Analysis of Well-Established Life Cycle Assessment Software Tools

The worldwide increasing amount of waste and emissions has a strong impact on the natural life-balance of humans as well as for flora and fauna. The greenhouse gas emissions came up to 80.1 Mio. t-CO2 eq (Umweltbundesamt 2011) in 2009. The increasing pressure on industrial companies to reduce their amount of waste and emissions produced causes a large amount of requirements to product- and service processes. By using life cycle analysis it’s possible to vis-ualize the current material and energy flows fact which rather allows defining the problem are-as. The aim of this study is to establish, which life cycle assessment software tools -by reference to specific operation criteria is the most appropriate to create a material and energy analysis in a company. The assessment of these software tools will be carried out with a use-value-analysis. Before performing this analysis a case study was developed, which included the most important functions, to give a good introduction in the way life cycle assessments work. The further step was to establish the software tools that most of all support the development of energy and mate-rial balances. This step was based on literature review. Tools which are only used as data base or simply create graphical mappings were neglected from the analysis.
The simplified case study was mapped in the programs Umberto, SimaPro and STAN. The comparison of the software programs has shown that the results of the same parameters were almost identical. This analysis was the basis for developing the list of criteria. These parameters serve as aid for the selection of the most suitable software according to the consumption of the company. The use-value-analysis as valuation method is the most relevant methodology for a decision maker to compare different choices. Therefore it’s possible to analyze easy complex contents. The developed excel-tool represents the flexible use-value-analysis, which is based on determining as well as analyzing main criteria and sub criteria. The parameters evaluation takes place in a percentage solution, while the main criteria as well as each sub criteria together hold 100 %. The result of the use-value-analysis shows the main impact, because of the evaluation. The ranking of the three software programs according to the use-value-analysis were Umberto with 379 points, SimaPro with 349 points and STAN with 287 points. Therefore it’s shown that Umberto reached the highest use-value, because the development of the inventory provides the best functions to establish a detailed material and energy analysis. The software STAN reached only the third place although this software enables a suitable material and energy balance due to the fact that it disposes less additional functions than the complete data import. If the use-value is confronted with the costs then the software STAN reaches the best use-value, because this software is for free. It’s obvious, that the use software tools for material and energy analysis of-fers has decisive advantages and can considerably support the decision making process. Espe-cially the possibilities of a simple comparison with the aid of an evaluated list of criteria, the de-fined degree of target fulfillment and the depiction of the cumulative use-value are distinguished. Basically the different software programs offer similar functions and show under same conditions almost identical results. The developed excel-tool for the use-value analysis can serve as basis for decisions in companies. Therefore it’s possible to determine the problem areas, because of the different material and energy consumption in departments. By doing this, it’s possible to contribute towards eco-efficiency.