Learning and Support
Free resources
To help you get started with openLCA, we are providing many free resources, from manuals on the software to handbooks on specific topics, to guidance on impacts assessment methods and some ready to use case studies to get inspiration on modeling your own LCA study.
Manuals and presentations
Sometimes it is good to have a more comprehensive text which explains details – this section contains some manuals for different openLCA versions and related, typically more specific, topics. Also the format converter documentation is available.
Version 1.7
Version 1.5/1.6
- New! Implementation of the cumulative energy demand (CED) LCIA method with lower heating values, LHV (October 2017)
- What’s new in openLCA 1.6? (May 2017) (You can also watch the webinar on our YouTube channel)
- Getting started with openLCA 1.6 (March 2017)
- LCIA method pack manual (February 2017) (There is additional information about the LCIA methods on the downloads page)
Version 1.4
- Comprehensive openLCA User Manual v. 1.1 (March 2015)
- openLCA 1.4 overview and first steps (June 2014)
- Using openLCA to read SimaPro csv files and to create data sets that can be used in the ecoEditor of the ecoinvent centre (April 2014)
- Expanding openLCA memory on a Mac
- Changing the directory location for openLCA databases on your computer
Previous versions
- How to import the openLCA source code into Eclipse for versions pre 1.3.2
- Working with the openLCA 1.4 beta version (new 28 Dec 2013)
- A results comparison of PSILCA SimaPro and PSILCA Starter openLCA (May 2016)
- Regionalized LCIA in openLCA (March 2016)
- Life Cycle Costing in openLCA (March 2016)
- EPD Editor in openLCA (English, July 2015)
- EPD-Editor in openLCA (German, May 2015)
- How to perform Life Cycle Costing in openLCA (June 2013)
- Using pedigree features in openLCA (June 2012)
Version 1.6.3/1.7
- New! PSILCA database: Manual and documentation for PSILCA v2 (December 2017)
- New! Webinar: What´s new in PSILCA 2.0? (You can also watch the video on our YouTube channel)
Version 1.5/1.4.2
- New! The GaBi 2016 database in openLCA (February 2017)
- New! The Soca v.1 add-on – Adding social impact information to ecoinvent (January 2017)
- The NEEDS database in openLCA (January 2017)
- The ecoinvent 3.3 database in openLCA (September 2016)
- The ELCD 3.2 database in openLCA (June 2016)
- The PSILCA database (March 2016)
- The database ecoinvent v.3.2 in openLCA (March 2016)
- Die ProBas+ Datenbank in openLCA (German, Januar 2016)
Previous versions
- Die ProBas Datenbank in openLCA (German, Juli 2014)
- The database Ökobau.dat in openLCA and SimaPro (April 2015)
- Die Datenkbank Ökobau.dat in openLCA and SimaPro (German, April 2015)
- Using nexus and different databases in openLCA (May 2013)
- Social Hot Spots Database (SHDB) in openLCA – quick overview (September 2013)
- Using GaBi databases in openLCA (November 2013)
- New! Social and environmental impacts of a T-shirt: A life cycle approach. Jan 2017 (pdf, 2MB)
- Life Cycle Costing in openLCA 1.5 with ecoinvent 3.2 extended. June 2016 (pdf, 1.4MB)
- Introducing Regionalized LCIA in openLCA. May 2016 (pdf, 1.5MB)
- Towards more interoperable databases: openLCA, SimaPro, summary of tools. Jan 2015 (pdf, 811KB)
- openLCA training slides. December 2014 (pdf, 17MB)
- openLCA training slides. September 2014 (pdf, 10MB)
Case studies
Quite frequently, practical cases are more instructive than mere theoretical discussions. Aim of this section is, therefore, to provide these practical cases. If you think you have also an interesting study or that you would like to present and share, let us know.
- Basic Modelling in openLCA explained using a PET bottle case study; based on the free ELCD database
- Social and environmental impacts of a T-shirt: A life cycle approach. Jan 2017 (pdf, 2MB)
- How to use parameters in openLCA (as extension of the above mentioned PET bottle case study)
- Viticulture Case Study – Organic vs. Conventional production; based on the ecoinvent 2.2 database
openLCA 1.4
- Cotton production (download the database for teachers and students here, 30MB each).
- PET water bottles: using the ecoinvent database to compare water bottle production in different locations
- Beer Containers: Aluminum can vs. PET bottle (Download the database for this study here)
Previous versions
- Viticulture: conventional vs organic viticulture
- Beer packaging systems: aluminium can vs PET bottle
- CaseStudy_PETvsALU_empty.olca (the database for the Al vs PET case, import as new database) – openLCA version 1.2, 1.3.x
- Remodelling of a park: a case study about the Sellerpark in Berlin
Videos
We have created video tutorials for using openLCA that you can find on our openLCA YouTube channel. Besides instructional videos, we also upload free webinars on specific topics there. Click on the picture below to be redirected to the openLCA YouTube channel.
