Life cycle assessment and software tools comparison

The purpose of this study was to provide the necessary information about life cycle assessment (LCA), from the definition of the goal and scope through the inventory analysis, the life cycle impact assessment, the interpretation of the results, and the use of LCA study. Moreover, information about SimaPro, GaBi, openLCA, and Umberto software were described and SimaPro and Gabi software were compared. The requirements of what the software should enable and what is necessary for its operation and use by experts were discussed. The two most frequently used software were studied in terms of several criteria. The advantages and disadvantages of each software were analysed. The results show that both software are special and different in some way. It is important to be aware of the differences among the used software and databases, especially when interpreting results and in comparative studies.