Primary data
Your meters, your bills of materials, your supplier’s figures.
Required for processes you own or control.Software · life cycle assessment
Life cycle assessment software: testing it against ISO 14040
Life cycle assessment software models a product from raw materials to end of life in the four phases of ISO 14040: goal and scope, inventory analysis, impact assessment and interpretation.
This page sets out what a tool must do in each phase, and quotes the 29 platforms in this site’s registry that describe LCA work in their own words.
Which standard
Which standard should your study follow?
The method is ISO 14040 and ISO 14044; the output decides what sits on top of it.
A carbon-only result follows ISO 14067, a published declaration follows ISO 14025:2026, and a construction product’s declaration follows EN 15804+A2.
The picker beside this matches your purpose to the standard, so you test the software against the right rules.
What are you trying to produce?
Use: ISO 14067:2018; or PAS 2050:2011 from BSI; or the GHG Protocol Product Life Cycle Standard. Each covers one impact category, global warming.
Status: ISO 14067:2018 is current but at stage 90.92, “to be revised”, with ISO/WD 14067.2 at working-draft stage and no date. GHG Protocol and ISO formed a joint working group in February 2026 on a harmonised product standard.
What it does not do: ISO 14067 puts carbon offsetting and communication of the footprint outside its scope; PAS 2050 sets no disclosure requirements.
ISO record 71206 — Bible [417]; BSI Knowledge, PAS 2050:2011; GHG Protocol Product Standard page
From each standard’s public catalogue record; ISO clause text is paywalled and is not quoted.
Nothing is stored or sent.
The four phases
What must the software do in each phase?
Goal and scope is where most studies go wrong, so the tool should force the functional unit and boundary to be stated before any data goes in.
In the inventory, the GHG Protocol Product Standard asks for primary data on processes the company owns or controls, and for allocation to be avoided where it can be.
Impact assessment turns the inventory into indicators with a named method, and interpretation tests how far the result moves when the biggest inputs change.
ISO 14040, phase by phaseExplore
ISO 14040, phase by phase
Inventory
Primary data for what you own or control; databases for the rest.
Data
Where does the inventory data come from?
A study is only as good as its largest inputs, so the software should show which results rest on generic data and let you swap in supplier figures.
The UK government’s conversion factors are published for company reporting and DESNZ says other uses are at the user’s own risk, in its collection notes, so they are not a substitute for an LCA database.
For one product’s quick screening, the product carbon footprint calculator takes your own material factors.
One
input
input
Secondary data
A database process or an average factor.
For the rest; replace where it matters most.Outputs
What can life cycle assessment software produce, and for whom?
| Output | Standard | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Full LCA | ISO 14040 and 14044 | Both 2006, confirmed 2022 |
| Product carbon footprint | ISO 14067:2018 | Under revision; no date |
| Environmental product declaration | ISO 14025:2026 | Published June 2026; 2006 edition withdrawn |
| Construction product EPD | EN 15804+A2 | Effective 18 August 2021 |
| Building whole-life carbon | RICS WLCA 2nd edition | Mandatory for RICS members from 1 July 2024 |
Read what is not law
Part Z, which would put whole-life carbon assessment into building regulations, is an industry proposal and not law; see the Future Homes Standard.
UK CBAM, from 1 January 2027 under Finance Act 2026 Part 5, uses its own boundaries, not a product LCA.
Four outputsExplore
In the demo
What should a life cycle assessment tool show you in a demo?
Walk the tool through one study, phase by phase.
Each question beside this comes from ISO 14040, ISO 14044, EN 15804 or the Product Standard, with what a passing answer looks like.
A public comparison between products is not supported by the Product Standard and is an environmental claim under the Green Claims Code and CAP Code section 11.
LCA demo questions · tick the ones you need
The pass tests are our reading of the cited provisions.
Nothing you tick is stored or sent.
Platforms
Which platforms say they do life cycle assessment?
From this site’s registry, read 11 October 2026 and 30 September–1 October 2026: every platform with an LCA or product footprint claim on its own site, alphabetically and in its own words.
Ownership has moved in this market: One Click LCA announced on 2 September 2025 that SimaPro and PRé are part of One Click LCA, with both products continuing. The full directory is on LCA software.
Order of work
What should you do first?
- Step 101
Write the goal
Who the study is for and what it will be used for. - Step 202
Fix unit and boundary
Cradle to gate or to grave, stated. - Step 303
Collect primary data
For what you own or control. - Step 404
Run and interpret
Results by stage, with a sensitivity check.
In one sentence
The whole page, said once
A life cycle tool earns its keep in the scoping, not the dashboard.
Takeaways
Five facts, then the next step
| Fact | Source |
|---|---|
| LCA follows four phases: goal and scope, inventory, impact assessment, interpretation. | ISO 14040 |
| ISO 14040 and 14044 were confirmed in 2022. | ISO |
| ISO 14025:2026 replaced the 2006 edition. | ISO |
| Results are reported by stage, without offsets. | GHG Protocol Product Standard |
| Part Z is a proposal, not law. | Future Homes Standard page |
Where to go nextExplore
Frequently asked
Life cycle assessment software, answered
What is life cycle assessment software?
Software that models a product or service from raw materials to end of life and calculates its environmental impacts, following the four phases of ISO 14040: goal and scope, inventory analysis, impact assessment and interpretation.
Is life cycle assessment software the same as LCA software?
Yes.
This page tests tools against the four ISO 14040 phases; the LCA software page covers the market — standards, outputs, data, owners and the full vendor directory.
Which standards should life cycle assessment software follow?
ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 for the method; ISO 14067 for a carbon footprint only; ISO 14025 for a published EPD, and EN 15804 for construction products; and the GHG Protocol Product Standard for product greenhouse gas accounting.
Are ISO 14040 and 14044 still current?
Yes.
Both date from 2006 and were confirmed in 2022, ISO 14040 with one amendment and ISO 14044 with two.
Can LCA software compare two products publicly?
Not under the GHG Protocol Product Standard, which does not support comparative assertions.
A public comparison is also an environmental claim under the CMA’s Green Claims Code and the CAP Code.
What does the software need from me?
A goal, a functional unit and a boundary; then data — primary data for processes you own or control, and database processes for the rest.
Does LCA software produce EPDs?
Many tools can; an EPD is then verified and published under ISO 14025:2026, and for construction products to EN 15804+A2.
Is whole-life carbon assessment required for UK buildings?
Not by building regulations: Part Z is an industry proposal, not law.
RICS members must follow the RICS whole life carbon standard, 2nd edition, from 1 July 2024.
Is a product LCA the same as UK CBAM embedded emissions?
No. UK CBAM, from 1 January 2027, uses its own system boundaries for embodied emissions in certain imports.
Which life cycle assessment platforms are there?
The table on this page quotes, alphabetically, the platforms in this site’s registry that make an LCA or product footprint claim on their own sites. This site ranks none and has tested none.
Who owns SimaPro?
One Click LCA announced on 2 September 2025 that SimaPro and PRé are part of One Click LCA, and that both products continue.
Sources
Primary sources
Every figure, date and status on this page traces to the instrument’s owner.
Secondary commentary is never the source for a number.
Checked against 16 sources fromISOBSIGHG ProtocolGHG Protocol (WRI, WBCSD)RICSDepartment for Energy Security and Net Zero
- ISOISO 14040:2006 — Life cycle assessment: principles and framework
The four phases; edition 2, confirmed 2022, one amendment (2020).
- ISOISO 14044:2006 — Life cycle assessment: requirements and guidelines
Confirmed 2022; two amendments.
- ISOISO 14067:2018 — Carbon footprint of products
Climate change only; under revision, no date.
- ISOISO 14025:2026 — Environmental product declarations
Published June 2026.
- ISOISO 14025:2006 — catalogue record
Withdrawn; replaced by the 2026 edition.
- BSIBS EN 15804:2012+A2:2019
Construction product EPDs; effective 18 August 2021.
- GHG ProtocolProduct Standard
Product-level accounting; joint working group with ISO named 9 February 2026.
- GHG Protocol (WRI, WBCSD)Product Life Cycle Accounting and Reporting Standard (PDF)
Primary data, allocation, results by stage, no offsets, no comparative assertions.
- GHG ProtocolCorporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard
The corporate counterpart.
- RICSWhole life carbon assessment, 2nd edition
Mandatory for RICS members from 1 July 2024; not legislation.
- Department for Energy Security and Net ZeroGovernment conversion factors for company reporting
Relevant to SECR; other uses at the user’s own risk.
- Competition and Markets AuthorityGreen Claims Code
Claims must consider the full life cycle.
- Advertising Standards Authority (CAP)CAP Code section 11
Environmental claims in advertising.
- legislation.gov.ukFinance Act 2026, Part 5 (UK CBAM)
Embodied emissions in imports, from 1 January 2027.
- HMRCUK CBAM policy summary
Not the same method as a product LCA.
- One Click LCASimaPro & PRé are now part of One Click LCA (2 September 2025)
The owner’s announcement; both products continue.