
It is focused on company-wide footprints. LCA Tools Comparison EcochainĮcochain is an Environmental Intelligence Platform.

That means that that data has to be taken into consideration when calculating the price of an LCA tool. Whilst many tools offer their own databases, most databases are commercially available for a fee. Life Cycle Assessment calculations rely on Life Cycle Inventory data. LCI Databases: Backbone of LCA calculations For this overview, we’re focusing on the solutions that are most used commercially. There are many niche solutions in the LCA world that serve niche markets. As consultant, business owner, sustainability manager, researcher, and student, your goals may vary a lot. Foundations of LCA for LCA ToolsĪs you can also read in our LCA Beginner’s Guide, the goals of an LCA can be very different. We are happy to help if you have any questions – reach out! However, each sustainability challenge is different. This guide is supposed to provide a quick overview into the world of LCA tools and when to use which tool. In this article, we are featuring our own solutions, Ecochain and Mobius, as well as the four other most established LCA solutions SimaPro, GaBi, oneClickLCA and openLCA.

We will compare their functionalities as well as compare them side by side in a table. In this article, we will give you an overview of the most popular LCA tools. Some are focused on specific industries, while others can be used in many different industries. Some still share the academic background of LCA, yet others have been developed to help businesses measure their environmental footprint. Today, there are many different LCA tools available.

With sustainability, climate change and the circular economy being more publicly debated topics, the market for LCA tools itself has also developed. Life Cycle Assessment tools have been around since the 1990s. Life Cycle Assessment Software: From academic to business solution Even today, many tools that help calculate Life Cycle Assessments have strong ties to the academic field. The first LCA tools were developed within universities.

It’s no surprise that most LCA tools share this background. Historically, a Life Cycle Assessment was primarily used for research purposes.
