How to estimate the eco-costs of a product with an EPD,
or when the EF version 3 midpoints are known

The IdematLightLCA app provides the opportunity to make quick estimates of the eco-costs of a product with an EPD. The procedure is quite straight foreward: select all midpoint lines (climate change, acidification, eutofication, photochemical oxidants) as well as the NRPM and the RPEM from the ‘EPD midpoints’ category, and add in the LCA input screen (under processes) all quantities A1+A2+A3 of the EPD.
For a cradle-to-gate calculation of metal products, the amount of metals (kg) must be added as well (applying the ‘depletion…..’ lines in the ‘EPD midpoints’ category), to calculate the eco-costs of resource depletion.
The EPD quantities of A4 trough C4, if available, might be added as well (under use phase), although these numbers seem less relevant because of case specific variations.
To account for the negative numbers (credits) in block D, if available, select all ‘EoL….’ lines from the ‘EPD midpoint’ category, and add the credits from de EPD as positive numbers in the LCA input screen (under use phase). Note that the sum of the

emissions in A1+A2+A3 (leaving out the metal depletion data) plus the emission credits of D give a good indication for C2C calculations for the circular economy.
To understand the calculation, background information is given in the text below.
Note: For general information on the IdematLightLCA data, limitations, and accuracy, ckick here.

The text below is a copy of Appendix VI of the book “A practical Guide to LCA for students, designers, and business managers”.

Converting EPD data in eco-costs (cradle-to-gate)

Important sources of eco-costs of products in the building industry are EPDs (Environmental Product Declarations). Germany and France have databases with hundreds of products (http://construction-environment.com, www.inies.fr). Although the full LCIs are often not available, the major information which is required to make an estimate of eco-costs is given