NREL and its partners created the U.S. Life Cycle Inventory (USLCI) Database to help life cycle assessment practitioners answer questions about environmental impact.

The USLCI database provides individual gate-to-gate, cradle-to-gate, and cradle-to-grave accounting of the energy and material flows into and out of the environment that are associated with producing a material, component, or assembly in the U.S.

For video tutorials on how to use the database, view the NREL U.S. Life Cycle Inventory Database Quick Help Series.

The USLCI database provides supporting information on GitHub with links to many resources related to submission of data to and end-use of the USLCI Database, including:

• USLCI Data Submission Handbook (including metadata guidance)
• USLCI Database Archives (past release versions in various file formats)
• USLCI Release Change Log
• USLCI Update Press Release.

The goals of the USLCI Database project are:

• Maintain data quality and transparency
• Cover commonly used materials, products, and processes in the U.S. with up-to-date, critically reviewed life cycle inventory data
• Support the expanded use of life cycle assessment as an environmental decision-making tool
• Maintain compatibility with international life cycle inventory databases
• Provide exceptional data accessibility
• Be fully and sustainably supported
• Support U.S. industry competitiveness.

Read the plan to achieve the goals of the USLCI Database Project in the U.S. Life Cycle Inventory Database Roadmap.