Biggest repository of free and paid LCA databases. No Life Cycle Assessment without these: the openLCA Nexus service is a centralized online repository providing access to a vast collection of Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) and Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) datasets. It aggregates data from major global providers, including ecoinvent, GaBi, and the ELCD, to offer harmonized datasets optimized for seamless integration with openLCA software.
The platform features a robust search engine and mapping tools that allow users to filter over 300,000 datasets by geographical region, industrial sector, product category, and year of validity, effectively bridging the gap between disparate data sources and modeling software.
These databases are in the OpenLCA format but can be used in other LCA softwares with some adaptation.
Note that while some of these databases are free of charge, registration is a must.
In manufacturing and engineering, professionals must utilize such datasets to model complex supply chains, optimize resource efficiency, and perform material selection via specialized libraries like thisIDEMAT (“Industrial Design & Engineering MATerials” database). Teams apply the peer-reviewed inventory data to validate the sustainability of emerging technologies, execute eco-design iterations, and quantify circularity through life cycle sustainability assessments. Quality and compliance specialists leverage the standardized impact methods to generate Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) and ensure adherence to international regulatory frameworks such as EN 15804.
