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BIM Software Solutions That Support Sustainable Construction

Two construction workers looking at construction site surrounded by trees

There are many solutions available to make construction greener by design. Tekla software products include embodied carbon calculation functionality. This helps structural designers and engineers make a difference with their work as authorities all over the world will soon require life cycle assessment reporting.

With Tekla software, structural designers and engineers can have a significant impact on the carbon handprints of their projects from early design phases to providing certified life cycle assessment (LCA) reports.

Tekla extensions for embedded carbon calculation are based on model objects

Tekla Embedded Carbon tools help optimize and make rough estimates of the project’s carbon footprint during design. These tools included in the Tekla Structures and Tekla Structural Designer software are useful to all structural designers and engineers, particularly in the early design phase of a building. The tools help compare and optimize various structural alternatives based on different main materials, visualize the amount of carbon in a building information model, and make more informed decisions.

For example, by using Tekla Embedded Carbon Calculator’s filters, engineers can break down the embodied carbon values and separate results according to specific structural material, member type, slab type, and more, as well as view where the highest amount of embodied carbon is present within the structure. This level of detail provided by the software enables designers and engineers to really dive down into the data, which can be invaluable in reducing the building’s environmental impact and carbon output.

Tekla embedded carbon calculators

Integration with world-leading LCA tool: OneClick LCA

In addition to the built-in tools, the Tekla Structural Designer, Trimble Connect and Tekla Structures software products all integrate with OneClick LCA, the automated lifecycle assessment software with which users can evaluate and accordingly minimize the negative impact of construction projects on the environment. OneClick LCA is a powerful solution to map the design quantities to an LCA database, a vast library of global and local Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), and to obtain a certified life cycle assessment report of the project.

Embodied carbon calculations in Tekla Structural Designer

Environmental engineers, too, benefit from the OneClick LCA integration, as their task is to deliver the life cycle assessment reports on the construction project’s carbon footprint required by local building authorities and building owners. OneClick LCA covers multiple internationally approved, official and certified LCA reports, such as BREEAM and LEED. Read more about the benefits of this integration in this article.

Trimble embodied carbon calculation offering

Tekla Structures embodied carbon calculation

  • Link to objects in the building information model
  • Dynamic carbon calculation
  • Visualize results
  • Report and extract from Tekla Structures
  • Available in Tekla Warehouse to all Tekla Structures customers on maintenance or on subscription
  • User-definable ECFs or EPDs (No database)
  • No certified LCA report document

Tekla Structural Designer embodied carbon calculation

  • Link to objects in the building information model
  • Dynamic carbon calculation
  • Visualize results
  • Report and extract from Tekla Structural Designer
  • Available to all Tekla Structural Designer customers on maintenance or on subscription
  • User-definable ECFs or EPDs (No database)
  • No certified LCA report document
  • Regional availability

Link to OneClick LCA
from Trimble Connect, Tekla Structures, Tekla Structural Designer

  • Benchmark and optimize products with carbon data
  • Obtain certified LCA report document (e.g. BREEAM, LEED)
  • No link to objects in the building information model
  • No dynamic calculation
  • Cannot be visualized in the model
  • OneClick LCA sold separately