At Cerclos, we are always looking for ways to make Life Cycle Design (LCD) more mainstream and encourage greater uptake by the built environment sector.
Transparency is key to successful LCD practice which is why we ensure that eTool is able to produce EN15978 compliant automated reports. Yes, no more editing documents or tables outside the software to produce your final reports!
Our goal with eTool and our community of software users is to achieve carbon reduction by facilitating better understanding and consistent measurement of the whole life carbon emissions of built projects.
GWP chart
The automated reporting functionality was developed to comply with the widely accepted environmental performance assessment methodology EN15978. We all know eTool produces results in accordance with EN15978 but the automated reporting increases a standardised approach to its practical implementation and interpretation including:
- Introduction
- Goals
- Scope
- Functional Unit, System Boundary, Environmental Indicators, Cut off criteria, Allocation, Independent review, System Description Introduction, Building Characteristics Table, Structure Scope Table, Operational Scope Table
- Inventory Analysis
- Templates Comparison, eTool software, Data quality, Completeness
- Life Cycle Impact Assessment
- Environmental Impacts, Resource Use
- Detailed Analysis
- Scenarios Summary Tables
- Low Impact Strategies
- Conclusion
- Appendix
How to Generate Reports
This video is from 2016 so a little outdated now but it will show how automated reports are generated in eTool.
Example Reports
To generate the full EN 15978 compliant LCA report, you navigate to the ‘Reports’ tab in your design and select ‘LCA Report’ in the drop down menu for Report Type. Additional fields will appear depending on which report you’ve selected. For the LCA Report, it looks something like the image below and you’re able to specify if you want to compare your design with another design (usually the ‘Improved/Proposed Design’ in your project) or a benchmark.
You can also set your ‘benchmark’ as a design from the same structure or a different project altogether. Make sure that the benchmark you’ve selected is comparable with your design though.
Click on the following link to download an example full EN 15978 compliant LCA report. Please note that this report is based on a dummy project therefore the figures & results are not to be used as reference. Reports will not contain any water marks once the Design has been certified.
LCA report
Other Reports
EN15978 is not the only report we produce there are numerous others we have automated to help clients and users understand the modelling results at different stages of the life cycle design process. We are continually updating and improving on these but below is a selection.
All Impact Details report (.xlsx)
All Impact Details report (.png)
(Excel spreadsheet that contains every input in the LCA plus multiple tabs including datasheets for ISCA & Metronet reporting. PNG file above are just screenshots of the tabs)
Detail Analysis
(A more detailed results of the life cycle impacts with the aim of identifying the hotspots by analysing
temporal, spatial, functional, end-use demand and supply chain dimensions)
Carbon Performance
(Summary of carbon performance)
Low Impact Strategies
(A list of low impact design strategies modelled in the LCA study to determine the relative benefits and aid the design decision making process)
Materials Inventory Summary Report
(Summary of material inventory in kg and m3)
Life Cycle Inventory
(Detailed breakdown of each and every material/assembly/operational element and its input variables and assumptions. ***Note that this report is currently retired and will be reinstated in the near future)
Life Cycle Impact Assessment
(Summary of environmental impacts)
Summary Infographic
(GHG Infographics for sales, estate agents and building display)
Life Cycle Design Feedback Report
(Report of all improvement recommendations and details)
Scenario Summary Tables
(Summary of design scenarios)
Certifier Review Statement Report
(example report summarising all feedback and comments between the assessor and certifier)
Custom Reports
You can also customise the report using “Custom Report”.
We are making Life Cycle Design easier for everyone so get in touch with us to start using eTool or engage Cerclos as consultants on your next project.
