Life Cycle Assessment Tools

You will find a selection of publications that provide an overview of accounting tools here.

Grey energy calculator for residential buildings
This is based on the study "ZERsiedelt" (2011) by the Institute of Ecology
www.zersiedelt.at/graue-energie-rechner-wohnbau (Last link check: 5/2020)

SolCity
With SolCity, development plans and housing estates can be designed interactively with the computer and their solar quality assessed. The programme was developed on behalf of the City of Cologne and the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Urban Development, Culture and Sport NRW and was available free of charge:
www.wortmann-scheerer.de/leistungen/stadtplanung/

GOSOL
The urban planning simulation program GOSOL was specially developed for the comparative solar+energy analysis, evaluation and optimisation of urban planning.
..>> gosol

AVplan" PC programme
Building geometry-related heat loss, average A/V ratio and living space of urban planning designs
..>> gosol/avplan

GOSOL and AVplan are both from the solar office Dr Peter Goretzki Stuttgart.
..>> gosol/...#Peter Goretzki

IOER computing programme
for the preparation of a municipal housing demand forecast (Version 2.0) -
Derivation of scenarios. The IOER calculation programme is an interactive tool,
to forecast the development of housing demand for a municipality.
This can be differentiated according to household types and building structure types.
The forecast horizon covers 15 years and is divided into three 5-year periods.
..>> ioer.de/wohnprog.htm

BASiS 2
..>> oeko.de/basis.htm

Municipal EIA 5.0 - Environmental impact assessment tool
..>> happe-software.de

Network stuff on sustainable urban development by Rolf Messerschmidt, Tübingen
..>> netzwerkzeug.de

IT tool for sustainable municipal land management
From December 2006 to March 2007, the Department of Urban and Regional Planning (SRP) at the University of Dortmund developed approaches for an IT-based management tool for a sustainable municipal land management system on behalf of the MUNLV to supplement an existing project. The software is intended to help facilitate administrative action in the complex area of sustainable land management by pre-structuring the necessary work steps, targeted communication and knowledge transfer. The project partners were the Landesarbeitsgemeinschaft Agenda 21 NRW e.V. and the IT developer KATE.
Contact SRP: Johannes.Flacke@uni-dortmund.de

Free database tool for sustainable land management in municipalities (EU research project):
The programme first collects information on the current status of the sites based on an analysis. Areas are categorised, such as "gaps between buildings" or "derelict land". In addition, the utilisation of the areas, the building stock, the infrastructure and the degree of sealing are recorded. Based on this information, the programme develops proposals for future use, which are assigned to categories such as developable, developable with restrictions or possible renaturation. The information provides planners with an overview of development potential in the city or region.
www.circuse.eu/index.php?option=com_showdown&typeid=10&Itemid=47

LANCA - Balancing the environmental impact of land use
The Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics has developed a software tool "Land Use Indicator Calculation Tool" (LANCA), which evaluates land use by industrial processes. This means that the environmental impact of different types of land use can now be quantified, evaluated and compared with each other in the sense of a life cycle assessment (LCA).
www.zub-kassel.de/news/article?id=444&mailingId=94&contactId=199232

EnergySavingGuide
- Heating energy consumption (old building)
- Comparison of heating costs (new build)
- PumpCheck
- Electrical appliance check
- Fridge check
..>> klima-sucht-schutz.de/energiespar-ratgeber

Modernisation guide
..>> klima-sucht-schutz.de/modernisation-council

Vitruvius
Tool for inventory valuation
..>> vitruvius.de

Energy consultant and EnEV tools Overview with prices
..>> solaroffice.de
EnEV tools (as of 2003)
TU Darmstadt, Department of Design and Energy-Efficient Building
..>> Comprehensive overview (pdf 1,9 MB)
Energy consultant Hottgenroth
..>> hottgenroth.de

Text instructions for calculating the U-value of windows:
..>> fensterberater.de/PagEnEV1.htm

An online U-value calculation new building (but also others):
..>> energiesparhaus.at/denkwerkstatt/uwert.htm

KfW energy-saving house
For the revised CO2 reduction programme of the Kreditanstalt
for Reconstruction (KfW), various implementation strategies were developed by the IWU.
for the KfW Energy Saving House 60 are analysed in the form of sample calculations.
The sample calculations can be found at
..>> kfw.de

Heating energy check
..>> ea-nrw.de/heizenergiecheck/flash.htm

Saving electricity
..>> ea-nrw.de/haushalt/energiecheck

Fridge check by B.A.U.M. e.V.,
CO2online gGmbH and Federal Ministry for the Environment
..>> kuehlcheck.de/baum ev

Solar atlas, nationwide
Offer of the BSW - Bundesverband Solarwirtschaft e.V.
www.solaratlas.de

Solar system design
Solar collectors/solar thermal energy
..>> ea-nrw.de/...InfoID=2345
..>> solartechnikberater.de/01.cfm?anlage=s
PV / solar power systems
..>> solartechnikberater.de/01.cfm
Home page ..>> solartechnikberater.de
Yield analysis of photovoltaic systems (TU Berlin)
..>> emsolar.ee.tu-berlin.de/.../yield
Comparison tool for heating concepts
Gas, oil, wood pellets, solar heat, also in combination
Energy calculator
..>> proschornstein.de
Photovoltaic system subsidy calculator (online)
Determining the level of subsidies for photovoltaic systems under the 100,000 Roofs Programme and the Renewable Energy Sources Act
..>> solarrechner.de
..>> solarfoerderung.de

Rainwater storage tank dimensioning - online calculation:
..>> rewalux.com/ratgeber/index.htm?on_rech.htm

Infiltration of rainwater - online measurement:
Surface infiltration
Swale infiltration
Infiltration trenches
Shaft infiltration

Rainwater utilisation - online measurement of storage tanks:
..>> faktor-t.de/speicherauslegung.htm
Rain/climate data-worldwide: worldclimate.com
Saving water (in English): h2ouse.org
Brochures on the topic of water: hmulv.hessen.de/.../environment

Housing and mobility cost calculator for Hamburg
With just a little individual input data, people looking to relocate can estimate the housing and mobility costs they will incur at different locations. Developed and offered by HafenCity University Hamburg.
www.womo-rechner.de

WinMobile
In addition to the environmental impact, the programme shows the costs for the
motorisation or an ecological option. For journey planning
the environmental impact of various means of transport.
..>> upi-institut.de

Travelling and the environment (by ifeu, Heidelberg)
a free railway tool that you can download and use offline
..>> bahn.de/...computerprogramme

umberto for carbon footprint - Calculate CO2 footprints
Umberto for Carbon Footprint is specially designed for the creation of product-related
CO2 footprints and helps with modelling,
Calculation and visualisation of carbon footprints
www.umberto.de/de/versionen/umberto-nxt-co2/
or alternatively
www.carbonfootprint-software.com/de/

Atmosfair. Possibility to "fly climate-conscious"
..>> atmosfair.de
CO2 calculator
..>> novatlantis.ch/...ecorechner_0.2>
"Ministry of the Environment" of Austria
..>> ecocheck.lebensministerium.at

Lifestyle check: How climate-friendly is your lifestyle?
WWF Switzerland
..>> checkyourlife.ch (only playable with Flash4-Plugin)
Directly to the tool/game:
..>> wwf-ch.3way.ch/default_en.cfm
CO2 calculator (older version)
..>> proclim.ch/Facts/pcc

UBA lifestyle calculator
https://uba.co2-rechner.de

The eco-tax savings calculator determines the personal eco-tax balance for 2001 in three steps. The amount of eco-tax to be paid is determined on the basis of private energy consumption. It calculates how much money you can save by reducing your own energy consumption. The reduction in pension insurance contributions due to the ecological tax reform is calculated on the basis of annual income. Finally, in the fourth step, you receive your personal eco-tax savings balance sheet.
Start: ..>> oeko-tax.com/ispar.htm
..>> oeko-tax.de/oekorechner
..>> oeko-tax.de

UBA
http://uba.klima-aktiv.en/?cat=person

Ecocheck
A modified version of the "Do you need the energy diet" test
by GLOBAL CHALLENGES NETWORK and GREENPEACE magazine
modified within the framework of "LOCAL AGENDA 21 - OTTOBRUNN"
from the Lifestyle and Consumer Behaviour Working Group
..>> ottobrunn.de/environment/oekochck.html
Air travel environmental calculator (online)
Calculation of: Flight kilometres (km), paraffin consumption (litres), CO2 emissions
(kg CO2), water vapour (kg water/as contrails), kg SO2, kg nitrogen oxides,
kg carbon monoxide, kg non-methane hydrocarbons, kg methane
Including the weighting factor (2) (increase in the greenhouse effect
emissions at the usual flight altitudes), this would result in a global warming potential
is released that corresponds to the ground-level emission of XX kg of CO2.
..>> user.cs.tu-berlin.de/~roland/flug/flug.cgi
Nutrition
Test your food shopping behaviour
..>> ulme.uns.umnw.ethz.ch

Health / Life expectancy
..>> test.gesundheit.ch

Umberto
Together with the ifu Institute for Environmental Informatics in Hamburg, the ifeu - Institute for Energy and Environmental Research in Heidelberg has developed the Umberto software, which can be used for product life cycle assessments and site-specific corporate life cycle assessments. Umberto is now used in practice by numerous companies, institutes and authorities. It is one of the leading software tools for life cycle assessment in Europe.
..>> umberto.de

e!sankey - Sankey Diagram Software
e!Sankey is the leading software for visualising quantity flows,
energy and costs with so-called Sankey diagrams. e!Sankey is used in more than 55 countries.
www.e-sankey.com
Corporate Environmental Information Systems Overview
..>> oekoradar.de/software

ecobox
The ecobox is part of the results of the ELEKTRA research project (funded by the BMBF). The tool contains Excel sheets for decision-making on economic and ecological management processes. According to the developers, the software is "easy to use" and "particularly suitable for small and medium-sized companies".
Homepage: ..>> elektra.uni-wh.de/Toolbox/ecobox/ecobox
Tool: ..>> elektra.uni-wh.de/Toolbox/ecobox

Energy check online
Potential for saving energy lies dormant in almost every small business. The non-profit climate protection agency Bremer Energie-Konsens wants to identify and help realise this potential online. With the "Internet Energy Check", small companies can use a free questionnaire to find out where and how they can save energy. The check is based on the company's own consumption data, which the programme evaluates and compares with average values for the sector. The check also analyses individual consumers such as lighting,
electric drives or compressed air generators.

Access under
..>> internet-energie-check.de

MIPS (Material flows)
..>> seri.at/MIPSAcademy/level01/menu01.htm#
..>> seri.at/MIPSAcademy/_download/MIC.zip
Ecological footprint
..>> lead.org/leadnet/footprint/
Lexicon on the subject of solar energy
Solar lexicon ..>> solarserver.de/lexikon/lexikone.html
Unit converter (area/time/speed measurements, e.g. hectares to square metres, etc.)
..>> fw-web.de/download/unit.zip (Download: 150 kB zip file)
Conversion of SI units
Unit calculator
..>> ex.ac.uk/cimt/dictunit/dictunit.htm