Trimble and One Click LCA partnership — embodied carbon calculations

Trimble-One Click LCA partnership — embodied carbon calculations for a net zero future

From early analysis and design through to finished construction, combining constructible data from Trimble’s Tekla software with One Click LCA and its extensive Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) database allows the embodied carbon emissions of materials in a design — down to every nut, bolt or rebar — to be calculated for their entire lifecycle. Tekla users will have access to a One Click LCA carbon assessment tool, in an integrated configuration with the Tekla software platform, for free until the end of 2021.  Structural elements are responsible for up to 70 percent of a building’s embodied carbon footprint, making cutting the carbon emissions of any structural design critical in the Race To Zero emissions, as outlined in the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference goals.

Low-Carbon Structures

One Click LCA’s automated life cycle assessment software helps users calculate and reduce the environmental impacts of building and infrastructure projects, products, and portfolios. By combining the functionality with Trimble’s Tekla BIM software, the two companies make it easier to design and build the low-carbon structures that are urgently needed in the race to zero emissions. Calculating embodied carbon — the amount of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere from creating and maintaining all the materials that form a building—is a relatively new concept. For many structural experts — engineers, designers, builders, or fabricators — it is fast becoming critical to their work. Across the construction sector, there is a growing demand for managing carbon performance. Governments of countries such as the Netherlands, France, the UK, Sweden, Italy, and other authorities have started to require declarations of embodied carbon, which are expected to have mandatory emission limits in the future.  This cooperation builds on the existing integration of One Click LCA with Tekla® Structural Designer, Tekla Structures, and with the Trimble Connect™ collaboration platform for seamless data exchange. Trimble Connect comes in multiple subscription versions, including a free version, with all versions supporting the integration with One Click LCA tools. 

 

The Tekla Structures integration was performed by Sweco, a leading construction consultancy, in collaboration with One Click LCA. Sweco has used the combined solution in an ambitious project to design a carbon-neutral sports venue. Commenting on the collaboration, Ossi Kujala, Structural Designer at Sweco Structural Engineering, said:

“At Sweco, we aim to be a role model in sustainability, taking responsibility for and being part of the solution to society’s sustainability and carbon reduction challenges. One Click LCA’s integration with BIM data is a practical way to evaluate the carbon impact during a building’s lifecycle. We are currently working on a low-carbon project, using Tekla Structures for structural design, and One Click LCA to evaluate lifecycle impact. One Click LCA’s integration with Trimble has helped us to obtain easy early-stage carbon assessments of each design option. The integration also simplifies the process of material quantity estimates after design changes with a high level of accuracy, meaning that we can maintain up-to-date quantity estimates and lifecycle information with little effort.”