Why learn LCA?

More and more people across a business have to work with environmental data: the buyer comparing suppliers, the planner building a business case, the engineer changing a design, the salesperson answering a tender. Almost all of that data (product carbon footprints, EPDs, supplier emission figures) comes from one method: life cycle assessment.

This school teaches that method from first principles. And the best way in is something you probably already know.

LCA is unit costing for the environment

If you know how to work out the unit cost of a product, you’re a better buyer and a better planner. You understand how the product is built, what drives its cost, and where the savings are. LCA gives you exactly the same understanding, for environmental cost.

In unit costing you have…	In LCA you have…
A bill of materials	The same bill of materials (plus energy, transport and waste)
A price for each input	An emission factor for each input, e.g. kg CO₂-eq per kg of steel
Supplier price lists	An LCI database of emission factors
Overheads shared between products	Allocation of shared emissions between products
Accounting rules	Standards: ISO 14044, ISO 14067, EN 15804, product category rules
Cost per unit	Impact per functional unit
The parts that drive the cost	Hotspots that drive the impact

Same bill of materials, same maths

Here’s one painted steel panel, costed both ways. (The numbers are hypothetical teaching data, the same system you’ll calculate in lesson 8.)

Input	Quantity	Unit cost	Cost	Emission factor	Carbon
Steel sheet	4 kg	€0.80 /kg	€3.20	1.9855 kg CO₂-eq/kg	7.942 kg CO₂-eq
Paint	0.25 kg	€8.00 /kg	€2.00	2.5792 kg CO₂-eq/kg	0.645 kg CO₂-eq
Electricity (assembly)	3 kWh	€0.15 /kWh	€0.45	0.3766 kg CO₂-eq/kWh	1.130 kg CO₂-eq
Per panel			€5.65		9.717 kg CO₂-eq

Figures are rounded for display.

Notice the parallel. The steel price already includes the steel mill’s energy bill, so you don’t add the mill’s electricity separately. In the same way, the steel emission factor (1.9855) already includes the mill’s emissions and the electricity it used. That’s what “cradle-to-gate” means, and it’s why a good database saves you from modelling every supplier yourself.

Why this matters for your job

Steel is 57% of this panel’s cost but 82% of its carbon (counting the electricity used to make it). The cost view and the carbon view point at different priorities. You only see that if you can do both.

ExplainerHypothetical teaching numbers

Unit cost vs carbon cost

1. Scene 1 of 6

   One painted steel panel

   Start with the bill of materials.

   InputQuantity

   Steel4 kg

   Paint0.25 kg

   Electricity (assembly)3 kWh

   The same list you already use for costing.

   The bill of materials for one painted steel panel: 4 kg of steel, 0.25 kg of paint and 3 kWh of electricity for assembly. It is the same list a costing team already uses.

2. Scene 2 of 6

   Price every line

   quantity × price = cost

   InputQuantity€

   Steel4 kg€3.20

   Paint0.25 kg€2.00

   Electricity3 kWh€0.45

   Per panel€5.65

   Unit costing: multiply each quantity by its price. Steel costs €3.20, paint €2.00 and electricity €0.45, so one panel costs €5.65.

3. Scene 3 of 6

   Give every line an emission factor

   quantity × emission factor = carbon

   Input€kg CO₂-eq

   Steel€3.207.942

   Paint€2.000.645

   Electricity€0.451.130

   Per panel€5.659.717

   Life cycle assessment uses the same list and the same maths, with an emission factor in place of the price. Steel gives 7.942 kg CO₂-eq, paint 0.645 and electricity 1.130, so one panel carries 9.717 kg CO₂-eq.

4. Scene 4 of 6

   Already inside the number

   The steel price already includes the mill’s energy bill.

   The steel emission factor already includes the mill’s emissions.

   A sketch of a steel mill sending 4 kg of steel to the panel. You do not add the mill’s energy bill to the price of steel, because the price already includes it. In the same way, the steel emission factor already includes the mill’s emissions. That is what cradle-to-gate means.

5. Scene 5 of 6

   Same list, different hotspot

   Steel’s share

   of cost57%

   of carbon82%

   Paint’s share

   of cost35%

   of carbon7%

   Steel is 57% of the panel’s cost but 82% of its carbon. Paint is 35% of the cost but only 7% of the carbon. The cost view and the carbon view point at different priorities.

6. Scene 6 of 6

   Unit costing for the environment

   Σ quantity × price = cost per unit

   Σ quantity × emission factor = impact per unit

   Same bill of materials. Same maths.

   Check every number by hand in LCA 101, lesson 8.

   Summary: the sum of quantity times price gives cost per unit; the sum of quantity times emission factor gives impact per unit. If you can cost a product, you can learn to assess it. Lesson 7 of LCA 101 works through these numbers by hand.

Every LCA needs three things

1. A bill of materials. What goes into the product, how much, and how it’s made. Most companies already have this for costing and production. It’s the starting point.

2. A standard. The rulebook that says what to include, how to allocate, which impact method to use and how to report: ISO 14044 for LCA in general, ISO 14067 for carbon footprints, EN 15804 and product category rules (PCRs) for EPDs. This is where most people get stuck, because the right choice depends on what the result will be used for. This school teaches you how the standards work, and Verdatir can help you decide which one applies to your product.

3. A database. Emission factors for materials, energy, transport and waste. Licensed databases are comprehensive and costly. Good free ones exist (see free data and tools), and our skills help an AI assistant find and use them for you.

Explainer

Every LCA needs three things

1. Scene 1 of 6

   Three ingredients

   A bill of materials, a standard and a database.

   Three boxes on the board: 1, the bill of materials; 2, a standard; 3, a database. Every life cycle assessment needs all three.

2. Scene 2 of 6

   1. The bill of materials

   What goes into the product, how much, and how it is made.

   The same list you use for costing.

   • You probably have it already

   The first ingredient is the bill of materials: what goes into the product, how much, and how it is made. Most companies already have it for costing and production.

3. Scene 3 of 6

   2. A standard

   The rulebook: what to include, how to allocate, how to report.

   ISO 14044·ISO 14067·EN 15804·a PCR

   The right one depends on what the result is for.

   This is where most people get stuck. Verdatir helps you choose.

   The second ingredient is a standard, the rulebook the analysis follows, such as ISO 14044, ISO 14067, EN 15804 or a product category rule (PCR). The right one depends on what the result will be used for. This is where most people get stuck, and Verdatir helps companies choose.

4. Scene 4 of 6

   3. A database

   Emission factors for materials, energy, transport and waste.

   The “price list” for carbon.

   Licensed databases cost money. Good free ones exist.

   The third ingredient is a database of emission factors for materials, energy, transport and waste: the price list for environmental cost. Licensed databases are costly, but good free ones exist.

5. Scene 5 of 6

   Before LLMs

   BOM+Standard+Database+LCA software+Specialist

   Software brought the three together, and someone trained had to drive it.

   Before large language models, you also needed dedicated LCA software and a specialist trained to drive it. They were what brought the three ingredients together, and a large part of the cost.

6. Scene 6 of 6

   Now

   BOM+Standard+Database+AI assistant + learnLCA skills

   In Claude, Claude Cowork or ChatGPT.

   No programming. No Python.

   You still need to understand the method. That is why the school comes first.

   Now an AI assistant with learnLCA skills, installed in Claude, Claude Cowork or ChatGPT, can bring the three ingredients together, with no programming. You still need to understand the method to name the right standard and check the result, which is why the school comes first.

What LLMs change

Before LLMs

Bill of materials + standard + database + LCA software + a specialist to drive it. The software was what brought the three together, and it was a large part of the cost and the learning curve.

Now

Bill of materials + standard + free database + your AI assistant with learnLCA skills. Give the assistant your bill of materials, tell it which standard to follow, and the skill makes it work from a database, show every calculation and cite every number. Dedicated software is often optional.

Two things don’t change:

• You still need to understand the method. An LLM will follow the standard you name. If you name the wrong one, or accept a functional unit that doesn’t fit your decision, you’ll get a confident wrong answer. That’s why the school comes before the skills.
• The assistant must show its evidence. Every number has to come from your documents or a named database, with the calculation shown so you can check it. Your job shifts from writing the analysis to checking it. The Skills class teaches exactly that.

Start here

Begin with LCA 101, lesson 1: what is LCA?. By the end of lesson 8 you’ll have calculated the panel above by hand.