Is it possible to update EPD results from TRACI2.1 to EF3.1?

Question

Hi everyone,

I would like to update the results for an EPD study that I imported in my system model using the soda4LCA feature. Its results are reported using the TRACI 2.1 method. Recently, the feature that can update from EF3.0 to EF3.1 results for an EPD has been integrated. That is working perfectly. Now, I am wondering if it is possible to do something if the EPD instead of EF3.0 used other methods like TRACI 2.1. Does anyone have more insights about this?

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Hi vapLCA,

if you have the respective calculated LCI, this is possible. But if you are using the LCIA results from the EPD, it is not possible, unfortunately. This has nothing to do with the technicality of openLCA, but with the fact that they are different impact methods.

Answer 2

Usually EPDs come without any inventory data, and only with results. Also the feature to update from EN15804-EF3.0 to EN15804-EF3.1 is not a feature that updates actual numbers or the results, since this is impossible when only having results.

What we have included as a script is to link the results for EN15804-EF 3.0 impact categories to the impact categories of EN15804-EF 3.1, because you can only calculate your product system with one specific impact method in openLCA (which is good, since it is a save measure to not arbitrarily mix things). So in case you are allowed to use EN15804-EF3.0 results in your EN15804-EF3.1 study/calculations, the script is only changing the linking of the results to the corresponding impact categories, nothing else. Without that, you would not get any impacts from the imported EPD when you calculate the product system with EN15804-EF 3.1, but your EPD results are still linked with EN15804-EF3.0. And this is only a special case, because most programme operators allow nowadays to use EN15804-EF3.0 EPD results in a EN15804-EF3.1 study. And this might only be possible with EN15804-EF3.0/3.1 because all the impact categories stayed the same, except IPCC2013 was updated to IPCC2021 and the toxicity categories (not mandatory in EPDs and quite high uncertainty anyway) got an update.

Because you imported an EPD with TRACI 2.1 results and no inventory I assume, there is no way that these results can be "transformed" or "updated" to EN15804-EF3.0/3.1 results. If you use EPD results with TRACI 2.1, you can only calculate your product system with the same method TRACI 2.1. Otherwise you don't get any impacts from the EPD.