Doing LCA calculations

Define the functional units, select impact assessment methods, and run LCA calculations.

Once you have built your system model, you can proceed to perform Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) calculations. This involves defining the functional units, selecting appropriate impact assessment methods, and running the calculations to evaluate the environmental impacts of your system.

In Brightway and Activity Browser, LCA calculations are performed using Calculation Setups in which you combine a functional unit with one or more impact assessment methods. You can create, manage, and run calculation setups directly from the Activity Browser interface.

Creating a calculation setup

To create a new calculation setup, navigate to the Calculate menu at the top of the Activity Browser. Click on the New setup.. button, this will prompt you to enter a name for your new calculation setup. Choose a descriptive name that will help you identify the setup later. After entering the name, click Ok. The new calculation setup will be created and opened.

On the Calculation Setup Page you can define functional units and select impact assessment methods for your LCA calculations. Drag and drop products from the Products pane onto the Functional unit section of the calculation setup page. This will create a functional unit with the dropped product and a default amount of 1. Drag Impact Categories from the Impact categories pane onto the Impact Categories section of the calculation setup page to add them to your setup as well.

You can now run the calculation by clicking the Run calculation button at the top right of the calculation setup page. The results will be displayed in a new Results page.