> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://code.dcycle.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)

> Perform cradle-to-gate and cradle-to-grave environmental impact assessments for your products using Dcycle's LCA tools.

## What is LCA?

**Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)** evaluates the environmental impact of a product across its entire life cycle — from raw material extraction through manufacturing, distribution, use, and end-of-life. Dcycle provides a visual, canvas-based LCA tool powered by the **ecoinvent** database.

```
Raw Materials ──→ Manufacturing ──→ Distribution ──→ Use ──→ End of Life
     │                  │                 │            │           │
     ▼                  ▼                 ▼            ▼           ▼
  Extraction        Processing        Transport     Consumer    Disposal
  Energy use        Waste mgmt        Logistics     Energy      Recycling
  Transport         Emissions         Packaging     Maintenance Landfill
```

Dcycle's LCA module is split into two main areas:

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Resource Manager" icon="database" href="/guides/lca/resource-manager">
    Create and manage the materials, energy sources, waste streams, and processes that form the building blocks of your LCA. Dcycle automatically maps resources to ecoinvent emission factors.
  </Card>

  <Card title="LCA Portfolio" icon="diagram-project" href="/guides/lca/portfolio">
    Build your product's life cycle on a visual canvas. Connect material, process, transport, and distribution blocks to model the full supply chain and calculate environmental impacts.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## How It Works

<Steps>
  <Step title="Define your resources">
    Add raw materials, energy sources, waste, and processes to the **Resource Manager** — manually or via Excel bulk upload.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Wait for intelligent mapping">
    Dcycle matches each resource to the ecoinvent emission factor database. This takes **24-48 hours** for new resources.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Build your LCA portfolio">
    Open the **Portfolio** canvas and create blocks (material, process, product, transport, distribution). Connect them to model the product life cycle.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add resources to blocks">
    Assign your mapped resources to each block with the appropriate quantity and unit.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Calculate and download results">
    Run the impact calculation and download results across multiple environmental categories (climate change, acidification, eutrophication, and more).
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Note>
  **Emission Factor Database**

  Dcycle uses **ecoinvent** (versions 3.11 and 3.12), one of the most comprehensive life cycle inventory databases available. It covers thousands of processes across industries and geographies.
</Note>

## Impact Categories

Dcycle calculates impacts across a wide range of environmental categories, including:

| Category               | Description                                             |
| ---------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Climate Change**     | Greenhouse gas emissions (CO2e)                         |
| **Acidification**      | Acid rain potential (SO2e)                              |
| **Eutrophication**     | Freshwater, marine, and terrestrial nutrient enrichment |
| **Ozone Depletion**    | Stratospheric ozone destruction potential               |
| **Water Scarcity**     | Freshwater consumption and scarcity footprint           |
| **Land Use**           | Land occupation and transformation impacts              |
| **Human Toxicity**     | Carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic health effects        |
| **Ecotoxicity**        | Freshwater ecosystem toxicity                           |
| **Particulate Matter** | Fine particulate formation potential                    |
| **Resource Depletion** | Fossil fuel and mineral resource use                    |

## Next Steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Resource Manager" icon="database" href="/guides/lca/resource-manager">
    Start by creating your resources
  </Card>

  <Card title="LCA Portfolio" icon="diagram-project" href="/guides/lca/portfolio">
    Build and calculate your LCA
  </Card>
</CardGroup>