LCIA methods for Gabi and Ecoinvent databases

Question

Hi everyone,

In my modelling in OpenLCA I use processes from Gabi and Ecoinvent and found that there is a problem with Impact Assessment of the processes. Because of differences in the names of elementary flow in this databases, result of impact assessment shows zero values of this processes. 

Are there some LCIA methods that include elementary flows and characterisation factors of both databases? Because to check all elementary flows names and change the processess will take a long time to do. 

Or maybe is it possible to combine Impact Assessment methods? (but I don't think this is the correct thing to do)

Hope that anybody will suggest the better way to solve this problem!

Answer 1

Hi, it is not about the name (openLCA uses id numbers to recognise all elements, not the name), but indeed GaBi and ecoinvent (from ecoinvent) do not really fit together, and thus we provide two different LCIA method packs, one for GaBi and one for all other databases. It is not only about the flows identified / recognised in the different methods, but factors for the same flow can be different, for the same category, in both methods. Unfortunately, of course, but this is not too often the case.

A combination is possible apart from these cases, where the same flow has different characterisation factors.

Comments

Thank you for your answer. But actually I didn't understand what should I do in this situation...

I have already understoood that I need to use different LCIA method pack for processess. But I don't understand what is the better way of solving of this problem.

I have to create a new LCIA method and manually enter each thread and its characterisation factor?
Or are there already combined LCIA methods packs? Or do I only need to use processes from one database and model processes from another database manually?

Can you please advise how to do it better, (as I'm not so long immersed in the subject of LCA and don't know such subtleties)

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Hello,
Recently, I meet the same problem. The ecoinvent database imported to  Gabi in ILCD format is not matched with Impact Assessment of the processes. Some folw's names has changed when imported to Gabi.Have you solved this problem?
Best regard.