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Federal Life Cycle Assessment Commons

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Stored: Federal Life Cycle Assessment Commons

Federal Life Cycle Assessment Commons
Type Program
Sponsor Organization Partnership
Top Organization Department of Agriculture
Creation Legislation None
Website Website
Purpose The Federal Life Cycle Assessment Commons coordinates federal efforts to standardize and share life cycle assessment data for environmental impact analysis across government agencies. It aims to enhance public and agency access to interoperable LCA datasets through an open, searchable repository, supporting informed decision-making.
Program Start 2018
Initial Funding Not publicly specified
Duration Ongoing
Historic No

The Federal Life Cycle Assessment Commons (FLCAC) is an interagency collaboration launched in 2018 to unify and distribute life cycle assessment (LCA) data across U.S. federal entities, hosted by the USDA’s National Agricultural Library with contributions from the Department of Energy, EPA, and other agencies. Designed to overcome inconsistencies in LCA methods and data silos, it provides a web-based platform hosting repositories like the USDA LCA Commons and DOE’s NETL Energy Data eXchange, with over 1,000 datasets standardized via tools like the Federal Elementary Flow List (FEDEFL).[1] By fostering open data practices, FLCAC supports applications from policy-making to emerging tech evaluation, marking its impact with milestones like the 2022 FEDEFL v2.0 release.

Official Site

Goals

  • Standardize LCA methods and data conventions across federal agencies for consistency.
  • Provide free, searchable access to federal LCA datasets to enhance transparency and reuse.
  • Leverage multi-agency expertise to advance LCA research and decision-making tools.[2]

Organization

The Federal Life Cycle Assessment Commons operates as a partnership, formalized by a 2018 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) among the USDA, DOE, and EPA, with additional support from agencies like NREL and NIST. It lacks a single top organization, governed instead by an interagency community of practice, with leadership rotating among contributors—e.g., Wesley Ingwersen (EPA) has been a key figure.[3] Funding is unfunded in a centralized sense, relying on agency-specific budgets to support data curation and platform maintenance.

Partners

History

FLCAC emerged from informal LCA coordination in the early 2010s, gaining traction after a 2016 DOE workshop and culminating in its 2018 MOU formalization.[4] It built on efforts like the USDA LCA Digital Commons (2012) to address data interoperability, with key developments including the 2020 FEDEFL launch and its 2022 update enhancing flow mapping. The program continues to expand, integrating new datasets and tools like openLCA, with plans to deepen interagency alignment into the 2030s.

Funding

Initial funding in 2018 was not centrally specified, as FLCAC relies on existing agency budgets—e.g., DOE’s EERE and EPA’s ORD contributions—rather than a dedicated appropriation.[5] Ongoing support comes from these sources, covering server costs, staff time, and tool development, with no end date as it aligns with long-term federal sustainability goals.

Implementation

FLCAC executes its mission via an online repository at lcacommons.gov, using the openLCA Collaboration Server to host datasets like the USLCI and NETL’s CO2U data, accessible since 2018.[6] It rolls out in phases—data aggregation (2018-2020), standardization via FEDEFL (2020-2022), and ongoing expansion—offering downloads in formats like JSON-LD and Excel. The program is perpetual, adapting to new LCA needs with no fixed end.

Related

External links

Social media

References

  1. ↑ "Federal LCA Commons". USDA National Agricultural Library. https://www.lcacommons.gov. 
  2. ↑ "FLCAC Overview". Department of Energy. https://www.energy.gov/eere/analysis/federal-lca-commons. 
  3. ↑ "About FLCAC". USDA National Agricultural Library. https://www.lcacommons.gov/about. 
  4. ↑ "FLCAC MOU". USDA National Agricultural Library. https://www.lcacommons.gov/lca-collaboration/MOU. 
  5. ↑ "FLCAC Overview". Department of Energy. https://www.energy.gov/eere/analysis/federal-lca-commons. 
  6. ↑ "Federal LCA Commons". USDA National Agricultural Library. https://www.lcacommons.gov. 
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