List of features Umberto NXT LCA

[pbeilschmidt]

This is an incomplete list of features of Umberto NXT LCA you can expect for the upcoming first release version.

Users who have been working with Umberto 5 before might want to check out a separate post on differences between Umberto 5.x and Umberto NXT LCA

• Window handling: tabbed, floating, auto-hide
• Grouping, sorting, column chooser and filtering in all table grids (process specification, inventories, search materials dialog, ...)
• Undo/Redo: multi-step undo/redo of almost all actions
• Work with several models at a time in the same project
• Hierarchical Modelling over any number of subnet levels
• Modelling of multi-product systems (co-products), environmental impacts consistently assigned to reference flows
• Editor: Copy&Paste of models and model sections between models
• Editor: Copy&Paste of models and model sections to Module Gallery, drag model section from Gallery into model
• Editor: Join network sections by merging places (drag place onto other place in model)
• Editor: Multi-element editing of graphical elements
• Editor: Life Cycle Phase frame
• Editor: Element pin mode (for repeated insert)
• Editor: Reconnect arrow from one element to another
• Editor: New drawing mode when in pinned arrow draw mode, draw Place/Process/Place "in the void", no need to set these elements first and then draw arrow
• Ecoinvent data: Activity datasets, intermediate exchanges, elementary exchanges as master material data (read only) in Project Explorer
• Ecoinvent data: Properties for activity datasets, intermediate exchanges, elementary exchanges in Properties dialog. Activity datasets show selected ecoinvent meta data, link to online documentation of dataset (link could not be made available in first release)
• Ecoinvent data: Drag&drop activity dataset from Project Explorer into model, choose between activity dataset type (Unit/Result), model stub inserted that can be merged with existing model structure
• Ecoinvent data: Expand process chains upstream and downstream (Note: downstream available only after ecoinvent v3 is released) automatically using activity link: Process stub will automatically be expanded, Choice of setting Unit or Result (System Aggregated) activity.
• Ecoinvent data: Currently providing 'Allocation, default' and 'Consequential' system models, but prepared to provide data in all (up to eight) system models published by ecoinvent > available only after ecoinvent v3 is released
• Ecoinvent data: 21 impact assessment methods
• Net Parameters, hierarchical net parameters, use of net parameters in user defined functions for process specification or for calculation of flow coefficients
• LCIA: select (activate) whole impact assessment method, or use only selected characterization factors, characterization factors provided as material properties
• LCIA: trace impacts along the supply chain, using visual approach with LCIA Sankey diagrams
• Specification: Common linear process specifications, determine coefficient by evaluating function term, including parameters
• Specification: User defined functions in process specifications (Use functions and mathematical operators, reference other flows and parameters)
• Specification: Generic Materials
• Specification: Parameters
• Specification: Allocation (physical, economic, user-defined)
• Specification: Negative Flows
• Calculation: By default, joint flow and LCIA calculation, separate calculations are available
• Results Display: Inventories for Total Flows and Product-Related Flows (for models with more than one reference flow or by-products)
• Results Display: Inventories grouped by compartments, by units, by processes, by materials, etc.
• Results Display: Graphical LCIA Summary absolute values / scaled to 100%
• Results Display: Group LCIA detailed results by life cycle phase
• Results Display: Group LCIA detailed results by contributing process (activity)
• Results Display: Group LCIA detailed results by substances
• Results Display: various other groupings for LCIA results
• Results: Export to Excel, Print as PDF
• Results: Full raw data export to Excel, create additional graphics in Excel with Pivot Graphs
• Sankey: Includes most of the e!Sankey functionality for normal net model view and Sankey diagram view of model
• Sankey: Total Flows and Product-Related Flows, all unit types can be shown in one Sankey diagram, select unit types individually, scale unit types individually
• Sankey: Sankey diagram for each selected impact category, see contributions of each flow to the generation of potential environmental impact, e.g. GWP Sankey, Eutrophication Sankey, Acidification Sankey, ...
• Sankey: Downstream End-of-Life emissions can be shown with inverted upstream Sankey flow in the Sankey diagram, negative flows inverted Sankey arrow
• Sankey: Tooltip
• Online Help
• Comprehensive User Manual
• Tutorials and pre-installed example file
• more features to be listed here...

[pbeilschmidt]

In the Umberto NXT LCA version that is shipped with ecoinvent v2.2 data (see this post) the following restrictions apply:

• Expand Process Chain doesn't work downstream with ecoinvent v2.2 datasets. This is due to the fact that in ecoinvent 2.2 data, waste treatment processes are modelled as an input service. Hence, waste treatment process chains have to be expanded upstream.
• System Models: the 'Allocation, default' and 'Consequential' system model activity datasets are only provided for ecoinvent v3 data. In ecoinvent v2.2 there was no differentiation for different system models. We are shipping the known datasets as unit and system terminated (result) datasets in one version 'with infrastructure' and another version 'without infrastructure'.
• Direct URL link to activity dataset meta data on the ecoinvent web page is not available in the version 'Umberto NXT LCA with ecoinvent v2.2 data'

These differences are signalled with red font in the post above.

[pbeilschmidt]

Unfortunately, the feature "Direct URL link to activity dataset meta data on the ecoinvent web page" (see last of the three bullet points in the post above) could not be realized for the release of Umberto NXT LCA with ecoinvent v3.

We hope to be able to provide such a feature in one of the next releases.