Discover the benefits of reusing objects in Mobius and learn how to efficiently link them to various products or other objects. Understanding the interconnectedness of objects is crucial for maintaining consistency in your Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) models. This article covers the following questions:
What does it mean to reuse objects?
What are the benefits of reusing objects?
How to reuse objects?
Next steps.
Don't feel like reading an article? Watch a video tutorial on this subject instead!
Feel like you're missing information? This article builds upon the following articles, check them out if you want to learn more:
On objects: Explained: Products, objects, and life cycles
On creating and building a product: How to: Create a product
What does it mean to reuse objects?
Recall, that every product consists of a few different building blocks or objects, which in turn, may also consist of smaller building blocks. In Mobius, it is possible to reuse these building blocks within the same product or across different products in your workspace. Every building block you create is added to the object library, which consists of all the objects you have modeled so far in your Mobius workspace. In sum, if you have created an object once, you can use it again. There is no need to recreate the same object every time it is required in a product!
What are the benefits of reusing objects?
There are two main advantages to reusing objects - the fundamental building blocks - in Mobius:
Improves Efficiency: Reusing objects enhances modeling efficiency, especially when dealing with multiple products sharing similar components. You only need to model the object once, saving time and effort.
Consistency in Models: It ensures each object is modeled the same way, preventing differences in results. This also makes comparisons between products more reliable.
How to reuse objects?
Let's explore how to reuse objects in Mobius:
1. Create an object: In your Product inventory, add an item by selecting Add item. This creates a new object for your product (Figure 1).
Figure 1: Adding an item in Mobius.
2. Define the name, unit, and amount of the item: Input the desired name, unit, and amount of the object needed for your product in the detail panel that pops up on the right side of your dashboard (Figure 2).
Pro tip - Object naming: Choose descriptive names to remember the object's original purpose. Utilize the description field in the detail panel for additional information (e.g. assumptions, URL links, calculations).
Figure 4: Defining the name, unit, and amount of an item in Mobius.
3. Reuse the object: If you want to reuse the same object created in steps one and two, select + Add another item or the + (Add subitem). In the object’s detail panel, write the same name as the object you want to reuse - it will appear in the dropdown of selectable options.
Caution - Reusing objects: while reusing objects is a great way to enhance your efficiency in Mobius, it is not possible to reuse objects everywhere in your inventory. Here are the two instances where you can’t reuse the same object:
On the same ‘hierarchical’ level. If your product contains multiple identical components (e.g., 2 screws, 2 electricity usages, etc.), you can’t list them separately in your inventory. To account for this, simply edit the amount of the initial object to account for multiple of the same object.
As a subitem within the same object. It is not possible to add an identical object as a subitem to the same parent object (e.g., a screw can’t be a subitem of the screw itself).
4. Add the amount: You’ll notice that the Unit and Type are already populated when you reuse an object, meaning you cannot change these details. However, you can change the amount of the object. Input the correct amount needed and select the green Add Item button.
Caution - Changing objects: If you change an aspect (e.g., its unit, impact, description, etc.) of one of the objects or building blocks, it will also change across all other products, or objects, that contain this object. If you want to change an object, but don’t want it to change in other products, use the Scenario feature to create a copy of your product and make changes to the objects.
Video tutorial
Watch Emma explain these concepts in our tutorial:
Next steps
Understanding how to reuse objects is key to efficiently building models in Mobius. It empowers you to create consistent LCA models and make more informed sustainability decisions.
Ready to dive deeper into Mobius's capabilities? Explore our other help center articles for comprehensive guidance on maximizing your ecodesign potential.