1 General requirements for LCA software tools

In recent years Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) software tools have become increasingly important. Today a large number of LCA programs are available. The large diversity of LCA software tools on offer makes it necessary to first pinpoint some general requirements that determine the quality of an LCA software tool and secondly to describe these requirements qualitatively. The authors last year assessed four different software tools by using each of these programs to model waste management scenarios. This modelling process revealed many differences in the quality of the LCA software tools. These differences are unrelated to the kind of modelled scenario and therefore are relevant for all kinds of LCAs (e.g. product LCA). Using these experiences and by conducting additional research in the literature, we have deduced some general requirements considered essential for good quality LCA software tools. These will be presented in this paper. 1 INTRODUCTION Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is today an often used method for assessing the potential environmental impact of products, services or proceedings. Software tools were developed to make the processing and calculation of LCAs easier. The first steps were taken about two decades ago, with the main focus often on the assessment of production processes. Over time LCA software was also applied to other fields such as waste management. There is a large variety of LCA software tools on the market. The foremost − and for the potential user also often prohibitive − property of a software tool is the price. The price of an LCA software tool can vary between several thousand euros and free of charge. Some tools offer a wider range of features than others. Some are focussed on a specific field of LCA, e.g. LCA in waste management, while others try to cover different application fields of LCA. Also the data and data quality can have an effect on the price of a software tool. Depending on the purpose for which the user has selected the software, different LCA tools are more suitable for particular applications. However , a number of properties and features are essential for any good quality LCA software tool regardless of the kind of user and the kind of LCA it is being used for. This paper will discuss which features are important and which requirements are desirable for a good LCA application. The content of this paper is mostly gleaned from experiences with four software tools …