Our Training for your first LCA or carbon footprint study
ESU-services offers individual training for carbon footprint or LCA studies in SimaPro. We guide beginners and more advanced SimaPro users and LCA experts through all necessary steps from goal and scope setting through life cycle inventory analysis (LCI) and life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) to the interpretation phase. The course includes tips and tricks to avoid common errors and get smoothly through a critical review or validation. For advanced SimaPro users and LCA experts we offer trainings on different databases, data exchange and add-ons for automatization of modelling, evaluation and reporting. Our trainings helped many LCA newcomers to make their first step to the LCA world with 8–16 hours of training spread over a couple of weeks.
Advantages of a training on SimaPro with ESU-services:
- Select from a wide range of topics
(use case-specific, see list below) - Flexible in time and place
(e.g. 6 online sessions of 2h each, within one month) - Customised and confidential
- Directly start with your LCA case study in the training and do the first modelling and analysis steps
- Costs per hour (independent of number of participants)
- Trainings provided in English and German
On demand, we offer
- SimaPro LCA software training licence for all participants of your organization
- The training-slides as PDF for internal use
- A recording of the online training for internal use
- A certificate for participation in the course.
You may also contact us directly to arrange an introductory call or to receive an order form with which you can describe your needs. Afterward, we are happy to provide a specific offer.
Themes for the training
For your customised training, you may select topics from the following table or tell us your interests and needs.
| Topic | Description |
|---|---|
| LCA in general | |
| Introduction to LCA | What is a Life Cycle Assessment and what can it be used for? |
| Introduction SimaPro | Structure of SimaPro, important functions |
| Goal and scope | Definition of goal and scope of the study |
| Life Cycle Inventory | Methodology for balancing inputs and outputs of the unit processes. Exercises for entering and modifying Life Cycle Inventory data (material, energy, disposal, transport) in SimaPro. |
| Allocation | Allocation of the environmental impact in processes involving several products and waste treatment. Enter allocation factors in SimaPro. |
| Impact assessment | Evaluation of these inputs and outputs regarding the environment |
| Interpretation | Make statements based on the life cycle assessment |
| Critical review and verification | Requirements of ISO 14044 and EN 15804 for review and verification |
| LCA case studies | Presentation of LCA case study results e.g. for food, energy, mobility. Please note the themes your are interested in |
| SimaPro software | |
| Model with product phases | Special type of simple modelling in SimaPro that models materials and CVs individually. Scenarios for disposal processes that can be changed. |
| Data exchange | Export and import of data and databases in different formats |
| Parameterization | Modelling with variables instead of fixed numbers, e. g. for scenario calculations. Creation of models for Share&Collect or SimaPro Direct |
| Continue to use results | Different ways in which SimaPro numbers and graphics can be exported for further use in Word and Excel. |
| Adjusting assessment methods | Adjusting assessment methods and creating new ones. |
| Modelling of uncertainties | Estimate data quality with the Pedigree matrix. Monte-Carlo simulation in SimaPro to calculate uncertainties. |
| Migration of ecoinvent v2 to v3 | Use the “Project to library link manager” to convert data from ecoinvent v2 to ecoinvent v3. Adaptation of replacement files. |
| Environmental product declaration | Using SimaPro to calculate and document EPDs |
| Life cycle costing | Introduction, data sources, and application in SimaPro |
| Tips and Tricks | Efficient use of SimaPro. Management of data and projects |
| Databases/ libraries | |
| Ecoinvent Data v3 | Structure of the ecoinvent database v3, System models |
| Environmental footprint database | Add-on database for the EU product environmental footprint |
| Social hotspot database | Additional database for the evaluation of social aspects in the life cycle |
| Carbon minds chemicals database | Additional database with production and consumption mixes of most used chemicals for different regions |
| Input-Output Databases | Use of input-output databases to balance processes based on monetary data |
| Databases for food | Presentation of various supplementary databases for food production and consumption |
| Add-ons | |
| SimaPro Share | Share simplified, parametrized models with stakeholders. |
| SimaPro Collect | Collect data for your model from your suppliers with web-based questionnaires. |
| SimaPro Flow | Model life cycle inventories in a web-based application, visual (in a canvas) or non-visual (in tables) |
| SimaPro Explore | Make LCA more accessible to non LCA-experts by creating “what if” scenarios out of a questionnaire. |
| Report Maker | Automatically updates data and graphics in Word and Excel. |
| EPD-importer | Import results from environmental product declarations (EPD) in SimaPro for further use in other assessments or comparisons. |
| BOM-importer | Automatically model your products in SimaPro Power based on bill of materials (BOM) in excel. |
| Automatic EPD-results | Automatically calculate all indicators necessary for EPD reports in SimaPro Power and list them in excel for all your products. |
| Automatic LCIA-results /Automatic PCF-calculator | Automatically calculate different impact indicators for LCA or PCF in SimaPro Power and list them in excel for all your products. |
| COM-Interface | Linking SimaPro and your business software (only available in SimaPro Power license). |
If further questions arise while working on your case-studies, we are happy to offer you coaching on an hourly basis. Questions and discussions can take place by e-mail, telephone or in online conferences.
Please contact us for a specific offer and to book a call.
For a training and coaching in languages other than German or English, please contact your nearest SimaPro dealer from our partner network.
