market. The GaBi 4 professional database is regularly updated and is derived from industry sources, scientific knowledge, technical literature, and internal patent information creating a solid foundation for assessing your materials, products, services and processes. Database content: Contains a huge amount of PE data, the complete ELCD database as well as data from Plastics Europe Includes almost 1000 processes, predominantly cradle-to-gate, as well as parameterized unit processes to support your modeling: organic and inorganic chemicals metals plastics wood and wood products power generation transport production techniques end of life processes All cradle-to-gate processes also contain Life Cycle Working Environment (LCWE) information. Contains GaBi plans (or systems) for setting-up your own customized power grid mixes. All standard impact categories are included, such as CML 96/2001/2007, Ecoindicator 95/99, EDIP 97/2003, TRACI, IO2+, 18 quality indicators and 21 weighting factors are also included. Lean Database The lean database is a great entry-level database that contains many of the core processes necessary to begin modeling materials, products, services and processes. Database content: Contains a selection of PE data, the ELCD database as well as data from Plastics Europe Includes nearly 400 processes, predominantly cradle-to-gate, as well as parameterized unit processes to support your modeling: 2011 Directory of Sustainability Life Cycle Assessment Tools 31

32 organic and inorganic chemicals metals plastics power generation transport production techniques end of life processes All cradle-to-gate processes also contain Life Cycle Working Environment information. All standard impact categories are included, such as CML 96/2001/2007, Ecoindicator 95/99, EDIP 97/2003, TRACI, IO2+, 18 quality indicators and 21 weighting factors are also included. Extension Database Extension databases are sector-specific data modules intended to meet the specific requirements of individual GaBi users. Supplement your GaBi professional database with a GaBi extension database: Organic intermediates Inorganic intermediates Energy Steel Aluminum Nonferrous metals Precious metals Plastics Coatings End of Life Manufacturing processes Electronics Renewable raw materials EcoInvent integrated Construction materials Textile finishing Seat covers Full U.S. LCI database Basic U.S. LCI database US LCI Database NREL and its partners created the U.S. Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) Database to help Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) experts answer their questions about environmental impacts. This database provides a cradle-to-grave accounting of the energy and material flows into and out of the environment that are associated with producing a material, component, or assembly. It is an online storeroom of data collected on commonly used materials, products, and processes. The critically reviewed LCI data are consistent with a common research protocol and with international standards. The LCI data support efforts to develop product LCAs, support systems, and LCA tools. NREL s U.S. LCI Database is a collection of unit processes. PE INTERNATIONAL has integrated this database into GaBi format. The result: the GaBi Basic U.S. LCI database - available to all GaBi software users free of charge upon request Directory of Sustainability Life Cycle Assessment Tools

33 When you re used to working with cradle-to-gate datasets, the US LCI Database s unit processes may present a challenge and for many they are not directly applicable in practical LCA studies. PE INTERNATIONAL has taken these unit processes and modeled them back to the cradle using the U.S. boundary conditions for energy, upstream processes and resources, thereby adding value to the U.S. LCI Database for GaBi users. We ve also supplemented it with over 300 of our own GaBi U.S. process data. The result: the GaBi Full U.S. LCI database. EcoInvent Database PE INTERNATIONAL is a reseller of the Swiss based EcoInvent LCI database. Experts at PE INTERNATIONAL have integrated the EcoInvent database into the GaBi Professional databases by mapping the flow nomenclature and relevant impact information. The EcoInvent database provides access to unit processes as well as to cradle to gate inventories covering different industrial areas. Publicly Available Databases that can be integrated into GaBi 4.4 ELCD World Steel 36 LCI datasets describing averaged carbon steel production in Europe and globally 17 different carbon steel based products as well as an inventory describing the environmental value of carbon steel scrap International Zinc 2 LCI datasets LCI on global primary zinc production and zinc sheet production Eurofer 9 LCI datasets describing averaged stainless steel production in Europe Products included are coils and quarto plate Aluminum Association European Aluminum Association (EAA) On average, data factors are around 5 years old. However, all data factors are considered valid through Regionally specific datasets are available and we are fully equipped to develop any additional custom regionalized datasets drawing on our extensive library of data. Users can add data into the GaBi databases at any time, through the GaBi 4 Software Application. Within GaBi datasets, allocation is fixed. A user cannot modify the allocation methodology. However, Standard and Extended allocation can be used within GaBi. Allocation can be necessary if two or more outputs occur which are marked with a recoverable material cross. The extended allocation allows you to expand beyond the standard allocation rules, through the GaBi 4 Software Application. Benefits/Distinguishing Characteristics: What s special about this tool (as compared to others)? The modular architecture of GaBi 4.4 makes the system flexible and transparent. Its engineering approach to modeling enables you to structure your systems in GaBi 4.4 to closely reflect the process flow structure of your real-life system Directory of Sustainability Life Cycle Assessment Tools 33

34 GaBi 4.4 software functionality is user-friendly and comprehensive. It covers modeling of physical process chains using a Sankey diagram editor, parameterized modeling, advanced LCI results analysis (including weak point analysis) and comprehensive analysis functions such as parameter variation, scenario analysis, sensitivity analysis and Monte Carlo analysis. High-quality life cycle inventory information based on industry collaborations and technical literature. They are generated and maintained by PE INTERNATIONAL in cooperation with LBP University of Stuttgart. With the GaBi Professional database and 17 GaBi Extension Databases, you have access to over 2,500 fully-documented life cycle datasets which are all fully consistent with one another in terms of their boundary conditions. Datasets from the European Union s ELCD database and other publicly available databases are also included. Our wealth of databases includes: Organic chemicals Inorganic chemicals Energy Steel Aluminum Non-ferrous metals Precious metals Plastics Coatings End-of-Life Manufacturing Electronics Renewable Raw Materials EcoInvent, Integrated Construction Materials Textiles U.S. LCI database Data-on-Demand, for more specialized data requests. The combination of PE INTERNATION-AL s long standing LCA expertise, our collaborations with industry and our direct access to recent scientific skills and substantial internal patent and technical literature puts us in the position to supply you with any dataset, e.g., for a new, innovative material or a country-specific technological process. This will be fully consistent with your other GaBi databases. EcoInvent Database standard or integrated. We also offer the Swiss EcoInvent database a standard version to be used stand-alone with the GaBi 4 software, or an integrated version that has had its flow nomenclature matched to the GaBi flows and is therefore compatible with other GaBi databases. Other LCA software programs allow users to use freely available databases together with the EcoInvent database. Users can easily mix data from these databases even though there may be system boundary differences. Because of this, database consistency is seen as a significant strength of the GaBi databases. Other LCA software programs seem to offer a way of doing LCA modeling (evident by the structure and use of ISO terminology), but the Sankey model is set and cannot be changed as it can in GaBi. Overall, GaBi provides modeling flexibility and an easy drag-and-drop user interface Directory of Sustainability Life Cycle Assessment Tools

35 Training and Support: How do people learn how to use the tool? GaBi 4 Software Platform Training: GaBi training sessions are an excellent way to quickly and efficiently learn the capabilities, functionalities, and tricks of using the software. PE INTERNATIONAL offers a range of training sessions on the GaBi Software Platform Tools. Training can be conducted at your location, our offices, or via web conference. Training sessions can be tailored to meet your needs, and although we have standard training materials, our training plans are flexible and will be customized to fit your solution. Contact your GaBi Team representative at gabi@pe-international.com to arrange an appointment. GaBi Learning Centre (free for GaBi users) The GaBi Learning Centre is a web portal that allows you to access learning materials, including user handbooks and video tutorials, developed for all GaBi users. These materials are designed to help users get started using the GaBi software to conduct Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). GaBi user forum (free for GaBi users) The GaBi user forum is an online community of GaBi users where people can share information on data, methodologies, and any other questions they may have regarding GaBi. This is also a place where users can connect with one another. GaBi Tutorials- Paper Clip Example Perfectly suited to first time users of GaBi, this is a tutorial located within the GaBi Learning Centre that introduces the concept of Life Cycle Assessment as well as how to conduct an LCA study using the GaBi software. In this tutorial we cover some theory about LCA and apply it to the standard functions of GaBi. This is a great way to educate new users to GaBi. Instructional manual: Is there a companion book or instruction manual that helps people use the tool? PE INTERNATIONAL provides all users with an extensive manual that details all information on the use of all GaBi tools Directory of Sustainability Life Cycle Assessment Tools 35