LCIA

This repository contains important files from the ecoinvent LCIA method implementation procedure for ecoinvent versions since v3.9.1.

Data formats and mapping procedure

Several data formats are specified in the "data formats" folder. ecoinvent takes methods as available (from the IPCC reports, for example) and first puts them in an ecoinvent LCIA method input format. If method developers wish for a quick implementation of their method in ecoinvent, they should deliver their method(s) in this input format. The ecoinvent mapping algorithm then automatically maps elementary flows between ecoinvent and the method using the method input file and some additional files for manual data transformation (this is documented in more detail in the LCIA Implementation report). The result of this mapping are the "mapped" method files, which show ecoinvent elementary flows next to mapped method elementary flows and characterization factors in an ecoinvent LCIA method mapped format. These mapped files are a work in progress and any review by the LCA community is highly appreciated.

Automated mapping tries to map several fields and for v3.10 (and onwards) the types of successful mappings are indicated in the "flow_status" column:

Manual mappings are indicated by the status "mapped: overwrite".

NOTE: Some methods were available with ecoinvent elementary flow UUIDs and names and therefore needed no mapping. These are therefore not part of this repository.

Note for v3.12

Propyl propionate was assigned a wrong CAS number and formula, which led to a mis-mapping (to ethyl methyl carbonate) in EF methods (EF v3.0, EF v3.1, EN15804). There is no CF available in these methods for propyl propionate. (Thanks go to Clara Johne from PRé)

In the original ReCiPe data, Caesium has a wrong formula (Ce instead of Cs), which lead to a mis-mapping to Cerium (Ce). There is no CF available in ReCiPe for Cerium. (Thanks go to Felipe Chichorro)

Files in the 3.12/methods_mapped_corrected are updated accordingly.

Note for previous versions

See LCIA Issues section at the bottom of release pages in our knowledge base.

Note for EF methods (including EN 15804)

The mappings to EF methods consider the GLAD mapping. While v3.9.1 implementations started from there, v3.10 (and onwards) implementations start not from the full list of elementary flows, but only from the list of characterized flows (the “lciamethods_CF” sheet of the official Excel files). This ensures that what is mapped also is characterized, but it also means that mappings can be different than in the GLAD mapping as the best matching flow might not be available anymore.

For EN15804 in versions 3.11+, impact categories and indicators as in the EF methods were rearranged with new method and impact category names to better align with the standard and help users find what they are looking for. For the files available in the v3.12 folder this means that "EN15804+A2 - Core impact categories and indicators_mapped_3.12.csv" and "EN15804+A2 - Additional impact categories and indicators_mapped_3.12.csv" are based on "EF v3.0 EN15804_mapped_3.12.csv" and "EF v3.1 EN15804_mapped_3.12.csv". Because of the rearrangement, method elementary flow ids and mapping status information are only available in the latter files.

Metadata JSON file

The metadata.json file available for each version follows the tabular-data-package standard.

Author and contact

This repository and the files in it were created by the ecoinvent Association. Feel free to reach out to sonderegger@ecoinvent.org.

License

The data is licensed CC BY-NC 4.0