Introduction to Life-Cycle Assessment and Decision Making Applied to Forest Biomaterials 155
Basic LCA Software Structure LCA software can be split into several components: (i) the
software package, (ii) data sets, and (iii) LCIA methods (which is explained in detail
in the next section). The software package such as SimaPro, openLCA, and Gabi can
be thought of as a framework or a calculator that keeps track of data and performs
intensive numerical calculations. With the many flows and detailed data, much effort
has been invested in creating efficient calculation methods to speed up analysis
time. This framework, however, is not useful without inventory data. There are many
premade secondary data sets provided from sources such as Ecoinvent, Gabi, and
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) that contain previous LCI results
for various chemicals, materials, energy, services, and waste treatment processes. LCA
software can access this previously developed data and allow an LCA practitioner to
include a chemical or other process from a data set in their LCA without the need to
perform an entire LCA on that particular material or process. This fundamental aspect
of LCA, the leveraging of previous study results for new studies, is a key benefit of LCA
software and can save countless hours on the LCI step. LCIA methods are procedures
and conversions that are used in performing an LCIA such as GWP characterizations
and weighting methods. There are many accepted LCIA methods that calculate LCA
results using different impact categories, types of impacts, and weighting methods.
Further discussion surrounding LCIA is provided later.
Figure 5.5 visually depicts how the different components of LCA software and data
interact. The LCI step requires data from data sets (e.g., Ecoinvent) and primary data
gathered by the LCA practitioner surrounding the process or product under analysis.
An LCI is calculated with the combination of these two types of data and the use of LCA
software calculations. The LCI data can then be used to perform an impact assessment
using the LCIA methods (e.g., TRACI) (Table 5.1).
5.3.2.3 Data Quality
Mass and Component Balance Data Check Much of the LCI data comes from the product
manufacturing process. These data can be collected directly from a company, from
literature, or from process conversion models. When examining a process, a mass
balance should be performed to ensure that all process streams are accounted captured.
LCA software package
Life cycle inventory
calculations
Impact assessment
calculations
Environmental
impacts
Impact
assessment
methods
Process
inventory
LCI
Data sets
LCI data LCI data LCIA data
Figure 5.5Life-cycle assessment software structure.
