Adding Private Data

The Private data feature is available to all Expert license users. It requires you to create a company account, instructions for which can be found here.

The private data feature allows you to add private data, for example, project-specific resources, directly to the company account via the user interface. Users take responsibility for the quality and compliance of their uploaded private data.

 

Pre-requisites for using private datasets are:

• Having an Expert license
• Having created a company account (how to set up a company account)
• To add private data, you need to be the 'Main user' of the organization (multiple users can be the ‘Main users’).

If the above pre-requisites are fulfilled, all users that are linked to the company's license (basic, or 'main' users) can:

• Access the company's private data in their projects

Users can be added to a company account by the 'main users' or they can send a request through the platform, as the software will give you a notification when you are eligible for joining a company account. It is not possible to add to the organisation users who do not share the same email address domain. 

 

How do you add private data?

In a few easy steps, we will explain how you can add private data to your company account, and use it across your projects. 

 

Step 1: Open your company account, and navigate to the 'Data management' tab.

Click on 'Edit' in the row for Private Datasets to access existing private datasets and create new private datasets.

• Clicking 'Create private data' will give you the option to add a new private data set.
• Under 'Private datasets' you can access existing private data.

Step 2: There will be several fields that require you to fill in the information.

 

Click on 'Add new private data' and start by selecting the type of data you want to add.

 

 

 

For building projects, select the correct 'Building material' option depending on the tool you are using.

• CML is for all international building tools apart from the other options listed or DGNB or Dutch NMD tool
• TRACI is for building tools used in US/Canada
• INIES for Energie Carbone tools in France

For GHG reporting, select 'Corporate reporting' for any Scope 3 data point.

For energy data points to be used in GHG reporting OR building tools, select the electricity, heating or fuel data point accordingly.

For a new transportation data point, select 'Transportation profile'.

The additional available options can be used with the EPD tools following the selected methodology.

 

After this, fill in the general information about the private data point you are adding.

• Fill in the name and reference unit. If the reference unit is 'm2', also fill in the thickness. If the reference unit is different then mass, also fill in the density.
• Select the type of resource, e.g. Aluminium
• Select the type of dataset
• Select the country

When you create a data point and the reference unit is different than mass, One Click LCA strongly recommends users define the density of the material too as it is necessary for calculating some of the life cycle stages.

 

 

Step 3: Fill in the data description

• Fill in the source of the data
• Fill in the chosen upstream database

 

Step 4: Fill in the environmental data, either for CML, TRACI, or both.

• Please note that the characterisation factors of CML and TRACI are not equivalent. 
• The emissions have to match one unit of your chosen reference unit.

 

Step 5: Fill in biogenic carbon content, if relevant.

 

 

You can also add resource use, waste categories, other output flows and additional core environmental impact indicators. Note that not all of these indicators may be used in your available calculation tools. 

 

Step 6: Enable the resource for use in your LCA calculations.

• Click on 'Data properties' and enable the data to be used in your calculations.
• Please note: By changing the properties the data will be available in certification tools such as BREEAM and LEED. The user will be responsible for data compliance.
• You are not able to add data points to regulated/mandated datasets such as the Dutch NMD database.

 

Step 6. (Optional) Fill in other indicator information

 

Additionally, you can fill in the following indicator data as well. Note: this information will not be utilized by all calculation tools. 

• Resource use (CML)
• Waste categories (CML)
• Other output flows (CML)
• Core environmental impact indicators - EN 15804 +A2 (This is not currently used in most building LCA calculation tool). 

 

Transportation impacts

Information about transportation cannot be added when creating private data, but you can edit the defaults  after inputting the data to the building materials query, as long as some prerequisites are fulfilled: 

• If the reference unit is selected to be m2, the default thickness needs to be defined for the calculation of transportation impacts
• If the reference unit is different from mass (i.e. different from kg or ton), density needs to be defined for the calculation of transportation impacts
• If the reference unit is not m3 or kg, the mass needs to be defined for the calculation of transportation impacts. 

 

One Click LCA strongly recommends that users use only the public database to ensure compliance with standards and certifications.