Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a systematic method for evaluating the environmental aspects and potential impacts associated with a product, process, or service, in accordance with ISO 14040 and 14044 standards. This comprehensive approach assesses every stage of the lifecycle – from raw material extraction, manufacturing, and distribution to use, maintenance, and eventual disposal – often referred to as cradle-to-grave. 

An automated life cycle assessment is a digitally driven process in which Makersite uses artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to map your bill of materials and supply chain data against its product and supply chain database. This enables the platform to build digital twins of products and calculate environmental impacts across entire product portfolios within seconds. As a result, companies can perform broader and more frequent assessments, shifting their focus from data collection to product improvement.

Automating LCAs allows companies to transform a traditionally manual, resource-intensive task into a scalable and repeatable process. With automation, life cycle assessments are no longer confined to isolated studies but are embedded directly into product design, sourcing, and reporting workflows. This shift empowers teams to make real-time decisions based on primary sustainability data and move beyond generic life cycle inventory (LCI) assumptions. 

Makersite delivers cradle-to-gate and cradle-to-grave environmental impact analyses, Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions calculations, full Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) assessments, and Environmental Product Declaration (EPD)-ready reporting formats. These outputs are combined with intuitive dashboards that support multi-dimensional decision-making across teams. 

The Makersite platform uses purpose-built artificial intelligence to match internal product data – such as bills of materials (BOMs), computer-aided design (CAD) models, and enterprise resource planning (ERP) records – with its curated data foundation of over 150 external sources, while also filling existing data gaps. All models are reviewed and refined by LCA experts, and AI-generated suggestions for mapping, classification, and composition are validated for accuracy. The life cycle inventory (LCI) datasets used are ISO-compliant and peer-reviewed, ensuring robust, audit-ready results that conform to international standards, including ISO 14040/44 and PEF guidelines. 

Accuracy is achieved through a combination of verified third-party data sources, AI-driven data harmonization, and automated quality assurance checks. Makersite’s methodology includes anomaly detection, traceable modeling assumptions, and alignment with industry standards. As a result, the LCAs generated are suitable for regulatory reporting, customer communication, public disclosure, and third-party verification. 

Yes, Makersite is specifically designed for large-scale LCA generation. Customers such as Microsoft, Barco, and FLS have demonstrated that it is possible to exponentially expand LCA coverage – from a few isolated assessments to portfolio-wide, on-demand environmental modeling. With automated data integration, companies significantly improve data quality while achieving greater accuracy, granularity, and consistency in both LCA and carbon footprint calculations. 

Yes, Makersite streamlines the creation of Environmental Product Declarations by using LCA outputs to populate pre-verified EPD templates. This significantly reduces the time and cost involved in publishing EPDs and enables companies to respond more quickly to customer and regulatory demands for transparency. With Makersite, companies can achieve 100% product coverage in just a few months – compared to the industry average of only 10–20 products per year. The pre-verified EPDs, generated with a single click, ensure faster compliance with Program Operator Instructions (POs), Product Category Rules (PCRs), and established verification protocols. 

Makersite integrates with existing enterprise systems such as CAD, PLM, ERP, and procurement platforms. Through these connections, life cycle assessment data becomes part of daily business processes. Engineers can compare design alternatives based on environmental impact, while procurement professionals can evaluate supplier choices based on their carbon footprint. This integration allows life cycle assessments to serve as a design and sourcing constraint rather than a retrospective reporting tool. 

Automated LCAs provide value across multiple departments. Sustainability teams gain rapid access to high-quality data for carbon footprinting and regulatory reporting. Engineering and design teams can assess the environmental impact of materials and design choices early in development. Procurement teams can evaluate suppliers not only based on cost but also on carbon emissions. Compliance and reporting teams benefit from faster, more reliable access to the data needed to meet evolving regulatory requirements.