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Choosing an LCA tool can feel like shopping without a map — every platform promises accurate impact results, but few clarify what they’re actually designed for. This guide helps you choose the right Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) software for your goals — whether that’s improving product design, managing supplier data, or reporting on your company’s environmental performance.

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Start With Your Primary Use Case

Before comparing features, define what you need your LCA tool to achieve.
Your GoalType of Tool You Need
Quick product screeningStreamlined, AI-assisted software
Deep design comparisonModular tools for scenario modeling
Customer-facing claimsPlatforms supporting structured reporting
CSRD/EF 3.1 alignmentScalable software with reporting templates
Academic researchOpen-source or flexible modeling platforms

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Use Case Scenarios (and What Fits Best)

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🛠️ Eco-Design During Product Development

Goal: Support designers and engineers with quick insights and material comparisons. Look for:
  • Simple upload and modeling workflows
  • Built-in templates for common materials and processes
  • Visual dashboards that help communicate design impacts
Tools to consider:
  • Sustainly — for AI-assisted modeling and accessible results across teams
  • Ecochain Mobius — for early-stage design exploration
  • One Click LCA — for architecture and construction applications
Why it matters: Early decisions have the biggest sustainability impact. Sustainly helps streamline those decisions by automating input handling and keeping data consistent across product iterations.

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📄 Publishing EPDs and Verified Results

Goal: Produce results that can be shared externally with customers or auditors. Look for:
  • Templates to guide documentation and reporting
  • Verified datasets and transparent modeling methods
  • Clear export options for third-party review
Tools to consider:
  • One Click LCA
  • SimaPro
  • GaBi

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📊 Internal Portfolio and Sustainability Reporting

Goal: Track multiple products, suppliers, or sites with consistent data. Look for:
  • Centralized data management
  • Multi-user collaboration and access control
  • Automated result comparison and updates
Tools to consider:
  • Sustainly — built for scalable collaboration and cross-department visibility
  • Ecochain Helix
  • GaBi Envision
Why Sustainly fits: It combines AI-driven automation with a shared company hub where sustainability data is visible across departments — helping teams save time while maintaining traceable, reusable information for future projects.

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🧪 Academic or Exploratory Research

Goal: Flexibility and control for methodological experimentation. Look for:
  • Support for custom datasets and methods
  • Freedom to modify and test different system models
  • Transparent, traceable results
Tools to consider:
  • OpenLCA
  • SimaPro
  • Brightway2

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What to Watch For

Beyond feature lists, consider how a tool supports growth and collaboration across your organization. ✅ AI support — automate repetitive modeling and data alignment
✅ Centralized data system — ensures all teams work from consistent inputs
✅ Collaboration options — transparency and shared visibility across workflows
✅ Scalability — start small and expand to company-wide sustainability management

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Final Takeaway

There isn’t one “best” LCA tool — there’s the right one for your current goals and how you plan to grow.
If you need a platform that combines automation, transparency, and scalable data workflows, Sustainly offers a modern approach to sustainability analysis:
a shared, AI-supported workspace that empowers teams to make better, faster environmental decisions.