gabi paper clip tutorial part 1 – manual gabi paper clip …...lca in gabi. it contains two types...

GaBi Paper Clip Tutorial Part 1 – Manual

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GaBi Paper Clip Tutorial Part 1 Introduction to LCA and modelling using GaBi


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Table of Contents

Nomenclature ................................................................................................................... 4 Purpose of this Handbook .............................................................................................. 5 1. Introduction to Life Cycle Assessment ................................................................... 6

1.1 What is LCA? ......................................................................................................... 6 1.1.1 Industry ............................................................................................................ 7 1.1.2 Government ..................................................................................................... 7 1.1.3 Universities ...................................................................................................... 7

1.2 How is an LCA created? ......................................................................................... 7 1.3 GaBi overview ........................................................................................................ 7

2. Conducting Life Cycle Assessments ...................................................................... 8 2.1 Goal and Scope Definition ...................................................................................... 8

2.1.1 Goal ................................................................................................................. 9 2.1.2 Scope .............................................................................................................. 9

2.2 Life Cycle Inventory .............................................................................................. 15 2.2.1 General .......................................................................................................... 15 2.2.2 Data Collection - Classifications..................................................................... 16 2.2.3 Calculation of the LCI .................................................................................... 17

2.3 Life Cycle Impact Assessment .............................................................................. 17 2.3.1 Impact Assessment Methods ......................................................................... 18 2.3.2 Selection of Impact Categories ...................................................................... 19 2.3.3 Classification ................................................................................................. 19 2.3.4 Characterization ............................................................................................ 19 2.3.5 Optional elements of an LCA ......................................................................... 20

2.4 Interpretation ........................................................................................................ 22 2.4.1 Identification of significant issues ................................................................... 22 2.4.2 Evaluation ...................................................................................................... 23 2.4.3 Conclusions, recommendations and reporting ............................................... 23 2.4.4 Report............................................................................................................ 23 2.4.5 Critical Review ............................................................................................... 24

3. Procedure ................................................................................................................ 25 3.1 Connecting and activating a database .................................................................. 25

3.1.1 Opening GaBi ................................................................................................ 25 3.1.2 Connecting a DB ........................................................................................... 25 3.1.3 Opening a DB ................................................................................................ 26

3.2 Understanding flows ............................................................................................. 27 3.2.1 Plans, processes and flows ........................................................................... 27 3.2.2 Flows ............................................................................................................. 28

3.3 Creating a plan and adding processes.................................................................. 30 3.3.1 Starting a project ........................................................................................... 30 3.3.2 Creating a plan .............................................................................................. 31 3.3.3 Adding a process ........................................................................................... 31 3.3.4 Searching for processes ................................................................................ 31

3.4 Creating a new process and process types .......................................................... 33


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3.4.1 Creating a new process ................................................................................. 33 3.4.2 5 Process types ............................................................................................. 34 3.4.3 Specifying process type ................................................................................. 35

3.5 Adding input flows ................................................................................................ 35 3.5.1 Parameters .................................................................................................... 35 3.5.2 The process window tabs .............................................................................. 35 3.5.3 ILCD Documentation ..................................................................................... 36 3.5.4 Inputs and outputs ......................................................................................... 37 3.5.5 Entering flows ................................................................................................ 38

3.6 Creating a new flow and adding amounts ............................................................. 41 3.6.1 Creating a new flow ....................................................................................... 41 3.6.2 Adding a quantitiy to a flow ............................................................................ 42 3.6.3 Entering flow amounts ................................................................................... 42

3.7 Elementary and non-elementary flows and tracking .............................................. 44 3.7.1 Elementary & non-elementary flows .............................................................. 44 3.7.2 Flow types in GaBi ......................................................................................... 44 3.7.3 Flow types ..................................................................................................... 45

3.8 Fixing the reference process ................................................................................ 45 3.9 Using auto-connect and adding transport ............................................................. 47

3.9.1 Showing tracked flows ................................................................................... 47 3.9.2 Adding a process to a plan ............................................................................ 48 3.9.3 Using auto-connect ........................................................................................ 49 3.9.4 Adding a transport process ............................................................................ 50 3.9.5 Process parameters ....................................................................................... 50 3.9.6 Resizing process boxes ................................................................................. 51

3.10 Linking processes ................................................................................................. 51 3.11 Adding a plan to a plan ......................................................................................... 53

3.11.1 Creating a recycling loop ............................................................................... 56 3.12 Adjusting visual appearance ................................................................................. 57

3.12.1 Editing flows .................................................................................................. 57 3.12.2 Adding comments .......................................................................................... 57

3.13 Creating a balance and viewing dashboards ........................................................ 58 3.13.1 Creating a balance ........................................................................................ 58 3.13.2 GaBi Dashboard ............................................................................................ 59 3.13.3 Creating a custom dashboard ........................................................................ 60 3.13.4 Creating a chart ............................................................................................. 60 3.13.5 Saving the dashboard .................................................................................... 65

3.14 Working with the balance tab ................................................................................ 67 3.14.1 LCI view ......................................................................................................... 67 3.14.2 Navigating the balance .................................................................................. 69 3.14.3 Changing the quantity .................................................................................... 71 3.14.4 The quantity view ........................................................................................... 72

3.15 Analyzing weak points .......................................................................................... 74 3.15.1 Relative contribution ...................................................................................... 75

3.16 Exporting results and charts ................................................................................. 76 4. Literature ................................................................................................................. 78


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Table of Figures

Figure 1: Overview of Life Cycle Assessment ....................................................... 6

Figure 2: Steps of a Life Cycle Assessment According to ISO 14044 ................... 8

Figure 3: Process Flow Diagram..........................................................................11

Figure 4: System Boundaries ..............................................................................12

Figure 5: Allocation Example ...............................................................................13

Figure 6: Data Collection and Calculation Process ..............................................15

Figure 7: Example Data Collection Sheet ............................................................16

Figure 8: Classification and Characterization .......................................................17

Figure 9: TRACI and CML Methods .....................................................................18

Figure 10: Characterization Example .....................................................................20

Figure 11: Normalized impact categories for different regions ...............................21

Nomenclature Abbreviation Explanation

AP Acidification Potential

CML Centre of Environmental Science, University of Leiden, EP Eutrophication Potential

GaBi Ganzheitlichen Bilanzierung (German for holistic balancing)

GWP Global Warming Potential

ISO International Organization for Standardization

LCA Life Cycle Assessment

LCIA Life Cycle Impact Assessment

ODP Ozone Depletion Potential

POCP Photochemical Ozone Creation Potential

TRACI Tool for the Reduction and Assessment of Chemical and other


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Purpose of this Handbook

The purpose of this handbook is to support your learning about Life Cycle Assessment (LCA).

We understand that learning new concepts can be difficult. And everyone has different ways of learning. Some people react best to visual learning, some aural. Some need to draw relationship charts. Some need to read and read and some are lucky enough just to absorb everything.

Through the GaBi Learning Centre we’re trying to provide ways of learning that appeal to most of you.

This handbook is intended to support the video tutorials found in the GaBi Learning Centre but can also be used completely independent from them. After completing the video tutorials or stepping through the content contained in this handbook you should:

• Understand the concept of LCA • Be able to build an LCA model using the GaBi software

Please note that one example (a paper clip) is used throughout the video tutorial series and this handbook.

Starting with chapter 3 the tutorial will outline a step-by-step procedure for conducting an LCA in GaBi. It contains two types of text:

Numbered text indicates that a step should be completed.

Text in italics provides explanatory comments about why you might do something or how something works.

You will also notice that there are headings scattered throughout the procedure. These correspond (mostly; there are a couple of extra headings here) with the content found in the video tutorial. The titles let you know what video chapter you are up to.


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1. Introduction to Life Cycle Assessment This section of the handbook introduces the concept of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Videos 2, 3 and 4 of the GaBi Paper Clip video tutorial series accompany it.

Figure 1: Overview of Life Cycle Assessment

1.1 What is LCA? There are two LCA standards created by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO): the ISO 14040 and ISO 14044. Life Cycle Assessment, as defined by the ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 is the compiling and evaluation of the inputs and outputs and the potential environmental impacts of a product system during a product’s lifetime.

Who uses LCA?

LCAs are used by a variety of users for a range of purposes.

According to the ISO standards on LCA, it can assist in:

Identifying opportunities to improve the environmental aspects of products at various points in their life cycle;

Decision making in industry, governmental or non-governmental organizations (e.g. strategic planning, priority setting, product and process design or redesign);

Selection of relevant indicators of environmental performance, including measurement techniques; and

Marketing (e.g., an environmental claim, eco-labeling scheme or environmental product declarations).

The following is just a brief list of the groups that use LCAs and of the possibilities that an LCA could be used for.


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1.1.1 Industry Large companies use LCAs as a way of identifying environmental hot spots and to develop and advertise their environmental management strategies. LCA studies are often conducted by industry associations and environmental concepts and tools research organizations including the: Canadian Wood Council; International Copper Association; International Lead and Zinc Research Organization; International Iron and Steel Institute; International Aluminum Institute and the Nickel Development Institute.

1.1.2 Government Governmental departments around the world are active promoters of LCA. Governments use LCA for data collection and developing more effective environmental policies related to materials and products.

1.1.3 Universities There are many universities researching and developing LCA methodology and data.

1.2 How is an LCA created? The ISO 14040 standard provides an introduction to LCA and contains applicable definitions and background information. The ISO 14044 describes the process of conducting an LCA.

The detailed procedure for LCA, outlined in Chapter 2, is in accordance with the standards ISO 14040 and ISO 14044.

1.3 GaBi overview With features refined through experience on thousands of thinkstep consulting projects, GaBi supports every stage of an LCA, from data collection and organization to presentation of results and stakeholder engagement. GaBi automatically tracks all material, energy, and emissions flows, as well as defined monetary values, working time and social issues, giving instant performance accounting in dozens of environmental impact categories.

With a modular and parameterized architecture, GaBi allows rapid modeling even of complex processes and different production options. This architecture also makes it easy to add other data such as economic cost or social impact information to a model, making GaBi a holistic life cycle analysis tool.

The GaBi software is complemented by the most comprehensive, up-to-date Life Cycle Inventory database available. With over tens of thousands Life Cycle Inventory datasets based on primary data collection during our global work with companies, associations and public bodies GaBi Databases span most industries.


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2. Conducting Life Cycle Assessments Life Cycle Assessments are conducted according to the ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 standards. LCAs consist of four steps, as shown in Figure 2:

Goal and Scope Definition

Inventory Analysis

Impact Assessment

Interpretation

These four steps are described in detail in the following sections.

Figure 2: Steps of a Life Cycle Assessment According to ISO 14044

2.1 Goal and Scope Definition According to the ISO 14040 standard the first phase of an LCA is the definition of the goal and scope. In this step all general decisions for setting up the LCA system are made. The goal and scope should be defined clearly and consistently with the intended application. An LCA is an iterative process and this allows redefining the goal and scope later in the study based on the interpretation of the results.


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2.1.1 Goal In the goal definition, the following points need to be determined:

The intended application of an LCA study - An LCA can be used for many different applications such as marketing, product development, product improvement, strategic planning, etc.

The purpose of an LCA study – The purpose of an LCA can also vary greatly and will dictate the scope of the study. If the study is intended to be published, the scope will be more comprehensive and include a greater data collection effort and a formalized review process. If the LCA will be used internally, no critical review is necessary; the scope will be dictated by the company’s objective and their access to data.

The intended audience of an LCA report – The audience can be the share-holders, executives, engineers, consumers, etc. depending on the client’s objectives.

Usage for comparative analysis – If the LCA results are intended to be used for comparative reasons must be determined. If they are going to be published a critical review is obligatory.

2.1.2 Scope During the scope definition the product or process system under study is characterized, all assumptions are detailed and the methodology used to set up the product system is defined. The following factors require definition before the LCA is done – a detailed description of each factor is provided in the following sections.

Function of the product Functional unit Reference flow Description of the system System boundaries Allocation procedures Impact categories and the impact assessment method Data requirements Data assumptions Limitations Data quality requirements Peer review Reporting type

The most important issues are described in detail in the sections below. For further information please refer to the ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 standards.


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2.1.2.1 Function of the System To describe a product the product’s function has to be defined. To do that the demands on the product have to be defined. In the case where different products are to be compared, the different functionalities of each of the products should be documented exactly. Sometimes products have a large variety of functions, which makes it quite difficult to compare them with regard to the full range of functionalities. When, for example, the environmental impacts of mobile phones are to be compared, it should be clearly defined which functions they should have and how differences are taken into consideration in the case where one product has more functions than the other.

2.1.2.2 Functional Unit The functional unit is the quantified definition of the function of a product. For example, the functional unit of an aluminum beverage might be defined as packaging 330ml of beverage, protecting it from UV radiation and oxidation and keeping in the carbonic acid for at least half a year. The ability to drink the beverages directly out of the packaging might be an additional function, which should be taken into account.

In order to compare two products, their functional units must be equivalent. For example, both glass bottles and cartons are used for milk packaging. Since the most common size for each packaging type might differ, the functional unit is set to be the packaging for 1000 liters of milk in order to compare the two packaging systems properly.

Defining the functional unit can be difficult because the performance of products is not always easy to describe or isolate.

Part of defining a functional unit is the definition of a reference flow. The reference flow is the measure of product components and materials needed to fulfill the function, as defined by the functional unit. All data collected during the inventory phase is related to the reference flow. In other words, all data used in the LCA must be calculated or scaled in accordance with this reference flow.


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2.1.2.3 System Boundaries The system boundary defines which processes will be included in, or excluded from, the system; i.e. the LCA.

It is helpful to describe the system using a process flow diagram showing the processes and their relationships. Figure 3 shows a generic process flow diagram with all processes included in the LCA shown inside the box marked as the System Boundary.

Figure 3: Process Flow Diagram

A system’s boundaries are defined by cut-off criteria. Cut-off criteria are used to define the parts and materials included in and excluded from the product system. For example, cut-off criteria can be used to determine that any material production process that contributes less than 5% to the product’s overall weight can be excluded. Cut-off criteria might also be based on the number of processing steps in a process chain or the estimated contribution of a process to the overall environmental impact of the system.

Often a combination of different cut-off criteria has to be used in order to define the system boundaries properly. For example, when the system boundaries are defined by cut-off criteria according to mass, an additional check should be carried out to determine whether or not small but very effective amounts of strong pollutants and toxins are cut off the system. To avoid that, additional cut-off criteria according to impact can be applied.


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There are four main options to define the system boundaries used (shown in Figure 4):

Gate to Gate: includes the processes from the production phase only; used to determine the environmental impacts of a single production step or process.

Cradle to Grave: includes the material and energy production chain and all processes from the raw material extraction through the production, transportation and use phase up to the product’s end of life treatment.

Gate to Grave: includes the processes from the use and end-of-life phases (everything post production); used to determine the environmental impacts of a product once it leaves the factory.

Cradle to Gate: includes all processes from the raw material extraction through the production phase (gate of the factory); used to determine the environmental impact of the production of a product.

The ISO 14044 standard details the selection of a system boundary for LCA studies.

Figure 4: System Boundaries


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2.1.2.4 Allocation and System Expansion In many processes more than one product is produced. In such a case all inputs and outputs of the process have to be allocated to the different products

Allocation is the partitioning and relating of inputs and outputs of a process to the relevant products and byproducts. The allocation to different products can be done according to one of the rules defined below.

Allocation by Mass: The inputs and outputs of a process are assigned to all of its products proportionally to their mass

Allocation by Heating Value: The inputs and outputs of a process are assigned to all of its products according to their heating value. This allocation method is often used for production processes of fuels.

Allocation by Market Value: The inputs and outputs of a process are assigned to all of its products according to their market value.

Allocation by Other Rules: This can include exergy, substance content, etc.

Figure 5: Allocation Example

Figure 5 shows an example of a process where two products are produced. The resources used in this process and the emissions and wastes of the process have to be allocated to the two products. When the allocation is done proportionally to the product’s masses, product A would be assigned 90% of the resources and emissions, since the mass of product A is 90% of the overall mass of all products. If the allocation was done according to the products heating value, product A would be ascribed 99% of the resources and emissions.

Since the choice of the allocation method can have a significant impact on the LCA results the ISO suggests that allocation should be avoided whenever possible. If it cannot be avoided, the allocation method should be described and the sensitivity of the results on different allocation methods should be described. The ISO also suggests that allocation


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according to physical relationships such as product mass or heating value rather than using non-physical relationships between the products (for example the market price).

There are two ways to avoid allocation, substitution and system expansion. The topic of allocation requires much more explanation and is not covered in more detail here.

2.1.2.5 Data Quality Requirements Data quality requirements must be documented to define the required properties of the data for the study. Descriptions of data quality are important because the data quality has a significant influence on the results of the LCA study. Data quality requirements have to be determined at the beginning of the study. Mostly, data quality is a trade off between feasibility and completeness.

The quality of a dataset can only be assessed if the characteristics of the data are sufficiently documented. Data quality does, therefore, correspond to the documentation quality.

The following issues should be considered for the data quality:

Data acquisition: Is the data measured, calculated or estimated? How much of the data required is primary data (in %) and how much data is taken from literature and databases (secondary data)?

Time-reference: When was this data obtained and have there been any major changes since the data collection that might affect the results?

Geographical reference: For what country or region is this data relevant? Technology (Best Available Technology) – Is the secondary data from literature or

databases representative for state-of-the-art-technology or for older technology? Precision: Is the data a precise representation of the system? Completeness: Are any data missing? How are data gaps filled? Representivity, consistency, reproducibility: Is the data representative, consistent and can

it be reproduced?


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2.2 Life Cycle Inventory

2.2.1 General The Inventory Analysis is the LCA phase that involves the compilation and quantification of inputs and outputs for a given product system throughout its life cycle or for single processes. The inventory analysis includes data collection and the compilation of the data in a Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) table.

Figure 6: Data Collection and Calculation Process

Figure 6 shows the process of setting up an LCI. The process of conducting an LCI is iterative. As data is collected and more is learned about the system, data requirements or limitations may be redefined or a change in the data collection procedures in order to meet the goal of the study may be required. Sometimes issues may be identified that require revisions of the goal or scope definition of the study. After all process data is collected, an LCI table for the whole product system is created. The LCI is often presented as a table listing of all the material and energy inputs and outputs for the system.

Detailed information on data collection and calculation can be found in the ISO 14044.


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2.2.2 Data Collection - Classifications This phase is the most work intensive and time consuming of all the phases in an LCA. It includes collecting quantitative and qualitative data for every unit process in the system. The data for each unit process can be classified as follows:

energy inputs raw material inputs ancillary inputs other physical inputs products co-products wastes emissions to air, water and soil other environmental aspects

Practical constraints on data collection should be documented in the scope definition.

Figure 7 shows a simple diagram that can be used to support data collection. It allows the user to enter the various quantified input and output flows.

Figure 7: Example Data Collection Sheet


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2.2.3 Calculation of the LCI Before calculating the life cycle inventory, the following three steps should be completed:

Data Validation - Validating the collected data is a continuous process. This can be done with mass or energy balances as well as with a comparison to similar data. Also, methods have to be in place to handle data gaps.

Relating Data to Unit Processes - The data has to be related to unit processes

Relating Data to Functional Unit - The data has to be related to the functional unit.

These steps are necessary to generate the LCI for each unit process and for the overall product system. The LCI of the whole product system is the sum of all LCIs of all involved processes.

The LCI can be calculated using the GaBi software. In GaBi, the LCI of the whole system is generated automatically once a system of processes is set up. In addition, the LCIs for a huge variety of processes are already stored in the database and only have to be connected to model a system. This process of modeling is described in detail in Chapter 3 of this handbook.

2.3 Life Cycle Impact Assessment The Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) identifies and evaluates the amount and significance of the potential environmental impacts arising from the LCI. The inputs and outputs are first assigned to impact categories and their potential impacts quantified according to characterization factors. Figure 8 shows the conversion from emissions to impact potentials via classification and characterization.

Figure 8: Classification and Characterization

The Life Cycle Impact Assessment involves several steps according to the ISO standard. These can be found in more detail in the ISO 14044 standard.


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Within the scope of a study certain elements are defined for the LCIA. Mandatory elements include the selection of relevant impact categories, classification and characterization. The optional elements of the study are normalization, grouping and weighting.

2.3.1 Impact Assessment Methods There are different methods that can be used to perform a Life Cycle Impact Assessment. These methods are continuously researched and developed by different scientific groups based on different methodologies. This handbook does not explain the development of the different methods, but it does describe them.

In life cycle impact assessment methods, such as TRACI or CML, two main approaches are used to classify and characterize environmental impacts: the problem-oriented approach (mid point) and the damage-oriented approach (end point).

In the problem-oriented approach flows are classified as belonging to environmental impact categories to which they contribute. With the help of the CML and TRACI methods more than a thousand substances are classified and characterized according to the extent to which they contribute to a list of environmental impact categories. Figure 9 shows selected impact categories used in the CML and TRACI methods.

Figure 9: TRACI and CML Methods


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The so-called CML method is the methodology of the Centre for Environmental Studies (CML) of the University of Leiden and focuses on a series of environmental impact categories expressed in terms of emissions to the environment. The CML method includes classification, characterization, and normalization. The impact categories for the global warming potential and ozone layer depletion are based on IPCC factors. Further information is available at the Centre for Environmental Studies (CML), University of Leiden:

For the tutorial example the CML method is used.

Another method is the Tool for the Reduction and Assessment of Chemical and other Environmental Impacts, called TRACI. This problem-oriented method is developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and is primarily used in the US.

The damage-oriented methods also start with classifying a system's flows into various impact categories, but the impact categories are also grouped to belong to end-point categories as damage to human health, damage to ecosystem quality or damage to resources. EcoIndicator 99 is an example of a damage-oriented method. The used end points are easier to interpret and to communicate.

2.3.2 Selection of Impact Categories A number of impact categories are typically chosen as the focus of an LCA study. This choice of impact categories depends on the goal of the study. The selected impact categories should cover the environmental effects of the analyzed product system. The choice of impact categories and the choice of the impact assessment method should be documented in the goal and scope definition.

2.3.3 Classification The results of the Life Cycle Inventory phase include many different emissions. After the relevant impact categories are selected, the LCI results are assigned to one or more impact categories. If substances contribute to more than one impact category, they must be classified as contributors to all relevant categories. For example, CO2 and CH4 are both assigned to the impact category “global warming potential”. NOx emissions can be classified to contribute to both eutrophication and acidification and so the total flow will be fully assigned to both of these two categories. On the other hand, SO2 is apportioned between the impact categories of human health and acidification. Human health and acidification are parallel mechanisms and so the flow is allocated between the two impact categories.

2.3.4 Characterization Characterization describes and quantifies the environmental impact of the analyzed product system. After assigning the LCI results to the impact categories, characterization factors have to be applied to the relevant quantities. The characterization factors are included in the selected impact category methods like CML or TRACI. Results of the LCI are converted into reference units using characterization factors. For example, the reference substance for the impact category “global warming potential” is CO2 and the reference unit is defined as “kg CO2-equivalent”. All emissions that contribute to global warming are converted to kg CO2-equivalents according to the relevant characterization factor. Each emission has its own characterization factor.


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Figure 10: Characterization Example

Figure 10 shows the classification and characterization of methane according to CML 2001. Methane contributes to the global warming potential (GWP). Therefore, during the classification step, methane is classified as a contributor to the global warming potential impact category. According to the CML method, methane has a characterization factor of 28. This means that CML has determined that methane contributes 28 times more than carbon dioxide to the global warming potential when a time frame of a hundred years is taken into account. The 6 kg of CH4-emissions in this example contribute 150 kg CO2-equivalents to the total GWP.

2.3.5 Optional elements of an LCA Normalization, evaluation, grouping and weighting are all optional elements that are performed to facilitate the interpretation of the LCIA results. It is essential that these actions are transparently documented since other individuals, organizations and societies may have different preferences for displaying the results and might want to normalize, evaluate, group or weight them differently.

2.3.5.1 Normalization Normalization involves displaying the magnitude of impact indicator results relative to a reference amount. For example this can be done for comparison with a reference system. The impact potentials quantify the potential for specific ecological impacts. In the normalization step the impact category results are compared to references in order to distinguish what is normal or not. For the normalization, reference quantities for a reference region or country (e.g. Germany) during a time period (e.g. 1 year) are used. This could be, for example, the overall emission of CO2-equivalents in Germany within one year, or, the CO2-equivalents of one person in Western Europe per year. When the results of all impact categories are compared to their references, they can be compared to each other more easily, since it is possible to say which impact indicator result contributes more or less to the overall entity of this impact category.


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Figure 11 shows impact categories normalized for different regions.

Figure 11: Normalized impact categories for different regions

Normalized impact indicator results are non-dimensional quantities that allow for comparison between different impact categories; which impact category has a normal amount and which one is relatively larger? The normalized results of all chosen impact categories can also be displayed in a single graph, since they do not have different physical units anymore.

2.3.5.2 Grouping Grouping involves the sorting and ranking of the impact categories. It is an optional element with two possible approaches. The impact categories could be sorted on a nominal basis by characteristics such as inputs and outputs or global, regional or local spatial scales. The impact categories could also be ranked in a given hierarchy, for example in high, medium, and low priority. Ranking is based on value-choices. Different individuals, organizations, and societies may have different preferences. It is therefore possible that different parties will reach different ranking results based on the same indicator results or normalized indicator results.

2.3.5.3 Weighting Weighting is an optional element of the LCA and is based on value-choices and not on scientific principles. Weighting is used to compare different impact indicator results according to their significance. This weighting of the significance of an impact category is expressed with weighting factors. Those weighting factors are appraised through surveys among different groups (for example experts with hierarchical, egalitarian or individual approach, population…). Weighting can also be used to aggregate weighted impact indicator results to a single score result.


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2.4 Interpretation In the interpretation phase the results are checked and evaluated to see that they are consistent with the goal and scope definition and that the study is complete. This phase includes two primary steps:

identification of significant issues; evaluation (described below).

The life cycle interpretation is an iterative procedure both within the interpretation phase itself and with the other phases of the LCA. The roles and responsibilities of the various interested parties should be described and taken into account. If a critical review has been conducted, these results should also be described.

2.4.1 Identification of significant issues The first step of the life cycle interpretation phase is to structure the results from the LCI and LCIA, and identify the “significant issues” or data elements that contribute most significantly to the results of both the LCI and LCIA for each product, process or service.

The identification of significant issues guides the evaluation step. Because of the extensive amount of data collected, it is only feasible, within reasonable time and resources, to assess the data elements that contribute significantly to the outcome of the results. Significant issues can include:

Inventory elements such as energy consumption, major material flows, wastes and emissions etc.

Impact category indicators that are of special interest or whose amount is of concern.

Essential contributions of life cycle stages to LCI or LCIA results such as individual unit processes or groups of processes (e.g., transportation, energy production).

The results of the LCI and the LCIA phases are structured to identify significant issues. These issues should be determined in accordance with the goal and scope definition and iteratively with the evaluation phase. The results can be presented in form of data lists, tables, bar diagrams or other convenient forms. They can be structured according to the life cycle phases, different processes (energy supply, transportation, raw material extraction etc), types of environmental impact or other criteria.


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2.4.2 Evaluation The goal of the evaluation is to enhance the reliability of the study. The following three methods should be used for the evaluation:

Completeness check: In the completeness check, any missing or incomplete information will be analyzed to see if the information is necessary to satisfy the goal and scope of the study. Missing data have to be added or recalculated to fill the gap or alternatively the goal and scope definition can be adjusted. If the decision is made that the information is not necessary, the reasons for this should be recorded.

Sensitivity check: The sensitivity check determines how the results are affected by uncertainties in the data, assumptions, allocation methods, calculation procedures, etc. This element is especially important when different alternatives are compared so that significant differences or the lack of them can be understood and reliable.

Consistency check: The consistency of the used methods and the goal and scope of the study is checked. Some relevant issues to check could be: data quality, system boundaries, data symmetry of time period and region, allocation rules and impact assessment.

2.4.3 Conclusions, recommendations and reporting The goal of the life cycle interpretation phase is to draw conclusions, identify limitations and make recommendations for the intended audience of the LCA. The conclusions are drawn from an iterative loop with the other elements of the interpretation phase in the sequence that follows:

Identify the significant issues;

Evaluate the methodology and results for completeness, sensitivity and consistency; and

Draw preliminary conclusions and check that these are consistent with the requirements of the goal and scope of the study.

If the conclusions are consistent, they are reported as final conclusions. Otherwise one might return to the previous steps until consistent conclusions are obtained.

A thorough analysis of the data quality requirements, the assumptions, and the predefined values needs to be done. When the final conclusions of the study are drawn, recommendations to decision-makers are made to reflect a logical and reasonable consequence of the conclusions.

2.4.4 Report The results of the Life Cycle Assessment should be assembled in a comprehensive report to present the results in a clear, transparent and structured manner. The report should present the results of the LCI and LCIA and also all data, methods, assumptions and limitations in sufficient detail.

The reporting of the results should be consistent with the goal and scope definition. The type and format of the report is defined in the scope definition and will vary depending on the intended audience.


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The ISO 14044 requires full transparency in terms of value choices, rationales, and expert judgments. If the results will be reported to someone who is not involved in the LCA study, i.e. third-party or stakeholders, any misrepresentation of the results should be prevented.

The reference document should consist of the following elements (ISO 14044):

1. Administrative Information

a. Name and Address of LCA Practitioner (who conducted the LCA study)

b. Date of Report

c. Other Contact Information or Release Information

2. Definition of Goal and Scope

3. Life Cycle Inventory Analysis (data collection, calculation procedures, LCI table)

4. Life Cycle Impact Assessment (methodology, results)

5. Life Cycle Interpretation

a. Results

b. Assumptions and Limitations

c. Data Quality Assessment

6. Critical Review (internal and external)

a. Name and Affiliation of Reviewers

b. Critical Review Reports

c. Responses to Recommendations

If the study extends to the LCIA phase and is reported to a third-party, the following information should be reported:

a description of the data quality; the relationship between LCI and LCIA results; the selection of impact categories; the impact assessment method; the indicator results profile; normalization references; weighting procedure.

2.4.5 Critical Review The ISO standards require critical reviews to be performed on all Life Cycle Assessments supporting a comparative assertion. The type and scope (purpose, level of detail, persons to be involved in the process etc.) of the critical review is described in the LCA report. The review should ensure the quality of the study as follows:

LCA methods are consistent with the ISO standards; Data are appropriate and reasonable in relation to the goal of the study; Limitations are set and explained; Assumptions are explained; and


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Report is transparent and consistent and the type and style are oriented to the intended audience.

The critical review can be done by an external or internal expert, or by a panel of interested parties.

3. Procedure This chapter outlines a step-by-step procedure for conducting an LCA in GaBi. The example used in this manual and in the online video tutorial involves the modelling of the life cycle of 1000 steel paper clips based on German and European datasets.

The procedure outlined below contains two types of text:

Numbered text indicates that a step should be completed.

Text in italics provides explanatory comments about why you might do something or how something works.

You will also notice that there are headings scattered throughout the procedure. These correspond (mostly; there are a couple of extra headings here) with the contents found in the video tutorial.

The title you see below lets you know what video chapter you are up to.

3.1 Connecting and activating a database

3.1.1 Opening GaBi 1. Open GaBi now.

3.1.2 Connecting a DB The first thing you need to do is connect a database to the software. It could be the case that there is already a database connected. In the GaBi DB Manager you can see if there is already a database connected. Is the Education database or the Paper Clip Tutorial database already connected? If so, you can skip this step.


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2. Otherwise, click on ‘Browse’ under Connect Database.

A new window will open where you can locate the database that you want to connect.

3. Go to ‘My Documents > GaBi > DB’ and select either the Education database or Paper Clip Tutorial database. If you did not save your database here you’ll need to locate it.

You’ve now connected a database to GaBi. The next step is to activate it.

3.1.3 Opening a DB Select the database that you would like to open and click the ‘Open’ button.

You are now ready to start working in GaBi in the opened database.


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3.2 Understanding flows

3.2.1 Plans, processes and flows GaBi calculates the potential environmental impacts as well as other important quantities of a product system based on plans.

A plan represents the system with its boundaries. The system being studied is made up of processes representing the actual processes taking place. And flows represent all the material and energy flows passing between the processes and to and from the system. They define the input/output flows of the system.

Let’s take a quick look at the model that you will build during this tutorial.

Select ‘Plans’, and then double click the ‘Paper Clip Example plan’.

This is what you will create and as you can see contains a series of processes connected with flows as well as a plan connected with flows.

You can close this model.

The flows that enter the product system coming from the natural system (our environment, e.g. resources as hard coal) or that leave the system (e.g. CO2 emissions) are called elementary flows. If you create a list of all the input / output elementary flows associated with the system you would have created the LCI.


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3.2.2 Flows Perhaps the most important information of GaBi is the flow information. Flows are characterized by mass, energy and costs with their respective values. For example, GaBi contains flow information for different raw materials, plastics, metals, emissions to air and water and many, many more.

It is important to understand that flows contain information that tells GaBi to what extent one unit of this flow contributes to different environmental impact categories: these are called classification and characterisation factors. Let´s look at an example.

4. In the object hierarchy, click on the arrow next to ‘Flows’ and expand the flow group.

You will notice that flows are grouped in folders according to whether or not they are resources, emissions or other types of flows.

5. Click to expand the ‘Resources’ flow category and again to expand ‘Energy resources’ and ‘Non renewable energy resources’.

Now click on the ‘Natural gas’ folder. You can now see all the natural gas flows available in your database. There are several country specific flows for natural gas since the gas mixture and its properties vary from region to region.

6. Open a flow by double clicking on it.

You will now see the flow dialog box. In this window you can see, that the flow is automatically defined to be an input or output flow, or the flow type is undefined, when it can be both. This categorisation is done automatically based on the location of the flow within the GaBi database. The reference quantity of a flow is normally mass; this means that the reference unit of the flow is kilograms. Quantities can be thought of as the properties of a flow. Another quantity could be number of pieces, length, and volume and so on. In the quantity list you can see which quantities are associated with this flow. You can add additional quantities if you desire. Don’t worry; GaBi protects predefined objects to prevent you from disturbing this information.


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You will also notice the LCC tab. LCC stands for Life Cycle Costing and refers to a methodology that allows you to calculate financial information related to the life cycle of the system being studied. On the LCC tab financial quantities, such as the price can be defined for the flow.

At this stage we do not need to go deeper into quantities. It is enough to understand that GaBi uses this information to calculate the potential environmental impact of the analyzed system.

7. You can close the ‘Natural gas’ flow window.


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3.3 Creating a plan and adding processes

3.3.1 Starting a project You are going to construct a model of a steel paper clip. We already did some research on the paper clip, defined the goal and scope definition and qualitatively described the paper clip life cycle. Let´s convert all this information into a new GaBi project.

8. Click on ‘Projects’ in the object hierarchy and start a new project by right clicking in the display area on the right and selecting ‘New’.

9. Name this project ‘Life Cycle Steel Paper Clip’.

10. Click ‘Activate project’.

Once the project is activated, all newly created processes, plans and flows will be saved under this project. This makes it much easier to find all the relevant information when you open the project in the future. It is a good idea to work with projects to keep your LCAs organised.

11. Close the project window.


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3.3.2 Creating a plan The first thing you need to do is to create a plan. On this plan you will model the life cycle of the paper clip.

12. To create a new plan you can click on ‘Plans’ in the object hierarchy and then right click in the display area and select ‘New’.

A new plan will open in a new window.

13. Enter the name of the plan ‘Life Cycle Steel Paper Clip’ and press enter.

It is a great idea to save your plan regularly.

14. Save your plan now by clicking on the ‘Save’ icon in the plan window or by clicking ‘Object’ and ‘Save’.

3.3.3 Adding a process You will now add process and flow information to the plan. GaBi databases contain predefined processes and flows and these can be easily added to the model.

3.3.4 Searching for processes In order to manufacture the paper clip you need steel wire. So, this will be the first process that you add to the plan. Adding processes to a plan is as easy as dragging and dropping. But first, you need to locate the processes.

There are 2 ways to do this in GaBi:

The first is by manually expanding and collapsing the object hierarchy in the DB manager to search for the process you require.

The second and quicker way is to use the GaBi search function.


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15. Click the ‘Search’ icon and enter the name of the process you are looking for. You are looking for ‘Steel wire’ so enter this now.

16. Select the type of object you are looking for (you are looking for a ‘Process’) and click ‘Search’.

GaBi now searches for all matches. The process you are looking for is ‘Steel wire rod’.

Click on ‘Steel wire rod’ and drag and drop it onto the plan.

You now need to add the paper clip bending process.

17. Try searching for the ‘Paper Clip Bending’ process.

Depending on the database you are using, you might notice that there are no matches. This means you need to create a new process. In GaBi this is really easy.


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3.4 Creating a new process and process types

3.4.1 Creating a new process Let’s create a new process.

18. Right click in the plan and select ‘New process’.

A window opens where you can define where you would like to save the new process.

19. Select ‘Production’ and then ‘Part production’ and hit ‘OK’.

20. Enter the name ‘Paper Clip Bending,’ click ‘Save’.

You can begin by selecting the country that your process refers to. You don´t have to do this, but it is helpful, if you have the information.

In the source field you can select where this process data comes from. Leave this blank for now.


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You can also select the type of process. This requires a bit more explanation, so go ahead and select a country and name the process first.

3.4.2 5 Process types There are 5 types of processes in GaBi in accordance with the European Union’s ILCD system.

Processes are categorised in order to better understand their roles within a product system.

3.4.2.1 u-so A unit process single operation, represented by u-so, is often referred to as a unit process or gate to gate process. This process type contains only the data for one specific process step and no LCI (or Life cycle inventory) data.

3.4.2.2 u-bb A unit process black box, represented by u-bb, refers to a multifunctional process or process chain at a plant level. This type of process may represent a group of processes rather than a single process step. For example, the entire production chain of a computer keyboard key (excluding acquisition of raw materials) rather than the individual manufacturing and transport processes for that keyboard key.

3.4.2.3 agg In contrast, an LCI Result contains the entire life cycle data for part of or for the complete life cycle of a product system. This kind of dataset is often referred to as a cradle to gate or system process.

3.4.2.4 p-agg A partly terminated system, represented by p-agg, contains all LCI data for the process except for one or more product flows that require additional modelling. For example, the steel wire process is a partly terminated system because all of the inputs and emissions for the process are accounted for except for the type of steel being used to produce the steel wire. This process type is sometimes referred to as a partly linked process.

3.4.2.5 aps The last process type is called an avoided product system and is represented by aps. This can be a confusing process type because all input and output flows are set to negative values or all inputs are converted to outputs or vice versa. This kind of dataset is typically used when modelling allocation and shows the way that the use of certain materials and energies is avoided by the product system under study. We won’t go any deeper into this process type.

Take a guess what kind of process bending might be. Is it a unit process single operation, unit process black box, LCI result, partly terminated system or avoided product system?

If you guessed unit process single operation you are correct. But why?


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Well, because this process represents only the process of bending the paper clip. It does not contain multiple process steps, does not contain life cycle data for a complete life cycle of a product system, or LCI data and does not include negative flows.

3.4.3 Specifying process type In GaBi you can specify the process type by selecting the appropriate type from the type drop down menu.

21. Since the Paper Clip Bending process is a unit process single operation, you can go ahead and select ‘u-so’.

3.5 Adding input flows

3.5.1 Parameters Here you see the parameters area. By entering parameters, you can create what-if scenarios as well as determining certain aspects of this process’s relationship to other processes. The parameter area is closed for now and for now we will not go deeper into this.

3.5.2 The process window tabs You now see a series of tabs. Since GaBi is designed to carry out a large variety of evalulations, it is possible to enter additional information relating to financial analysis and life cycle working environment.


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3.5.3 ILCD Documentation You can also add ILCD documentation. For the time being we will focus on the current LCA tab.

You have the possibility to enter additional information relating to this process such as its year, region, completeness and additional comments. Adding this information improves the quality of your process information but does not affect the results calculated by GaBi.

You can enter some information here if you like or carry on.


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3.5.4 Inputs and outputs You can see two display areas called inputs and outputs. In the input field all flows that enter the process can be entered. These inputs could include different forms of energy, like compressed air, electricity or thermal energy, as well as materials or other consumables like lubricants. On the output side all flows that leave the process are entered. You can for example enter the products and by-products that are produced and also the wastes and emissions arising from the process.


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3.5.5 Entering flows Let´s start by entering an input flow. To fold the paper clip you obviously need steel wire to fold.

22. Enter the steel wire flow by clicking in the ‘Flow’ field, entering ‘Steel wire’ and pressing enter.

As you type you’ll notice that GaBi tries to predict which flow you are looking for. Go ahead and enter Steel wire and see if GaBi can find what you are looking for.

If a number of possible matches are found, the search window will appear and all the flows that contain the word you entered will be displayed. Let´s take a look at that.

23. Click in the field where ‘Steel wire’ is written, type the word ‘Steel’ and press enter.


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You will notice the search box appears listing all the flows containing the word steel.

When you look at the Parent Folder column, you see that a variety of types of flows are listed, resources, valuable substances, materials and metals.

24. Sort the search results according to their object group by clicking on the ‘Parent Folder’ header.

When you select a flow from the search window, always take note that the flow is chosen from the correct object group.

Select ‘Steel wire’ by clicking on it and on ‘Accept’.


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This process also requires electricity to run the bending machine.

25. Click in the ‘Flow’ field and enter the word ‘Electricity’.

26. You require electric power so you can select and accept this flow from the search box. Make sure you check the object group column to ensure that you have selected the correct object type.

You can alo double click on Electricity to accept it as the input flow.


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3.6 Creating a new flow and adding amounts The output of this process is, of course, paper clips. Just like for inputs, you can click in the flow field and enter the name of the flow you want to enter.

3.6.1 Creating a new flow You remember that in the beginning of this tutorial you specified that the functional unit for this example was one paper clip. You should now enter this as the first flow leaving the process.

27. Type ‘steel paper clip’ and hit enter.

Depending on the database you are using, you’ll notice that there are no matches. In this case you need to create a new process in GaBi.

28. Click ‘Create new object’.

You have to specify where you would like to locate this new object. Since this object is the product that you are producing, it makes sense to place it in the valuable substances folder, under systems, parts and metal parts.

This categorisation is relevant for balance calculations in GaBi so make sure you select the appropriate location for your new flow.

29. Select ‘Valuable substances > Systems > Parts > ‘Metal parts’ and click ‘OK’.

You can now edit the name of the flow and add any additional information.

The reference quantity of a new flow is automatically set to mass. This means that the standard unit of this flow is measured in kg. If you add new quantities to this flow, you also need to enter the quantity related to 1kg of this flow. You do this by entering a number and unit. You will do this now.


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3.6.2 Adding a quantitiy to a flow Because our functional unit is one paper clip (and not mass) you should specify this in the quantities list.

30. Add a new quantity to the flow by double clicking on the empty ‘Quantity’ box and typing ‘number of pieces’.

Then you have to define a conversion factor to mass.

31. Type in the column ‘1 [Quantity] = * kg’ the amount ‘0.00035’ and press enter.

This specifies the weight of one paper clip. You will notice that GaBi automatically enters the number of pieces.

32. Click on ‘Save’ and then close the window.

3.6.3 Entering flow amounts You have now added all the flows that enter and leave the paper clip bending process. However these flows lack information about how much of each of them are used and produced.

Add this information by clicking in the Amount column and entering the amount required for the process. By clicking on Unit you can change the flow unit. One very handy feature of GaBi is that it can automatically convert between all the given units.

For example we estimated that we need 0.0001 kWh of electric power for the bending of a paper clip.

33. Choose the Unit ‘kWh’ first and then type in the amount ‘0.0001’.


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34. Change the unit back to ‘MJ’ you will see that the amount of 0.0001 kWh automatically converts to the corresponding amount of MJ.

We determined that the paperclip has a weight of approximately 0.35 g.

By clicking in the Quantity column of the paper clip output you can choose to specify the amount of mass or number of pieces.

35. Choose the quantity ‘Number of pieces’ and enter the amount ‘1’.

You do this to specify the functional unit: 1 paper clip. All data for the process will now refer to the production of 1 paper clip. If you change the quantity back to mass, the amount will be converted to 0.00035kg.

You need the same amount of steel wire on the input side.

36. Enter the input mass ‘0.00035’ now.


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3.7 Elementary and non-elementary flows and tracking

3.7.1 Elementary & non-elementary flows In order to calculate the potential environmental impact of a system, GaBi needs to understand the nature of the input and output flows. In GaBi, all flows must be defined as either an elementary or non-elementary flows.

Elementary flows are flows that enter the technosphere directly from nature (those you can find in the Resources flow-folder) and flows that exit the technosphere directly to nature (e.g. all flows in the Emissions to air, water and soil folders). In our system, iron ore for the production of steel is an elementary flow entering the paper clip technosphere. Carbon dioxide emissions, arising from production, are an elementary flow leaving the paper clip technosphere.

Non-elementary flows are flows that move only within the technosphere. They are not entering directly from the natural world and do not exit the technosphere to the natural world.

3.7.2 Flow types in GaBi GaBi requires that you specify, within a process, if a flow is an elementary flow, a waste flow or a tracked flow.

3.7.2.1 Tracked flows Tracked flows include valuable substance and energy flows that can be used in another process. A tracked output flow can be connected with a tracked input flow of the following process in the process chain. A connection between plans and processes by tracked flows is also possible.

3.7.2.2 Waste flows Waste flows are, not surprisingly, waste flows that require additional processing within or outside of the current system but that remain within the technosphere.


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3.7.3 Flow types GaBi knows which of the entered inputs and outputs are tracked, waste or elementary flows. When entering flows, GaBi will enter the type of flow automatically. However, you can modify this if necessary.

37. Click in the ‘Tracked flow’ field until the appropriate symbol appears.

Tracking a flow with an X or star indicates that these flows will remain in the technosphere and represent a tracked flow and a waste flow respectively. This allows you to connect the flow to another process or plan.

38. Steel wire is a valuable substance, so specify it as a tracked flow by clicking in the ‘Tracked flows’ box until an ‘X’ appears.

39. Electric power is also a valuable substance and so is the paper clip.

Make sure that each of these flows displays an X in the tracked flows column.

You have now fully defined the paper clip bending process.

40. Click ‘Save’ to save the process and close the process window.

3.8 Fixing the reference process One very important step when creating a plan is to define the reference process. On every plan one process should be fixed. This allows GaBi to calculate all results in relation to this fixed process. As you edited the paper clip bending process you specified the functional unit of the process to be 1 paper clip. Now you can specify the functional unit of the plan to be 1000 paper clips.

41. Double click on the ‘Paper Clip Bending’ process and enter a scaling factor of ‘1000’.

42. Select ‘Fixed’.


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Now the processes and flows on the plan will scale to reflect the amounts required to manufacture 1.000 paper clips. You could also scale the fixed process to 500 paper clips or 1 million and all flow amounts would change proportionally.

If no process or more than one process on a plan is fixed, there will be an error message. This means you need to go back and check that exactly one process is fixed.

You can easily see if a process is fixed by checking for crosses like the one you see here.


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3.9 Using auto-connect and adding transport You now have a plan for the paper clip life cycle that contains the paper clip bending process and steel wire process.

3.9.1 Showing tracked flows You should notice red spots in the top left and right corners of some of your process boxes. If you can already see the red dots on the process box for the unconnected inputs of the process, just continue.

If you cannot see these,

43. Click ‘View’ in the menu bar and select ‘Show tracked in/outputs’.

These dots indicate the number of tracked input and output flows and whether or not they have been linked. In this case you have not yet linked any of the processes and so all the tracked flows are displayed as red dots.

You will notice that there are two red dots indicating two not yet connected inputs to the paper clip bending process. You know that one of these is electricity and one steel wire. The steel wire process is already included on the plan so you need to add the electricity process.

Red dot –Tracked Flow, not yet connected Black dot –Tracked Flow, connected


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3.9.2 Adding a process to a plan 44. Click on the ‘Search’ button

45. Enter ‘Electricity’.

A list of potential matches is displayed and you can select the appropriate electricity grid mix for your country.

46. Choose ‘DE’ for Germany.

47. To add this process to your plan simply drag and drop it onto the plan.


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3.9.3 Using auto-connect You can also use the auto-connect to add processes to your plan. You still need to add steel billet.

48. Select the steel wire process, click on the red bar and drag your mouse onto the plan.

The search window will open and will have atomatically found the objects that match your search.

Double click the ‘BF Steel Billet’ to add it to the plan.


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3.9.4 Adding a transport process To improve the level of detail of your system it would be great to add a transport process between the steel wire manufacturing process and the paper clip bending process. A 20 tonnes truck will be appropriate for this model.

49. Locate a ‘Truck’ in the hierarchy and use the drag and drop feature to add the truck process to the plan.

3.9.5 Process parameters Transportation processes are good examples of parameterized processes. In the truck process you can define for example the transport distance, the payload or the percentage of distance covered on various types of roads. For now, we don’t want to go deeper into parameter variation and can leave these settings as they are. The transport distance is set to be 100 km.


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3.9.6 Resizing process boxes It is nice to be able to read the contents of the processes on the plan. You can resize process boxes by selecting a process and dragging the resize points.

50. To resize multiple processes, hold down the ‘Shift’ button, while selecting and then resize.

Alternatively, drag your mouse around all of the processes that you would like to resize, and then go ahead with resizing using the resize point.

3.10 Linking processes Let´s complete the process chain now by linking the processes.

51. Select the ‘Electricity grid mix’ process.

You will notice a red bar that represents the input side of the process on the left hand side of the process box and a brown bar on the right that represents the output side of the process.

52. Click on the brown bar, drag your mouse pointer to the ‘Paper Clip Bending’ process and release it.

You link these two processes with an electricity flow.

In fact the electricity flow is automatically entered based on the fact that the single output from the electricity grid mix process is electricity and one of the input flows to the paper clip bending process is also electricity. When linking processes, GaBi checks for input/output matches. You can see now that the output dot from the electricity grid mix process is black, as is one of the input dots of the paper clip bending process.


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You can now connect the steel billet, steel wire, truck and paper clip bending processes. You will notice, when connecting the steel wire with the truck process the connect flows window opens. This window allows you to specify which output flow should be connected to which input flow. This occurs because there are no matching flows. In this case, GaBi is not sure whether the steel output should be connected to the cargo or diesel input.

53. Connect the steel wire process to the cargo flow of the truck process now by selecting ‘Steel wire’ as the source and ‘Cargo’ as the sink.

You might have noticed that the truck process has another open input flow called diesel. This now means, that you have to add another process called diesel to your plan and to connect it with our truck process.

54. Use the auto-connect function to find the ‘diesel at refinery’ process.

55. Choose the one that is representative for Germany by selecting ‘DE’.

56. Double click it to add it to the plan. It will be connected automatically.

Now the production process chain is complete.


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3.11 Adding a plan to a plan To complete the whole life cycle, you should add a process for the use phase and another plan for the End of life scenario.

57. Right click on the plan and select ‘New process’.

58. Save it in the ‘Use’ folder.

59. Name this process ‘Use Phase Steel Paper Clip´.

This process will contain no elementary flows and represents only part of the system or a gate-to-gate process.

60. Select ‘unit process single operation’.

Let´s assume that the usage of the paper clip does not contribute to any environmental impact, consume any power or release any emissions.

61. You can now enter the input flow ‘Steel Paper Clip’.

62. Enter the amount ‘0.00035 kg’.


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Then we assume that after the use phase, which has no environmental impact, the paper clip will be thrown away. To model this you integrate a waste flow on the output side of your use phase process.

63. Type in the output line ‘Steel scrap’ and choose the flow ‘Steel scrap (St)’ from the object group ‘Waste for recovery’.

64. Enter the amount ‘0.00035kg ’.

65. Save and close the process window.

66. On your life cycle plan connect the ‘Paper Clip Bending’ process with the ‘Use Phase Steel Paper Clip’ process.


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You will now add an End of life scenario. You will create the End of life scenario on a separate plan. By doing this, you could put different waste treatment steps and variations and recycling processes on this plan and separate the steel flow fraction according to recycling rates.

We are not quite ready for that level of modelling so, in our example, we just assume that our paper clip will be sorted out of the municipal waste with a magnetic separator and will then be recycled. To keep it simple, we will only take the steel recycling process into account.

67. Go back to the GaBi DB Manager, click on ‘Plans’ and then create a new plan by right clicking in the display window.

68. Name it ‘End of Life Paper Clip’.

For now you will place only one process on the plan.

69. Click on the ‘Search’ button, search for ‘EAF steel’.

70. Drag and drop it onto the plan

Since each plan requires one fixed process, this process must also be fixed.

71. Double click on the process and set the scaling factor to ‘1’ and select ‘Fixed’ just like before.

72. Save and close this plan.

You will now add this newly created plan to the Life Cycle Steel Paper clip Plan.

73. Drag and drop the ‘End of Life Paper Clip’ plan from the DB manager onto the already open ‘Life Cycle Steel Paper Clip’ plan.

74. Connect the ‘Use Phase Steel Paper Clip’ process with this plan.


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3.11.1 Creating a recycling loop Since the recycling of our End of life plan produces steel and has the output flow ´steel billet´, you can model a circular material flow within the paper clip life cycle by connecting the output flow of our end of life plan with the steel wire production process.

75. Connect the ‘End of Life Paper Clip’ plan to the ‘Steel wire’ process now.

You can see that the amount of steel that is provided by the primary steel billet production decreases by the amount of steel that is provided by the recycling plan.

Congratulations, you have now completed modelling the life cycle of a paper clip!


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3.12 Adjusting visual appearance

3.12.1 Editing flows You can adjust the visual appearance of our plan. For example, clicking on a flow arrow, you can redirect it by moving the black markers on the corners. With a double click you see the properties of that flow and can change the colour of the flow arrow in the plan editor.

3.12.2 Adding comments You can also add comments to your model. This is only a visual element and does not affect the calculations made using the model.

Clicking on the Comment icon inserts a new comment into your model. You will notice the comment editor opens where you can select the background colour and font colour as well as entering the text.

76. Click on the ‘Comment’ button and choose a background colour for the box and font colour.

77. Write the comment: ‘This model contains some non representative assumptions’.

78. You can now resize and move this box as if it were a process.

You can now play around with your model and resize, relocate and redirect your processes and flow arrows to make it look the way you prefer. Remember that your model should reflect the real life situation.

79. Save and close your plan.

You have now completed modelling.


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3.13 Creating a balance and viewing dashboards

3.13.1 Creating a balance You’ve now learnt how to create and edit plans, processes and flows as well as the re-spective importance of each of these objects in GaBi. You also successfully modelled the life cycle of a steel paper clip.

During this chapter, you will learn how to create a GaBi balance and how to read and un-derstand its results. Let’s start by opening the plan that you just finished creating.

If you have not completed the model, you can open the Tutorial Model plan. This plan con-tains a finished version of the model built in all chapters leading up to this.

In order to analyse the environmental impacts of your modelled paper clip you have to create a balance. A GaBi balance is a file containing all the calculated results for the modelled system and includes all of the LCI results as well as the LCIA results.

Create a balance of the Life Cycle Steel Paper Clip plan now.

80. Click on the ‘Balance’ icon in the plan window.

The GaBi dashboard will open.


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3.13.2 GaBi Dashboard The dashboard allows you to choose how you would like to view the LCI and LCIA results. You can also view the results of the Life Cycle Costing and Life Cycle Working Environment analyses here.

You can save the balance separately by clicking on the save button. The balance will be saved in the balances folder of your database. You find your balances in the object hierarchy of your GaBi DB Manager right above your plans.

81. Save your balance, but remember if you change anything on your plan, you have to calculate and save a new balance.

At the moment you see a series of charts showing the life cycle impact asessement results for the paper clip model. You are currently viewing the global warming potential, acidification potential and other impacts.

You can drill down into these results by clicking on a column to view the next level of the model. In this case you can view the results for the sub plan that you created for the end of life phase.

82. Click on the ‘End of life paper clip’ column to view the results.

This view gives us an excellent overview of the environmental impacts or the LCIA.

GaBi includes a number of predefined dashboards designed to allow you to better under-stand the results of your study. Here, you can see dashboards for various impact assess-ment methodologies.

The LCIA – CML tab displays all of the CML impact category impact assessment results. Likewise, the LCIA - TRACI tab displays all of the impact assessment results according to that impact assessment methodology.

Using the i-report tab, you can create interactive reports – you can learn how to do that in part 2 of the paper clip Tutorial.


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3.13.3 Creating a custom dashboard Creating your own dashboards is easy.

83. Click on the ‘Add dashboard’ tab and select ‘New dashboard’.

The dashboard configuration window will open.

3.13.4 Creating a chart Let’s recreate a chart showing the global warming potential. The preview chart should already display the plans/processes along the x-axis.

84. If not, next to columns, click the drop-down menu and select ‘Plan/process’.

85. Now, next to rows, click the drop-down menu and select ‘Quantitiy/Wgt.’.

In the context section you can choose what you’d like to display in the chart.

86. In the ‘Quantity/Ev’. row click the ‘Browse’ button.

The select object window will open.


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87. Expand ‘Environmental quantities’, then ‘CML 2001 – Apr. 2015’ and select the ‘GWP 100 years’ quantity. [If your database shows ‘CML 2001 – Jan. 2016’ use this one].

88. Click ‘OK’.

3.13.4.1 Editing chart options You may need to edit your chart settings.

89. Select the ‘Chart settings’ tab.

90. Select ‘Other options’,


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91. Then ‘Chart’, ‘Axis’ and ‘Left axis’.

92. Make sure the ‘Automatic’ option is selected.

This will automatically adjust the left axis to display with the best fit. This window gives you full control over the appearance of your charts but we will leave it for now.

93. Close the editing window.

94. Go back to the ‘Values’ tab.

You need to add a title to the left axis.

95. In the ‘Name’ field enter the title. I’ll copy out the title from the quantitiy row and add the unit ‘kg CO2 Eq’.

In the short field you can add a short title that will display at the top of the chart.

96. Enter ‘GWP 100’ here.

You’ve now recreated the GWP 100 chart.


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97. Click ‘New’ to create a new chart.

98. This time, next to rows, click the drop-down menu and select ‘Quantity/Wgt.’.

99. In the ‘Quantitiy/Ev.’ row click the ‘Browse’ button and expand ‘Environmental quantities’.

100. Select ‘Primary energy demand from ren. and non-ren. resources (net calorific value)’.

Again you may need to adjust the chart settings.


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101. Go to ‘Chart settings’, ‘Other options’, ‘Axis’, ‘Left axis’ and select ‘Automatic’.

102. Then close.

103. Go back to the values tab and add a name and short name. I’ll add the quantity name again and add ‘MJ’ as the unit.

104. Then add ‘PED’ as the short name.


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3.13.5 Saving the dashboard Now you can save your dashboard.

105. Click ‘Save as’.

106. Enter a name for your dashboard; I’ll call mine ‘My Dashboard’.

107. Click ‘Save’.

108. Click ‘OK’ to close the dashboard configuration window.

You’ve now created your own custom dashboard.

If you’d like, you can go back and change the appearance of your charts.

109. Click ‘Configuration’.

110. Select the ‘Primary energy demand’ chart.

111. Go to ‘Chart settings’, ‘Other options’.

112. Double click the ‘colour square’. The colour window will open where you can select a colour for your chart columns.

113. Select your preferred colour and hit ‘OK’.


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114. Close the editing window.

115. Click ‘Save as’ to save the changes either with a new or an existing name.

Now, when you click on the add dashboard tab you’ll be able to select to add your saved dashboard. You can use this dashboard on any balance in any database!


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3.14 Working with the balance tab

3.14.1 LCI view Let’s take a look at the LCI.

116. Click the ‘Results’ tab.

This tab allows you to view the results as lists rather than charts as well as provides you with a number of options to control what you view. You want to view the LCI.

In the top right you can see a number of options and drop down menus. You are currently viewing a single list of all flows shown in mass by kg. This is the life cycle inventory or all flows entering your system from nature in the form of resources or leaving your system in the form of emissions to air, fresh water, seawater and soil.

Next to this you find the option “Just elementary flows”. This option allows you to filter out elementary flows. Here you see the significance of specifying if a flow is elementary or non-elementary.

117. Deactivate the ‘Just elementary flows’ option to show the ‘Valuable substances’ and ‘Production residues in life cycle’.

If you leave this option activated, only elementary flows will be shown in the balance window.


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118. Activate the ‘separate IO tables’ view and

119. Activate the ‘Just elementary flows’ option.

In the table you see the total values for each flow category. At the moment you see the flow groupings ‘Resources’ on the input side. On the output side, you can see the groupings ‘Deposited goods’ as well as several emission categories: emissions to air, fresh water, sea water, agricultural soil and industrial soil. These are the flows that enter our system from nature and exit our system back to nature.


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3.14.2 Navigating the balance By double clicking on the resources row you can expand the list items until all flows appear, by double clicking on subcategories of flows you can expand them too. In fact by double clicking on any bold row you can expand or collapse the items contained within that category. Let us look at the crude oil consumption:

120. Double click on ‘Flows’ on the input side to expand/collapse them until you have located the bold ‘Crude oil (resource)’ row.

Now you can see the mass of the aggregated crude oil consumption of your system.

121. Double click on the ‘Crude oil (resource)’ row to see where different portions of the crude oil come from.

122. Collapse the list of the crude oil consumption again to view the total results.

At the moment you are only seeing the total results for the whole paper clip product system. To get a better understanding of exactly where particular materials are used and emissions released you can look at the results for each and every process and sub plan.


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123. Double click on the ‘Life Cycle Steel Paper Clip’ column header to see these contributions to the overall result.

This expands the view so that you can see the contributions of each process and sub plan.

The tables of numbers that you are now looking at show how many kg of each listed substance is entering and leaving the system. This is because the quantity mass (kg) is selected in the quantities drop down menu.


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3.14.3 Changing the quantity There are a large variety of quantities, which can be displayed now for your system. Let´s choose a quantity that tells us more about the environmental impact of this system.

124. Click on the ‘Browse’ button next to ‘Quantity/Weight.’, scroll up and expand the environmental quantities category then scroll down to select the quantity ‘CML2001 - Jan. 2016, Global Warming Potential (GWP 100 years)’.

The balance window now displays all kg CO2-Equivalents for your plan.

125. Expand all the rows to see every substance and quantity of each substance that contributes to the global warming potential result for this system.


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As you see, only the flow categories Resources, on the input side, and Emissions to air, on the output side, contribute to the global warming potential. This makes sense since it is only these types of flows that contribute to global warming potential.

3.14.4 The quantity view Another view option is the Quantity view. This view allows you to see the economic, environmental, land use and technical quantities instead of flows.

126. Select the ‘Quantity view’ by clicking in the box.

All quantities that could be selected in the Quantity Box now appear in the table rows. For example you can now find information regarding how much mass enters and leaves the product system by looking at the mass values listed under the Technical quantities category in both the input and Output tables. Alternatively, you could deselect the separate IO tables option to view the aggregated results.

127. Look through the ‘Environmental quantities’ by double clicking on it until you find the Global Warming potential quantity.

128. Make sure the ‘separate IO table’ option is deselected.


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129. Deselect the ‘Quantity view’.

You should now see all the flows that contribute to GWP again.

You may need to browse to select the GWP quantity.

130. Click ‘Browse’ next to the ‘Quantity’ box and select ‘Environmenal quantities’, ‘CML2001 - Jan. 2016’ and then the ‘Global warming potential’ quantity.

Here you can see that the flow contributing to global warming potential include flows in the Resources category and emissions to air category. You will also notice that the resources total is a negative value. In this view, negative values indicate that there was an input of CO2 on the input side.


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3.15 Analyzing weak points A very nice feature of GaBi is the weak point analysis tool.

131. Click on the ‘Weak Point Analysis’ button.

You will notice that some values are highlighted in red. These are the weak points of the life cycle that correspond to more than 10% of the total sum of the life cycle’s kg CO2-Equiv. Others values are grey. This means that they contribute minimally to the total result. You will also notice that some rows and columns completely disappear. This indicates that they have no contribution at all.

132. Fully expand your table so that you can see every column and every row.

133. Search for the most contributing flows in the categories resources and emissions to air by double clicking on the categories.

You will notice that carbon dioxide contributes the most to the total result.


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3.15.1 Relative contribution In the upper right part of the window you can choose between absolute values displayed in the table and relative contribution.

134. Select ‘Relative contribution’.

You can see that the carbon dioxide emission contributes most to the total result for global warming potential.

By right clicking on a column and selecting define as 100% column, you could choose which process should be considered the 100% mark. This option is more interesting when comparing different products or processes.


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3.16 Exporting results and charts The last thing, which you will learn to do now, is to produce a diagram from the balance results.

135. Set the balance back to displaying the ‘Global Warming Potential’ in ‘Absolute values’ in ‘separate IO tables’.

136. In the output table, under ‘Emissions to air’, select the row showing ‘carbon dioxide’ and click diagram.

A diagram will be generated showing the results that you selected.

You can now adjust the colours, gradients as well as numerous other visual aspects of the diagram. If you would like to use this diagram in a text document, you can click the copy icon and then paste it into its new location.


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If you would like to export the balance results to an excel document for further analysis you can select the cells that you would like to copy, right click and select copy. These can then be pasted into an Excel sheet.

Alternatively you can right click in the input or output table and select ‘Select all‘, then right click and select ‘Copy to clipboard’. The cells can now be pasted into Excel.

From the dashboards, simply right click on the chart you’d like to copy and select copy to clipboard. You can now paste it into another document.

That’s it – you’re done!


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4. Literature Guinée et al. 1996 LCA impact assessment of toxic releases; Generic modelling of

fate, exposure and effect for ecosystems and human beings. (no. 1996/21) Centre of Environmental Science (CML) Leiden and National Institute of Public Health and Environmental Protection (RIVM), Bilthoven, May 1996.

Guinèe et al. 2001 Guinée, J. et. al. Handbook on Life Cycle Assessment - Operational Guide to the ISO Standards. Centre of Environmental Science, Leiden University (CML); The Netherlands, 2001.

Guinée et al. 2002 Handbook on Life Cycle Assessment: An operational Guide to the ISO Standards; Dordrecht: Kluvver Academic Publsihers, 2002.

IKP 2003 Institut für Kunststoffprüfung und Kunststoffkunde der Universität Stuttgart, Abteilung Ganzheitliche Bilanzierung, 2003

ISO 14040 : 1997 ISO 14040 Environmental Management – Life Cycle Assessment – Principles and Framework, 1997

ISO 14044:2006 ISO 14044 Environmental Management – Life Cycle Assessment – Requirements and Guidelines:2006

Kreissig & Kümmel 1999 Kreißig, J. und J. Kümmel (1999): Baustoff-Ökobilanzen. Wirkungsabschätzung und Auswertung in der Steine-Erden-Industrie. Hrsg. Bundesverband Baustoffe Steine + Erden e.V.


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Description of result parameters

Appendix A 1 Primary energy consumption

Primary energy demand is often difficult to determine due to the various types of energy source. Primary energy demand is the quantity of energy directly withdrawn from the hydrosphere, atmosphere or geosphere or energy source without any anthropogenic change. For fossil fuels and uranium, this would be the amount of resource withdrawn expressed in its energy equivalent (i.e. the energy content of the raw material). For renewable resources, the energy-characterised amount of biomass consumed would be described. For hydropower, it would be based on the amount of energy that is gained from the change in the potential energy of the water (i.e. from the height difference). As aggregated values, the following primary energies are designated:

The total “Primary energy consumption non renewable”, given in MJ, essentially characterises the gain from the energy sources natural gas, crude oil, lignite, coal and uranium. Natural gas and crude oil will be used both for energy production and as material constituents e.g. in plastics. Coal will primarily be used for energy production. Uranium will only be used for electricity production in nuclear power stations.

The total “Primary energy consumption renewable”, given in MJ, is generally accounted separately and comprises hydropower, wind power, solar energy and biomass.

It is important that the end energy (e.g. 1 kWh of electricity) and the primary energy used are not miscalculated with each other; otherwise the efficiency for production or supply of the end energy will not be accounted for.

The energy content of the manufactured products will be considered as feedstock energy content. It will be characterised by the net calorific value of the product. It represents the still usable energy content.

Appendix A 2 Waste categories

There are various different qualities of waste. Waste is according to e.g. German and European waste directives.

From the balancing point of view, it makes sense to divide waste into three categories. The categories overburden/tailings, industrial waste for municipal disposal and hazardous waste will be used.

Overburden / tailings in kg: This category is made up of the layer which has to be removed in order to get access to raw material extraction, ash and other raw material extraction conditional materials for disposal. Also included in this category are tailings such as inert rock, slag, red mud etc.

Industrial waste for municipal disposal in kg: This term contains the aggregated values of industrial waste for municipal waste according to 3. AbfVwV TA SiedlABf.

Hazardous waste in kg: In this category, materials that will be treated in a hazardous waste incinerator or hazardous waste landfill, such as painting sludges, galvanic sludges, filter dusts or other solid or liquid hazardous waste and radioactive waste from the operation of nuclear power plants and fuel rod production.


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Appendix A 3 Global Warming Potential (GWP)

The mechanism of the greenhouse effect can be observed on a small scale, as the name suggests, in a greenhouse. These effects are also occurring on a global scale. The occurring short-wave radiation from the sun comes into contact with the earth’s surface and is partly absorbed (leading to direct warming) and partly reflected as infrared radiation. The reflected part is absorbed by so-called greenhouse gases in the troposphere and is re-radiated in all directions, including back to earth. This results in a warming effect at the earth’s surface.

In addition to the natural mechanism, the greenhouse effect is enhanced by human activates. Greenhouse gases that are considered to be caused, or increased, anthropogenically are, for example, carbon dioxide, methane and CFCs. Figure A 1 shows the main processes of the anthropogenic greenhouse effect. An analysis of the greenhouse effect should consider the possible long term global effects.

The global warming potential is calculated in carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2-Eq.). This means that the greenhouse potential of an emission is given in relation to CO2. Since the residence time of the gases in the atmosphere is incorporated into the calculation, a time range for the assessment must also be specified. A period of 100 years is customary.

Figure A 1: Greenhouse effect (ISO 14044:2006)

Appendix A 4 Acidification Potential (AP)

The acidification of soils and waters occurs predominantly through the transformation of air pollutants into acids. This leads to a decrease in the pH-value of rainwater and fog from 5.6 to 4 and below. Sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide and their respective acids (H2SO4 und HNO3) produce relevant contributions. This damages ecosystems, whereby forest dieback is the most well known impact.

Acidification has direct and indirect damaging effects (such as nutrients being washed out of soils or an increased solubility of metals into soils). But even buildings and building materials can be damaged. Examples include metals and natural stones, which are corroded or disintegrated at an increased rate.

When analysing acidification, it should be considered that although it is a global problem, the regional effects of acidification can vary. Figure A 2 displays the primary impact pathways of acidification.


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The acidification potential is given in sulphur dioxide equivalents (SO2-Eq.). The acidification potential is described as the ability of certain substances to build and release H+ - ions. Certain emissions can also be considered to have an acidification potential, if the given S-, N- and halogen atoms are set in proportion to the molecular mass of the emission. The reference substance is sulphur dioxide.

Figure A 2: Acidification Potential (ISO 14044:2006)

Appendix A 5 Eutrophication Potential (EP)

Eutrophication is the enrichment of nutrients in a certain place. Eutrophication can be aquatic or terrestrial. Air pollutants, wastewater and fertilization in agriculture all contribute to eutrophication.

The result in water is an accelerated algae growth, which in turn, prevents sunlight from reaching the lower depths. This leads to a decrease in photosynthesis and less oxygen production. In addition, oxygen is needed for the decomposition of dead algae. Both effects cause a decreased oxygen concentration in the water, which can eventually lead to fish dying and to anaerobic decomposition (decomposition without the presence of oxygen). Hydrogen sulphide and methane are thereby produced. This can lead, among others, to the destruction of the eco-system.

On eutrophicated soils, an increased susceptibility of plants to diseases and pests is often observed, as is a degradation of plant stability. If the nutrification level exceeds the amounts of nitrogen necessary for a maximum harvest, it can lead to an enrichment of nitrate. This can cause, by means of leaching, increased nitrate content in groundwater. Nitrate also ends up in drinking water.

Nitrate at low levels is harmless from a toxicological point of view. However, nitrite, a reaction product of nitrate, is toxic to humans. The causes of eutrophication are displayed in Figure A 3. The eutrophication potential is calculated in phosphate equivalents (PO4-Eq). As with acidification potential, it’s important to remember that the effects of eutrophication potential differ regionally.

Figure A 3: Eutrophication Potential (ISO 14044:2006)


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Appendix A 6 Photochemical Ozone Creation Potential (POCP)

Despite playing a protective role in the stratosphere, at ground-level ozone is classified as a damaging trace gas. Photochemical ozone production in the troposphere, also known as summer smog, is suspected to damage vegetation and material. High concentrations of ozone are toxic to humans.

Radiation from the sun and the presence of nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons incur complex chemical reactions, producing aggressive reaction products, one of which is ozone. Nitrogen oxides alone do not cause high ozone concentration levels.

Hydrocarbon emissions occur from incomplete combustion, in conjunction with petrol (storage, turnover, refuelling etc.) or from solvents. High concentrations of ozone arise when the temperature is high; humidity is low, when air is relatively static and when there are high concentrations of hydrocarbons. Today it is assumed that the existence of NO and CO reduces the accumulated ozone to NO2, CO2 and O2. This means, that high concentrations of ozone do not often occur near hydrocarbon emission sources. Higher ozone concentrations more commonly arise in areas of clean air, such as forests, where there is less NO and CO (Figure A 4).

Appendix A 7 Ozone Depletion Potential (ODP)

Ozone is created in the stratosphere by the disassociation of oxygen atoms that are exposed to short-wave UV-light. This leads to the formation of the so-called ozone layer in the stratosphere (15 - 50 km high). About 10 % of this ozone reaches the troposphere through mixing processes. In spite of its minimal concentration, the ozone layer is essential for life on earth. Ozone absorbs the short-wave UV-radiation and releases it in longer wavelengths. As a result, only a small part of the UV-radiation reaches the earth.

Anthropogenic emissions deplete ozone. This is well known from reports on the hole in the ozone layer. The hole is currently confined to the region above Antarctica, however another ozone depletion can be identified, albeit not to the same extent, over the mid-latitudes (e.g. Europe). The substances, which have a depleting effect on the ozone, can essentially be divided into two groups; the fluorine-chlorine-hydrocarbons (CFCs) and the nitrogen oxides (NOX). Figure A 5 depicts the procedure of ozone depletion.

In Life Cycle Assessments, photochemical ozone creation potential (POCP) is referred to in ethylene-equivalents (C2H4-Äq.). When analyzing, it’s important to remember that the actual ozone concentration is strongly influenced by the weather and by the characteristics of the local conditions.

Figure A 4: Photochemical Ozone Creation Potential (ISO 14044:2006)


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One effect of ozone depletion is the warming of the earth's surface. The sensitivity of humans, animals and plants to UV-B and UV-A radiation is of particular importance. Possible effects are changes in growth or a decrease in harvest crops (disruption of photosynthesis), indications of tumors (skin cancer and eye diseases) and decrease of sea plankton, which would strongly affect the food chain. In calculating the ozone depletion potential, the anthropogenically released halogenated hydrocarbons, which can destroy many ozone molecules, are recorded first. The so-called Ozone Depletion Potential (ODP) results from the calculation of the potential of different ozone relevant substances.

Appendix A 8 Human and eco-toxicity

The method for the impact assessment of toxicity potential is still, in part, in the development stage. The Human Toxicity Potential (HTP) assessment aims to estimate the negative impact of, for example, a process on humans (Figure A 6). The Eco-Toxicity potential aims to outline the damaging effects on an ecosystem. This is differentiated into Terrestrial Eco-Toxicity Potential (TETP, Figure A 7) and Aquatic Eco-Toxicity Potential (AETP, Figure A 8).

In general, one distinguishes acute, sub-acute/sub-chronic and chronic toxicity, defined by the duration and frequency of the impact. The toxicity of a substance is based on several parameters. Within the scope of life cycle analysis, these effects will not be mapped out to such a detailed level. Therefore, the potential toxicity of a substance based on its chemical composition, physical properties, point source of emission and its behaviour and whereabouts, is characterised according to its release to the environment. Harmful substances can spread to the atmosphere, into water bodies or into the soil. Therefore, potential contributors to important toxic loads are ascertained.

Characterisation factors are calculated through the “Centre of Environmental Science (CML), Leiden University”, and the ”National Institute of Public Health and Environmental Protection (RIVM), Bilthoven“, based on the software USES 1.0 (GUINÉE ET AL. 1996). The model, LCA-World, which underlies the calculation, is based on the assumptions of a slight exchange of rainwater and air (western Europe), long residence times of substances, moderate wind and slight transposition over the system boundaries.

This is done by calculating, first of all, a scenario for a fixed quantity of emissions of a CFC reference (CFC 11). This results in an equilibrium state of total ozone reduction. The same scenario is considered for each substance under study whereby CFC 11 is replaced by the quantity of the substance. This leads to the ozone depletion potential for each respective substance, which is given in CFC 11 equivalents. An evaluation of the ozone depletion potential should take into consideration the long term, global and partly irreversible effects.

Figure A 5: Ozone Depletion Potential (ISO 14044:2006)


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The surface of the model is divided into 3% surface water, 60% natural soil, 27% agricultural soil and 10% industrial soil. 25% of the rainwater is infiltrated into the soil.

The potential toxicities (human, aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems) are generated from a proportion based on the reference substance 1,4-Dichlorbenzol (C6H4Cl2) in the air reference section. The unit is kg 1,4-Dichlorbenzol-Equiv. (kg DCB-Äq.) per kg emission (GUINÉE ET AL. 2002).

The identification of the toxicity potential is afflicted with uncertainties because the impacts of the individual substances are extremely dependent on exposure times and various potential effects are aggregated. The model is therefore based on a comparison of effect and exposure assessment. It calculates the concentration in the environment via the amount of emission, a distribution model and the risk characterisation via an input sensitive module. Degradation and transport in other environmental compartments are not represented.

Toxicity potential can be calculated with toxicological threshold values, based on a continuous exposure to the substance. This leads to a division of the toxicity into the groups mentioned above (HTP, AETP, TETP) for which, based on the location of the emission source (air, water, soil), three values are calculated. Consequently, there is a matrix for toxic substances with rows of the various toxicities that have impacts on both humans and aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, and columns of the extent of the toxic potential, considering the different emission locations.

Figure A 6: Human Toxicity Potential (IKP 2003)

Figure A 7: Terrestrial Eco-Toxicity Potential (IKP 2003)

Figure A 8: Aquatic Eco-Toxicity Potential (IKP 2003)


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Appendix A 9 Abiotic Depletion Potential

The abiotic depletion potential covers all natural resources (incl. fossil energy carriers) as metal containing ores, crude oil and mineral raw materials. Abiotic resources include all raw materials from non-living resources that are non-renewable. This impact category describes the reduction of the global amount of non-renewable raw materials. Non-renewable means a time frame of at least 500 years. This impact category covers an evaluation of the availability of natural elements in general, as well as the availability of fossil energy carriers. The reference substance for the characterisation factors is antimony.