LEEDv4 MRc1 Option 4 Whole-Building Life-Cycle Assessment

Hi, Theresa! I'm sure practitioners will chime in here soon, but I wanted to point out a couple software options we've covered on LEEDuser's sister site. The most recent one out is called Tally; it was developed by KieranTimberlake as a Revit plug-in and is now available as a free public beta (it will not likely stay free for long!). A much more established application is Athena Impact Estimator, and it is free. It doesn't plug into BIM, but there are tradeoffs associated with that ease of use too. Another tool people seem to like is eTool LCA, but the data for North America isn't there yet. Some teams go with GaBi or SimaPro, but you need expert help to use those for buildings, I understand. Definitely not free. About Tally: http://www.buildinggreen.com/auth/article.cfm/2013/11/1/New-Revit-Plug-In-to-Tally-Building-Life-Cycle-Impacts/ About whole-building LCA in general: http://www2.buildinggreen.com/blogs/mismeasure-buildings-five-reasons-life-cycle-assessment-will-not-give-us-zero-impact-design Also about whole-building LCA (a member link) and includes some stuff about various software programs: http://www.buildinggreen.com/auth/article.cfm/2013/4/29/Whole-Building-Life-Cycle-Assessment-Taking-the-Measure-of-a-Green-Building/

Hi Paula, I have been checking out a lot of free LCA tools for buildings & construction (i.e.BEES, Athena Impact Estimator, etool) and Im having the same issue as our project is based here in UAE and none of the above stated tools have regional datasets. I personally like the comprehensive assessment break-down per LCA stage in etool but then only Australasia specific data is available. Any idea how to go around this? The most obvious 'modus operandi' in my mind is to: 1) use the output embodied energy (MJ)from the LCA computation, 2) convert to physical quantities using fuel production data for Australia (assuming etool), 3) then convert back to MJ/GWP using UAE specific conversion factors to estimate the CO2 footprint. Any thoughts on this? Would you recommend any other free region specific LCA tools?

Annabelle, I'm trying to get a good answer for your question from an LCA expert. It's possible that you'll have to settle for global averages. If you're comparing two different designs of the same building, the underlying data matters less (though obviously it does matter some). eTool is not free. Tally is currently free (in beta), but it requires a Revit model and uses U.S. averages. There's also Open LCA, which is a free tool, but you have to provide your own data.

Hello All,     Hello all; I used oneclick LCA for working in international projects (UAE, Egypt, etc...), the software is a bit expensive, but it is fast though. It responds to the data shortage by localising the emissions based on the current grid emission factor your project location is in (for example, since most countries such as UAE and Egypt did not issue their own environmental data, such as EPD). The software allows you to use products in different countries in the world and then localize the emissions to your own country