Page 166 - Materials Chemistry, Second Edition

150 LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT HANDBOOK

6. More detailed information and help available as backup (for
some few cases where model and tool are not as expected for
example)

These points seem better met by web applications, or by add-on applica-
tions that link to software systems that users already, or anyhow, use.
Professional LCA modelers would probably not decline one of these aspects -
however, the following points are relevant in addition for this user type:

7. Ability to model LCA systems with all methodological details
(parameterization; allocation, system expansion);
8. Graphical display of the modeled product system;
9. Drill-down result analysis, ability to identify hot spots and the
contribution of single elements to the overall result:
lO.Speed, swiftness, usability
11. User community, support for users
12.Relevant LCA data should be available for the software
13.Interoperability, ability to import and export

Professional modelers will accept a learning curve for the software; cur-
rently, most LCA software houses offer a training of several days to train users
in using the software efficiently.
Between these two basic user types, there is a transition zone - for example,
LCA modelers might work with aggregated system processes for background
processes that do not allow a detailed analysis of single contributions, and
focus on the foreground.

6.1.4 The LCA Software Market

A market for LCA software developed quite early with the "emergence" of
LCA, probably due to the high data demands and the rather specific require-
ments of the method.
The market is quite dynamic, with new products entering and vanishing
every year. For example, five of the ten LCA Software packages compared
by Dunmade [2007] are not available today, including Cumpan by (formerly)
Daimler Benz Inter Services.
Still, for several years now, there are two software systems dominating the
market: SimaPro and GaBi. Each offers the functionality described above as
desirable (more or less, with different interpretation of this requirement). They
will be described in more detail in the following sections. There are plenty
other software systems, some of which will be highlighted as well.

6.1.4.1 Main LCA Software Systems
In recent years, GaBi from PE International (www.gabi-software.com), and
SimaPro from PRe Consultants (www.pre.nl/simapro) are the two commercial