Athena Impact Estimator for Buildings

Athena Impact Estimator for Buildings calculates the environmental impact of a whole building or of assemblies using a recognised life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology, from raw material extraction to end of life. The user defines the building systems, a location from a list of North American cities and the building life, and receives results such as global warming potential, acidification, eutrophication and fossil fuel consumption. Suited to architects, structural engineers and sustainability consultants comparing design alternatives. Limitations: background data and locations cover North America only; the installer is for Windows, and Mac users run it remotely through Athena's server; downloading requires registering on the site.