Dynamic LCA: Assessment Software and Integration Service
Environmental assessment linked to process models and changing operational inputs.
Dynamic LCA connects environmental assessment with process models and changing operating inputs. The developing offering supports life-cycle inventory preparation, impact calculation and comparison of alternative circular scenarios. Pilot-data validation and platform integration are ongoing.
Dynamic and On-Demand Life Cycle Assessment links environmental assessment to the resource flows represented in Process Simulation Modelling. Users first define the goal and scope of the assessment, including the system boundary and functional unit, and then connect the model's input and output flows with environmental characterisation data.
The calculation workflow supports the selection of midpoint or endpoint indicators. Characterisation factors can be entered directly or imported through CSV and Excel files, with attention to unit conversion so that inventory flows and factors are compatible. Results can be expressed in the physical units of the selected impact indicators or through the corresponding aggregated assessment approach.
The dynamic development considers changes in resource flows over time and extends the assessment perspective from individual processes towards connected value chains. When operating assumptions are changed in PSM, the linked assessment supports comparison of the resulting scenarios. This makes the service relevant to process designers and regional planners evaluating circular alternatives. The results remain specific to the model, inventory, factors and boundary used; a simulated improvement is not automatically a measured pilot outcome.
The Technical University of Crete develops the Dynamic LCA module.
Life-cycle impact calculations linked to PSM process inventories and selected characterisation factors.