openLCA – Data Converter: Streamline Your LCA Workflows

The openLCA Data Converter is a specialized tool designed for the “lossless data exchange” between different life cycle assessment (LCA) data formats. It acts as a technical “electrical adaptor,” allowing you to convert and use datasets in parallel across various platforms. Core Capabilities and Supported Formats

The converter currently enables transformations between several industry-standard formats: EcoSpold 1 and 2 ILCD (International Reference Life Cycle Data System) SimaPro CSV How to Use the Converter Effectively

To get the most out of the tool, follow these operational best practices:

Select the Right Environment: The converter is available as a standalone Java application (executable JAR) or as a RESTful web-service for automated, server-side conversions.

Maintain Reference Systems: When using the web-service version, ensure your data of reference systems are stored in the refsystems directory. Each system should be in a sub-folder containing a data.zip file in openLCA JSON-LD format.

Utilize Mapping Files: For complex conversions, provide mapping files within a mappings sub-folder to ensure entities from one format are correctly linked to another.

Update and Restart: If you update the reference data or mapping files, you must delete the existing dump folder and restart the server to ensure the new data is loaded into memory.

Technical Requirements: To build the project from source, you need Java Development Kit (JDK) >= 7 and Maven installed. Use the command mvn package to create an executable file with all necessary dependencies. Integration with openLCA Desktop

While the converter manages format changes, the main openLCA software handles the actual import of converted files:

Direct Import: Once converted to a compatible format (like ILCD), use File > Import within openLCA to bring in the data.

Check for Errors: Minor errors may appear during import due to format interpretations (especially with ILCD), but these often do not affect usage.

For a deeper look at how to manage and import these converted databases into your projects, watch this guide: Tutorial: How to import a database in openLCA YouTube · Mar 5, 2021 The openLCA format converter – new release May 2013