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How can you manage your workspace settings in Mobius?

Learn how to manage your workspace settings in Ecochain Mobius.

Managing your workspace settings in Mobius is crucial for obtaining accurate Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) results for your specific use case. These settings are important because they determine how your environmental impacts are calculated. Results and outcomes may differ depending on the specific workspace settings that you choose. This article covers the following questions.

  1. Why are workspace settings important?

  2. What impact methods are available?

  3. How to manage workspace settings?

Don't feel like reading an article? Watch a video tutorial on this subject instead!

 

Why are workspace settings important?

Workspace settings determine how your LCA model is calculated. When you create a new workspace, the LCA impact method is set to the default settings - the Environmental Footprint Method. However, it is always good practice to make sure they align with the goal of your LCA, as they do affect your results.

Caution - Incorrect workspace settings: If your workspace settings are set incorrectly, your results may be wrong or missing entirely. Results may be incorrect because different methods use different methodologies for some impact categories (e.g., biogenic carbon is calculated differently across different methods). Impact results for objects may be missing or have zero impact because certain LCI databases (versions) are not always compatible with all impact methods.


How to manage workspace settings?

Follow these steps to make adjustments:

1. Access the workspace menu: Navigate to the workspace menu to begin customizing your impact settings (Figure 1). Here you will find the workspace you are currently working in, as well as a list of the other workspaces your account is attached to.
 

Figure 1: Accessing the workspace menu in Mobius.

2. Navigate to the Workspace settings: Below the list of workspaces in your workspace menu, are your workspace settings. Click on this category - your workspace settings will appear on the right side of your dashboard (Figure 2). Your workspace settings consist of three different sections.

Figure 2: Accessing your workspace settings in Mobius.

Workspace name: Here, you can change the name of your workspace by clicking on the pen icon.

Impact settings: Impact settings are the most important aspect of your workspace settings. These settings determine how your results are calculated. The components of the impact settings are described below.

  • Impact method sets: Many impact calculation methods exist that are based on different scientific models for calculating environmental impacts. The default impact method is the Environmental Footprint Method, and this is a suitable dataset for European products that are not construction-related. However, Mobius offers many other methods.

Pro tip - Choosing impact settings: Selecting the best impact method for your model can be confusing. Consider factors like the sector you’re operating in, the type of LCA you’re conducting, and how you’re using your results. Mobius offers the following impact methods:

  • EN15804+A2: The main method for the building and construction sector in Europe.

  • Environmental Footprint Method (EF3.0): The primary method for consumer goods in Europe.

  • IPCC Method (2021): The main scientific method for carbon footprinting. Limitation: It only reports on CO2 impacts.

  • SBK Bepalingsmethode: The Dutch interpretation of the EN15804+A2 (above).

  • OpenLCA LCIA: Various other impact methods can be found here. 

  • Impact assessment method: The impact assessment method determines the database used to calculate the footprint. Read more about impact assessment methods here. It is important to be consistent and use the same database throughout your LCA model.

Caution - Choosing impact assessment methods: It is important to be consistent with LCI database usage when selecting your impact assessment method. Databases are updated often and new database versions may use different calculation methods. This has implications for adding impact (via datasets) to your model and must be considered at that stage as well.

  • Normalization and weighting: Normalizing and weighting results means the results are converted to the same unit, allowing you to add them or compare them, for example. This is automatically set to none; leave it as such unless you have specific requirements. For instance, the Environmental Footprint method has the option to use the Single Score, the Dutch NMD Bepalingsmethode has the Milieukostenindicator (MKI) or Environmental Cost Indicator (ECI) in English.
  • Impact category: This is the default impact category for which your results represent. Choose an impact category that focuses on the specific environmental aspects relevant to your study. Mobius provides a range of categories to choose from allowing you to tailor your analysis accordingly. You can change the impact category at any time via the impact category switcher in the Product inventory view (Figure 3).

Figure 3: Changing the impact category displayed in the Product inventory.
 
  • Single score: The single score toggle affects normalization. Leave it at the default setting unless you have specific requirements.

  • Exclude long-term impacts: Unless you have a specific reason to change this. Leave this toggle untouched.

  • Save changes: Once you've adjusted your impact settings, remember to save your changes to apply them to your workspace.
  • Workspace permissions: This is where you can change the permissions of who can view or edit the workspace. This function is only relevant if you’re working in your account with multiple users, and is best left unchanged. Click on the “+” to edit the permissions. Please reach out to us (helpdesk@ecochain.com) in case of any questions or doubts regarding roles and permissions in your Mobius account.

Video tutorial

Watch Emma explain these concepts in our tutorial:


 Next steps

Understanding how to manage workspace settings empowers you to conduct more accurate and insightful LCAs in Mobius. Explore our additional resources or contact our support team for further guidance.

Ready to explore more features within Mobius? Check out our other help center articles for comprehensive guidance on maximizing your ecodesign potential.

 
Learn more about EN15804+A2.