Hosted by the UN Environmental Programme under the Life Cycle Initiative, the “Global LCA Data Access” network (GLAD) aims to achieve better data accessibility and interoperability. The GLAD network is comprised of independently operated LCA databases, also referred to as nodes, providing users with an common interface to find and access life cycle inventory datasets from different sources. The data providers connected to GLAD ranges from several national database initiatives, important industry/sector-specific databases, as well as the major background LCA databases.
The continuous development of GLAD is supported by the Technical Management Group as well as ad-hoc working groups on nomenclature, metadata descriptors, and network architecture and technology.”
The ecoinvent association supports GLAD since its conception, and is actively engaged as a member of the Technical Management Group and on the Working Groups. The ecoinvent database (version 3.6) is connected to the GLAD network since June 2020.
Besides the participation of the ecoinvent database in the GLAD network, the ecoinvent association is proud to also contribute to the further development of GLAD through our involvement in the ‘GLAD EF Mapping’ project.
Incomplete and inconsistent conversions between the different data exchange formats used in LCA pose a crucial challenge for data interoperability. This project was initiated by the working group on nomenclature (WG1) of the Global LCA Data Access (GLAD) network during 2020, with the aim to develop a common system to map the nomenclature lists for elementary flows (EFs) between databases connected to GLAD. As such, the project activities serve to establish a foundation for more consistent data exchange format conversion.
Commissioned by UNEP, with financial support from the REAL initiative of the European Commission and internal resources from the Life Cycle Initiative, the project is implemented by the ecoinvent association from October 2020 to July 2021. Working with representatives from the U.S. Federal LCA Commons, the Inventory Database for Environmental Analysis (IDEA) of Japan, and the International Reference Life Cycle Data System (ILCD)/Life Cycle Data Network (LCDN) of the European Commission, this project also strives to bridge the gaps between these four major LCA database systems.
The outcomes of this project, including the finalized mapping files and supporting documentation, will be made freely available via GLAD and/or the Life Cycle Initiative, offering a lasting benefit to the entire LCA community.