Latest updates

The latest features and changes include:

This release note follows previous updates to Mobius’ interface. Here are the key changes and improvements:

Our new impact calculator is designed for speed. Most impacts are now precalculated, so they’re immediately available. For less common methods, you might see a spinner while the calculation happens in real time. Even in these cases, the process is now much quicker. New workspaces will have EF 3.1 as the default method and Ecoinvent v3.9.1 as the preferred database, ensuring you’re using the latest standards.

Workspaces are also more consistent in their use of databases and methods. We've updated how methods and databases can be used together in Mobius to ensure that only compatible combinations are selected for optimized impact calculations. Now, only supported combinations of methods and databases will provide impact results. If a combination is unsupported, it will display an "invalid" sign in the interface (Figure 1). This means the selected dataset cannot be calculated with the method chosen in the workspace settings.

Need to update existing models? To get impact results, you will either have to use a different version of the LCIA method or update the dataset. Updating a dataset can be done manually or in bulk with import/export. Hover over the invalid sign in the inventory to quickly edit and update the dataset (Figure 2). Caution should be exercised when updating existing models! Read the following article to learn more.

The three methods for adding impact have undergone design and technical improvements:

These updates provide a cleaner, more intuitive experience when searching for and adding impacts. Plus, this redesign lays the groundwork for future enhancements to search, filtering, and result listings!

Additional updates to the database and elementary flow search will include custom categories, responsive filters, and the ability to compare datasets side by side.

Life Cycles have been revamped to match the product interface, offering a fresh and consistent look. Below is a breakdown of the specific updates.

Explore new features on the Model tab, where you model your life cycle inventory. Key updates include:

The Table now syncs completely with the product table. Notable changes include:

Life cycles now feature a new bar chart visual. Highlights include:

The donut chart has been enhanced with new features:

In the coming months, you can look forward to more enhancements for life cycles in Mobius. We are planning a similar transformation for life cycle comparison and scenario analysis.

While the overall behavior of the Comparison and Scenario features remains unchanged, it's important to understand the key differences between them and when to use each one:

The Model tab, which contains the Product inventories, now features a harmonized design for both the Comparison and Scenario modes. When using either feature, the products are displayed side-by-side with labels indicating the original product from the compared or scenario product and “sticky” headers to ensure product names and total impact are always visible.

Based on user feedback, the scenario product has been relocated to the right side of the interface (Figure 1), and further design enhancements are being evaluated.

The Table tab in Comparison and Scenario modes now presents the same design as it does for individual products and can be sorted on all columns, including on object’s units.

The new Stacked chart visualizes environmental product performance at a glance (Figure 2). This chart aids in storytelling around environmental impact reduction efforts, color-coding objects to indicate their impact. Objects with negative impact (i.e., do not have negative environmental impact) are green, while impact items are in blue. Similar to the Donut chart, the Stacked chart enables you to quickly identify differences between products.

While unavailable in the current interface, the Bar chart will soon be introduced, allowing for side-by-side comparison of single objects. This feature is currently under development and is expected to be released in the coming months.

Life cycles and the Comparison and Scenario modes within the Life cycles feature are currently in development and will be released shortly.

With templates, you can:

Welcome to another Mobius update😎. We have just released an update to items and objects with impact. With this update, the source of impact is no longer hidden in the detail panel 🔍. You can now immediately see to what source the item is linked to and have all the options to manage it directly on the Model tab.

The impact's source now appears in the inventory with the following information and options:

The source of impact now also appears as a single item in the insights tabs.

What's new in Mobius? Last few weeks we have released many invisible improvements to improve the overall experience in Mobius. With this update, we would like to highlight a few new features you can explore. Read on to learn more!

You can now select in which notation you would like to view your results on the product's inventory page, as well as all Insight tabs. Choose between Number, Scientific and Percentage notations to display the values. Your selected settings will also show up in the Image downloads. Use it to specify how you would like to have your results visible to the ones viewing your images.

This will be the new default notation for values shown in the Model and Insights tabs. Most values will be written out as numbers. Values bigger than 999,999 and smaller than 0.00001 will be displayed in scientific notation.

With this notation, you can view very large and very small numbers using the same number of digits. It is a good notation to use when your product either has a very high or very low impact or when you are viewing impact categories like Ozone Depletion, which are expressed in tiny values, as can be seen in the example below.

This notation shows the contribution of the impact of the item on the total impact.

You can now download an image for all Insights, including the just-released image for the Inventory. Use the notation settings to indicate how the values are displayed. Also, try expanding or collapsing the levels in the inventory to display exactly what level of detail you would like to share. Handy if you want to share a high-level result, without the secret ingrediënts below 🤓.

Tip: Try using the percentage notation when you download an image so that you can share high-over the hotspots of your product footprint. This way you do not have to disclose an actual impact value, while you can still share how the impact is built up.

Here we have made several improvements based on feedback from our customers. The amount field can now only be used with a dot as a decimal separator so that it is in line with the other amount fields. Also, the size of the field will scale better when you type small numbers and it will not remove all zeroes behind a decimal separator anymore.
We consider creating full settings to control the decimal separator, notation settings and significant numbers. Stay tuned!

Welcome to our latest release notes. At Ecochain we strive to make product footprinting and life cycle assessments as easy as possible for you, through our Mobius software. We hope you enjoy our latest update to the Product inventory and Insights!

We listened to your feedback and have made changes to our overall design of the inventory, as well as the table, bar chart and donut chart views. We have also added functionalities that we believe will enhance your experience. Similar improvements are underway for Comparison, Scenario and Life cycles features. Stay tuned and do not hesitate to send us your feedback.

The option to add an item to the main level of your product inventory is now always visible. Also, note that the colours of items and impact bars are different for first-level vs lower-level items. Impact bars of the same colour can be summed up to their higher-level item. Use it to quickly spot the highest contributors!

You can now directly edit amounts by clicking on them. Use the on-screen buttons, or 'esc' to cancel and 'enter' to save.

The main product has been moved to the footer and removed from the inventory tree. In this way, you can always see the product with its total impact, no matter how big your inventory!

All insights got a big refresh and some new features to explore 🎁. With clear titles and options to sort, filter and download. You can use them to your advantage, learn where the impact comes from and create beautiful visuals to share with your colleagues and customers.

You don't have to take screenshots anymore! Easily download images of graphs and tables with the download button.

You are able to switch between numeric values and percentages in both your table view and your donut chart.

Summary: IPCC 2021 method is available in Mobius. Start using this method to perform Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) calculations according to ISO 14067.

IPCC 2021 method in Mobius allows us to perform carbon footprint calculations in line with the latest emission factors published in the AR6 report. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has delivered Assessment Reports (AR) at regular intervals - typically every 6 years - since 1990 until 2021. These AR reports summarize the latest scientific findings on climate change, and serve as key references for governments and organizations when developing climate policies and strategies.

Go to Workspace settings/Impact Settings and select "IPCC method" as your Impact method set. Then, you have the possibility to choose between the standard IPCC GWP100 AR6 (2021) or the one including CO2 uptake. In general, the standard method is recommended. This version of IPCC method does not take into account the effect of biogenic (non-fossil) Carbon Dioxide, while the including CO2 uptake takes into account the influence of biogenic CO2 capture and emissions.

💡Visit this article to learn how to change the impact method sets, the impact assessment method and impact categories.

IPCC 2021 is recommended when conducting Product Carbon Footprints (PCF). PCF is the process of quantifying the greenhouse gas emissions associated with a product's entire life cycle. ISO 14067 and Pathfinder Framework - developed by The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) - provide guidelines on the assessment and reporting of such calculations.

⚠️ Be aware that IPCC only provides Climate Change impacts and that this exclusive focus could result in insufficient attention to other important environmental impacts, such as Resource depletion, human toxicity or eutrophication. We recommend to select other LCIA methods if you want to have an overview on the rest of impacts: EF method, or EN15804+A2 in construction sector. Read this article to know more about the difference between PCF and LCA.

Acknowledging that calculations based on these versions are NOT directly comparable is crucial. According to our knowledge, average deviations in PCF results typically remain under 10%. However, the question remains: where do these differences originate?

New knowledge on physical behavior of Greenhouse gases (GHG) - such as lifetimes, impulse response functions and radioactive efficiencies - leads to adjustment on the Global Warming Potential (GWP) values. These GWP values determine the pressure on climate change posed by each GHG emission (i.e. CO2, CO, CH4, N20). Meaning that updates on such values can increase or decrease the impact of such emissions on climate change.

For instance, Carbon cycle (cc) feedback plays a key role determining GWP values (as shown in table below). This approach considers how emissions of non-CO2 greenhouse gases, such as CH4 and N2O, can indirectly affect CO2 concentrations and atmospheric warming by impacting natural processes like vegetation growth, carbon sequestration, and permafrost thawing. Including carbon cycle feedback can lead to higher GWP values for non-CO2 greenhouse gases over shorter time horizons (e.g., 20 years). Whereas excluding cc feedback is often recommended for GWP calculations over longer time horizons (e.g., 100 years), where the effects of indirect carbon cycle feedback are less pronounced.

The following table shows the GWP factors of some of the most important GHG emissions:

👨‍🏫For more information on the content of these reports you can visit IPCC website

🤓To calculate based on AR5 2013 (excl. cc feedback): Go to Workspace settings/Impact Settings and select "OpenLCA LCIA methods v2.0.4" as your Impact method set and "IPCC 2013 GWP 100a" as impact method.

A small update today for the sharp-eyed among us! You might notice small styling and behavioral changes on the Product, Life cycle, and Object overview pages and a few small new features 👀.

The action menus now have icons, to make them more clear and to make it overall a better experience.

Another small update is the indication of the sorting state on the card overview. You can now see how the card overview page is sorted, and by clicking it you can select another field to sort by. Clicking the arrow will reverse the sorting.

Also, several small bugs have been resolved. It is now possible again to edit the dataset while on the overview page. And also sorting and searching are possible while remaining within a folder.