Embodied Carbon Benchmarks Tool
This documentation explains the functionality and usage of a Streamlit-powered tool that calculates benchmarks for A1-A3 emissions using the product-specific database provided by 2050 Materials.
Steps of the Tool
1. Retrieve User Input
Product Type: Select the product type from a predefined list. Note that these categories are specific to 2050 Materials and may sometimes include diverse products (e.g., "cladding" may contain both sheets and cladding systems).
Continent of Manufacturing: Select the continent where the product is manufactured.
2. Fetch Relevant Products
The tool fetches all products within the selected categories from the 2050 Materials database.
3. Filter for Valid EPDs
Only products with a valid Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) are included. This means non-expired EPDs are considered.
4. Filter for Verified A1-A3 Carbon Values
From the valid EPDs, the tool filters further to include only those with a verified A1-A3 carbon value.
5. Transform Data to All Possible Units
Transform the data to the chosen unit using 2050 Materials proprietary unit conversion functionality (available on the get_products API).
6. Optional: Filter by EN15804 Standard
If the user prompts, the tool will filter the EPDs to include only those following the EN15804 standard.
7. Remove Outliers
The tool uses the statistical analysis function from the aecdata library to remove outliers using the Interquartile Range (IQR) method, applying a square root transformation to stabilize variance.
8. Calculate Quartiles
Quartiles are calculated to provide insights into the distribution of A1-A3 emissions.
9. Visualize Data
The tool generates box plots and other visual representations of the data for easy interpretation.
Data Types and Future Improvements
Currently, the tool does not differentiate between different EPD data types. In future versions, filtering by data type will be incorporated.
Explanation of EPD Data Types
Generic Data: Represents market averages and reflects regional consumption. This data is consistent in background data and LCA methodology.
Industry EPDs: Data from all member manufacturers reflecting region-specific production. The background data may vary between EPDs but follows mostly consistent LCA methodology.
Product EPDs: Data from a single manufacturer, which includes varying levels of specificity. The background data may vary between EPDs but generally follows consistent LCA methodology.
Explanation of 2050 Materials Specific Categorization
Product types are categorized by 2050 Materials. This specific categorization may include a range of products that are not always directly comparable. For example, the "cladding" category might in certain cases include both sheets and complete cladding systems.
These issues are dealt (filtered out) by only generating benchmarks for categories with multiple (>10) EPDs, and by using a median approach, instead of average, which biases the benchmark.
Summary
The Benchmark tool leverages the comprehensive data provided by 2050 Materials to calculate benchmarks for A1-A3 emissions. It ensures accurate and meaningful analysis through filtering, unit conversion, outlier removal, and visualization. Future enhancements will include the ability to filter by EPD data types, offering even more precise and tailored results.
For any questions or further assistance, please refer to the additional documentation or contact our support team.
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