A4.2 OneClick LCA + LCC

Goal: To complete life cycle carbon assessment (LCA) using OneClick LCA tool and life cycle costing (LCC) calculations.

Learning outcomes:

set up OneClick LCA educational account.
create interior products material library for A3. LCA + LCC assignment.
explore both Life Cycle Carbon - North America and Interior Design Carbon Tool.
complete input for all life cycle stages and review modeling process.
interpretation project design result for GWP, carbon impact.
complete life cycle cost calculation.

Process:

This lab session will be completed following step-by-step instructions:

Step 1: Account Setup

Go to the OneClick LCA tool website.
Sign up with your MRU email and enter the license key: nxarAIb7oG.
Verify your account via email if needed.
Log in and check that the license is activated to avoid trial mode.

Step 2: Create New Project

Locate the "Project" tab in the main menu.
Select Create New Project.
Enter Project Name (e.g., "FireHall 1 LCA").
Make sure to enter the MRU License Key when prompted to access the full educational license.

Step 3: Complete Project Details

After creating the project, Click Next.
Fill in the Gross Floor Area (total building area) in square meters.
Choose the Building Type (e.g., residential, commercial, or industrial) to match your project.

Step 4: Start Designing Your LCA

Go to the Design Phase.
Click Get Started.
Select Interior Design Carbon Tool and Life Cycle Carbon – North America (Metric Units) to include in your carbon assessment for the North American market.
Click next to continue.

Step 5: Create Existing Design

Choose a design name, like "Base Building Design."
Select the Stage of Construction: choose either Schematic Design (early planning) or Design Development (detailed planning).
Select Renovation for Project Type.
Check the systems you want to analyze, such as walls, floors, or ceilings.
This ensures the LCA will cover specific parts of the building in terms of materials and carbon impact.

Step 6: Input LCA parameters

Review all design parameters to ensure they’re accurate for the project.
Design Parameters include system choices, area definitions, and lifespan.
Click Save these parameters for the analysis.
Open the Input Data dropdown menu.
Complete all sections marked in red. Red indicates mandatory sections like Building Materials, Calculation Period, and Building Area.

Step 7: Set Calculation Period

Enter 60 years as the building’s lifespan (standard for life-cycle assessments).
Ensure this period matches your goals for evaluating environmental impact of your design.

Step 8: Define Floor Area

Enter the Gross Internal Floor Area of your select study space (e.g. reception floor area).
Select ASHRAE Canada as the benchmark.
Note: This input is essential for accurate benchmarking against similar building types.

Step 9: Input Interior Product

For each material (e.g., wall, floor), choose the correct Category (e.g., Walls under Vertical Structures, Finishes).
Enter product name/type (e.g. carpet) in the Search Bar to populate available brands.
Enter the Total Area or Quantity of each material.
Choose Omniclass Category (e.g., Wall Partition or Wall Finishes for interior walls).
Ensure each product service life reflects the expected lifespan of materials, as per the EPD.
Review product EPD. EPDs show environmental impacts per material.
Complete information such as Transportation Distance (distance materials are shipped), Waste Factor (waste produced), and Repair %.
Check End-of-Life Process (e.g., recycling, landfill).
Save each material input entry once completed.

Step 10: Repeat Step 9 to Add More...

Repeat Step 9 process for all products in your existing base design, aiming to include at least 5 key product typologies (wall, floor, ceiling, furniture and lighting).

Step 11: Create Additional Design Options

Follow the same steps to enter details for any additional design options.
Label each design option clearly to track your carbon analysis (e.g. design option 1).
Or create a new design template and copy over content data from Base design, then modify material input data.
In the New Design, use the Import Data Menu to copy data from another design. Select a design and copy all data.
For each material input, scroll to the right end
Click on the dropdown menu Change. Select Replace to add/replace new material input.

Step 12: View Results and Generate Report

Click View Results to see the performance of your designs.

Open all result sections and generate a PDF of your LCA preliminary summary report.

Include the following in your PDF:

Base Building Design,
Carbon Heroes Benchmark,
Building Life-Cycle Carbon Footprint,
Project Description,
Building Area,
Most Contributing Materials, and
Graphs for visual analysis

Notes on LCA Data Points and OneClick Benchmarking

Check the impact levels of each material:

Red = very high impact
Orange = high impact
Light Green = low impact
Solid Green = exemplary product.
Look for black triangles, indicating expired data points.

Life Cycle Cost Calculation

Manual LCC Calculation for products assuming 60 years life expectancy as the building project. For this calculation, maintenance and regular repairs are considered negligible for the quantity of material studied.

Product with 60 years lifespan, LCC = initial cost + cost of installation (10% of initial cost) + transportation + replacement

cost (0) x 0 + disposal cost (5% of initial cost)

Zero (0) replacement cycle before end of life.

Product with 30 years lifespan, LCC = initial cost + cost of installation (10% of initial cost) + transportation + replacement

cost (initial cost + installation + transportation + disposal) x 1 + disposal cost (5% of initial cost)

at least one (1) replacement cycle before end of life.

Product with 20 years lifespan, LCC = initial cost + cost of installation (10% of initial cost) + transportation + replacement

cost (initial cost + installation + transportation + disposal) x 2 + disposal cost (5% of initial cost)

at least two (2) replacement cycles before end of life.

Product with 15 years lifespan, LCC = initial cost + cost of installation (10% of initial cost) + transportation + replacement

cost (initial cost + installation + transportation + disposal) x 3 + disposal cost (5% of initial cost)

at least three (3) replacement cycles before end of life.

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