Green Material Benchmarks

The 'Green Material Benchmarks' help you choose better materials by comparing them. In the One Click LCA database, materials are sorted into categories like 'insulation' and 'Glass wool insulation.' Within these categories, materials are compared to each other. You can find this comparison data in various One Click LCA platform sections.

 

How do you use the Green Material Benchmarks?

You can access the data provided by this feature in multiple sections of the One Click LCA platform. Below, we explain where you can find it.

1. Using the emission level filter

Since all materials are benchmarked against each other, we can categorize their emissions into five groups. The top 20% of best-performing materials in their benchmark will be labeled as 'Very low' and represented by a dark green 'carbon cloud'. This grading deteriorates across groups of 20%, displayed in a color gradient from green to red. The bottom 20% of worst-performing materials in the benchmark will be labeled as 'Very high' and depicted with a dark red carbon cloud.

 

Use the 'C02e' filter to find the best performing materials

 

Understanding the carbon clouds in the search results

When you search for materials, you'll see the 'carbon clouds' behind the material descriptions. These clouds provide a quick indication of which emission level group the material belongs to, helping you avoid selecting materials with high emissions when possible. Occasionally, the carbon cloud might be absent. This occurs when a data point has exceptionally high emissions compared to other materials in the same emission level group. In such cases, it won't be displayed as having 'Very high' emissions, even if its emissions are significantly higher than the usual worst-performing material in that group, possibly being up to five times higher.

Visible carbon clouds in the search results section

 

2. Checking the detailed green material benchmark information

Clicking on the question mark next to any data point allows you to access detailed information about the material. For example, if you click on the green question mark next to one of the float glass materials and scroll down, you'll find the performance ranking. In this instance, with 35 different types of float glass in the database, this particular material is ranked number 4, indicating it belongs to the 'Very Low' emission level group.

Detailed information showing the ranking

 

Additionally, you can view the full ranking, providing an overview of all materials in the specific subclass. By clicking on 'See full ranking,' a new tab opens, presenting the data. In this display, you can also deselect countries whose data you prefer not to include.

Benchmark data for Glass Panes

 

Scrolling down further, you'll find a list containing all these materials. This list enables you to copy the material names, allowing you to use them in your project as needed.

Bench-marked results listed

 

3. Results section

On the results page, within the analysis section, you'll find the top 25 materials that contribute the most to emissions in your project. You can also adjust the impact category if your utilized tool reports on various environmental indicators. For instance, in the example below, we examined the Global Warming Potential.

Top 25 contributing materials (GWP)

 

Now, you can identify the materials being used and quickly explore alternatives. Simply click on 'Show sustainable alternatives,' and a small window will appear. In this example, we examined Gypsum plasterboard alternatives, as the selected resource in this project falls into the 'Very high' emission level group.

The window immediately presents better-performing material options you could consider. You can click the green question mark icon to access more information on those resources or opt to view the full ranking to potentially exclude certain countries by clicking the green graph icon after the 'see full ranking' message.

Quickly get some recommendations on better-performing materials.