Brightcon 2026, hackathon and courses

Assessing the environmental impacts of emerging products and using life cycle assessment (LCA) to support sustainable design requires close collaboration across supply chains and alignment of assessment methodologies across life cycle stages. Even when typical early-stage LCA challenges, such as limited data availability and low supply-chain transparency, are addressed, inconsistencies in modelling approaches, data formats, and underlying assumptions often hinder the development of a coherent cradle-to-grave assessment. These issues are further exacerbated when practitioners rely on proprietary software and isolated workflows, resulting in fragmented and incompatible LCAs.

This contribution presents a real-world case study from a large European research project on bio-based composites (SSUCHY-Next), demonstrating how open-source LCA tools can improve transparency, interoperability, and reproducibility across complex supply chains. The study applies Brightway and Activity Browser to assess environmental impacts along the full composite value chain, combining primary data for raw materials such as hemp fibres and bio-based resins with data provided by designers and engineers on composite products, application scenarios, and end-of-life options.

Key challenges addressed include integrating existing LCA models, such as SimaPro exports, into a shared Brightway-based workflow, consistently handling heterogeneous data sources, and using open visualisation packages to communicate results in formats that are meaningful for non-LCA experts. Particular emphasis is placed on translating LCA outcomes into actionable insights that directly support sustainable design decisions.

By sharing both the application of existing frameworks and the lessons learned, this case study illustrates how open tools are can be used in multi-actor LCA projects, and which challenges need to be overcome for embedding LCA more effectively into collaborative innovation processes.