Page 150 - Materials Chemistry, Second Edition

134 3 Life Cycle Inventory Analysis

into an electronic format can be downloaded from the Internet and may be used for
developments within the framework general public licence. 165) Meanwhile SPOLD 166)
has terminated its activities, the name SPOLD, however, is used in SPOLD data
formats. Documentation and update of these is done by the consulting firm 2.-0
LCA Consultants (DK). At present downloadable ‘SPOLD Data Exchange Software’
is a development of the original ‘SPOLD Format Software’ in 1997. 167) It also uses
nomenclature 168) recommended by SETAC in its ‘Code of Life Cycle Practice’. The
SPOLD format has also been adapted by ecoinvent as ‘ecoSpold data format’. 169)
Data collection and handling has been dealt with in the ‘Shonan guidelines’ by
UNEP/SETAC. 170)
At around the same time as SPOLD the Swedish data format SPINE was
developed. 171) In contrast to SPOLD as data communication format, SPINE was
conceived as a database format, as pointed out by Weidema. 172) By consequence
several attempts were made to merge the two concepts into one. In the Technical
Guideline ISO 14048 173) an attempt was made to develop a general data docu-
mentation format on the basis of existing approaches as recommendation to LCA
practitioners and data providers. However, the problem could not be completely
solved. An Open Source Software 174) provides a converter for compatibility issues of
different data formats.

3.5
Data Aggregation and Units

The simplest data aggregation is the addition of homogeneous inputs and outputs.
In this case the data are standardised in such a way that all unit processes refer
to the selected fU and the reference flow. This is very simply in principle and is
done by the PC more or less automatically (e.g. with a spread-sheet programme
like Excel or with the help of commercial software systems; see Section 3.4.3.3).
Difficulties usually arise if data from different sources are to be used in one LCI; it
has to be carefully considered which data, for example, different waste categories,
are equivalent. In cases of doubt, it is urgently recommended to consult the SETAC
Code of LCI Practice 175) and the global ‘Shonan Guiding Principles’. 176)
It appears trivial to point out that only data with the same unit have to be added.
There is, however, no international convention concerning units to be used in

165) http://lca-net.com/spold/download/index.
166) Hindle and de Oude, 1996; Bretz, 1998.
167) Weidema, Bo: SPOLD ’99 format – at electronics DATA format for exchange of LCI DATA
(1999.06.24), 35 sides with four appendices, download at http://www.spold.org.
168) Beaufort-Langeveld et al., 2003.
169) http://www.ecoinvent.org/de/ecospold-data-format/.
170) Sonnemann and Vigon, 2011.
171) Carlson, L¨ ofgren and Steen, 1995; Arvidsson, Carlson and P˚ alsson, 1999.
172) Weidema, 1998.
173) ISO/TC 207/SC 5, 2002; Beaufort-Langeveld et al., 2003.
174) Ciroth, 2007.
175) Beaufort-Langeveld et al., 2003.
176) Sonnemann and Vigon, 2011.