
Note: It is not possible to create private constructions for regulated/mandated datasets such as the Dutch NMD database.
What are private constructions?
Private constructions allow you to define and create new assemblies from existing material datasets. Each construction is always constrained to a specific subset of the database to ensure consistency, for example, to only use CML-compliant data points. The construction itself will thereafter be available in CML-compliant calculation tools.
How do you use private constructions?
Pre-requisites for using these are:- Having an Expert license
- Having created a company account (how to set up a company account)
- To edit organization private constructions, you need to be a 'Main user' of the organization (multiple users can be the ‘Main users’).
- Access the company's private library of constructions in their projects
- 'Create a group' inside a project, and suggest to the company's 'main user' to add these to the company's private library. 'Main users' will be notified via email and need to 'lock and publish' the construction.
Options for creating private constructions
Option 1: Using the 'Create a group' feature in the building materials page.

Option 2: Creating a group by drag and drop

Option 3: Adding private constructions through the classical construction management page
Step 1: Open your company account and navigate to the 'Data management' tab'
Click on 'Edit' in the row for Private Constructions to access existing private constructions and create new private constructions.
Step 2: Click on 'Add a construction/component, and choose the applicable construction

Construction name
|
What kind of data is available with this option?
|
European construction material: CML / Ecoinvent
|
CML based data with Ecoinvent as the upstream database
|
European construction material: CML / GaBi
|
CML based data with GaBi as the upstream database
|
European construction material: (Allows mixed upstream database)
|
CML based data with both Ecoinvent and GaBi as the upstream databases
|
European construction material: Okobaudat
|
Okobaudat data only |
North American construction material: TRACI / Ecoinvent
|
TRACI based data with Ecoinvent as the upstream database
|
North American construction material: TRACI / GaBi
|
TRACI based data with GaBi as the upstream database
|
North American construction material: (Allows mixed upstream database)
|
TRACI based data with both Ecoinvent and GaBi as the upstream databases
|
EPD components (Not for building LCA)
|
Data for EPD product calculations only
|
Step 3: Fill in the required fields for the construction.
- 'Name'
- 'Unit'
- The constituents of the construction.

Field
|
Specification
|
Required?
|
Naming fields
|
Here you can enter the name of your construction.
|
Required
|
Unit
|
Here you enter the unit of your construction
|
Required |
Technical specification
|
Enter any information about the technical specifications |
Optional
|
Environmental data source
|
Enter any information about the data source
|
Optional
|
Data type
|
Specify if it is generic or manufacturer specific data
|
Optional
|
Country
|
Specify the applicable region
|
Optional
|
Type
|
Specify the type of construction
|
Optional
|
Service life
|
Specify the service life of the construction
|
Optional
|
Thickness
|
Specify the thickness of the construction |
Optional, if applicable.
|
Classifications
|
Specify the classification (RICS; Mat01, Bygningsdel, Rakennusosa, BSAB)
|
Optional
|
Comment
|
Free text comment field
|
Optional
|
Choosing the construction materials
|
Choose which materials are included in your construction
|
Required
|
Lock & Publish
|
Locks your construction and publishes it
|
Required for using the construction in projects
|
Step 4: Click on 'Lock & Publish' and your construction is ready for usage.
Managing private constructions
Editing existing constructions
- If you want to remove the construction group and continue only with the materials, you can choose to 'unbundle' the construction. This removes the calculation rule, however allows you to include the constituents of the construction separately in your assessment.
- If you want to change the quantities or constituents but keep the construction as a whole, you can choose to 'create a variant'.


Six best practices for creating constructions
We have listed several best practices for creating constructions below. Following these practices will ensure you can create accurate and usable constructions.
1. Suggested unit of constructions
Below are the suggested units to be used when creating constructions
- Walls / slabs: m2
- Beams / columns: m
- Concrete: m3
- Building installations (HVAC systems) might need to be modelled in items (eg 1 “piece” of ventilation system, but “pieces” shall be the last option)
2. Material selection for constructions
How to select the right materials
- Prefer generic over manufacturer-specific data. You can make exceptions in case you identify a local / foreign EPD that is actually quite representative for your local market and which has typical impacts that are close to the average. You can identify average carbon impacts and see how the material performs by using the material benchmarks. Find the green materials benchmarks article here.
- Priority of generic data: One Click LCA's own generic data, Okobau, INIES (you can re-order if you wish). Please note that not all data in Okobau and INIES are generic. Generic data can be filtered in the material search.
- Strong advice: Agree in advance on profiles that shall be used in constructions in order to ensure consistency and avoid re-doing constructions. This is mainly important for high impact materials. Agreed materials can be marked as favorites and appear always first! Find the favorite materials article here.
- Other potential options: You can filter only data with 1 specific upstream database e.g Ecoinvent or GaBi
- General guidance on selecting different types of materials, you can find here.
- Average material quantities guidance you can find here.
3. Order of materials in constructions
In what order to insert materials
- Top-down approach in horizontal elements (e.g. 1. Tiles, 2. Tile adhesives..)
- Outside-inside approach for external walls (e.g. 1. External paint, 2. Plaster..)
4. Parameters to consider for each material in a construction
The most important parameters to define for each material are as follows
- Units: As described in #1, use typical units for the inserted quantities of materials.
- Manufacturing localization: Ideally this is used for materials that are indeed produced locally but no available local data. This will change the impacts from the ones demonstrated in the EPD. Method explanation here.
- Transportation: If A4 is relevant for the project, default distances can be used. It is recommended to update this if you have better data available
- Service life: If replacements are relevant for project, default values are given. We suggest you ensure they make sense with each other within a construction (e.g tiles and tile adhesive have same lifespan). You can identify more references for lifespans here: Service life of materials
- Wastage: Materials that are input as constituents receive wastage according to the material subtype by default. Construction specific waste percentage can be assigned for each material by adjusting this value. Wastage parameter is only considered in tools where wastage is enabled in the Building Materials query
5. Adjustable recycled content
You are also able to specify the recycled content of each material for Circularity Assessment purposes. Do note that adjusting the recycled content does not affect the LCA results of the materials. This parameter is only considered in the Building Circularity tools.
6. Document your assumptions
For each material of a construction, we strongly recommend to a add assumptions and clarifications in the “comment” field, explaining what this material is about and how it was calculated (eg if you add reinforcement, add a comment on how you calculated it, eg “Rebar for beams 300 kg/m3”)
7. Creating constructions in One Click LCA
The easiest way to create constructions is by using the grouping feature, additionally you can also save the construction to your company account in order to re-use it.
Decide internally if all of your users are be able to save groupings in company account or if there should be someone approving them. “Main users” in company account can have this role. If you wish, you can add all your users as “Main users”, and then no approval will be needed. Guidance on creating a company account here.
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