The first version of LCAQuick was released in November 2016, followed by v3.4.3 in September 2020, v3.4.4 in December 2020 and v3.5 in December 2021. The current version (v3.6) was released in June 2023.
| Feature | First version (version 1.0) | Version 3.6 |
|---|---|---|
| Platform | Microsoft Excel | Microsoft Excel |
| Tool architecture | 12 separate files - flow chart required to find correct version | One tool only |
| Application | All building typologies | All building typologies |
| Reference building library | Commercial office buildings: 10 buildings in 3 climate zones |
Commercial office buildings: 10 buildings in 3 climate zones Stand-alone houses: 8 buildings in 3 climate zones School buildings: 4 buildings in 3 climate zones |
| Materials environmental impacts | Focused on structure and enclosure of commercial office buildings | Expanded on V3.5 to include more materials. Some existing materials data updated. |
| Operational energy: grid electricity | Modelled as 3-year weighted average of environmental impacts between 2012-2014 and extrapolated forward for the service life of the building | Based on MBIE's Environmental scenario from electricity demand and generation scenarios (2019) |
| Constructions comparison tool | Not available | Available |
| Windows and doors tool | Not available | Available |
| Green Star | Calculated potential points available in Green Star Innovation Challenge. Separate editable PDF template report available to support a Green Star submission | Available |
| Carbon budget | Not included | Included to reflect carbon budget modelling completed September 2021 |
| Save and load building input data | Not included | Included |
| Building service life |
90 years (residential) 60 years (offices) |
50 years (all), in line with MBIE’s embodied carbon technical methodology |
| Ministry of Education whole of life carbon assessment | Not included | Automatic population of a table in the same format as the LCA Report Template v1.0 required by the Ministry of Education |
| Biogenic carbon (carbon sequestration) | User can select whether included or excluded (for example, through selection of timbers/engineered woods from sustainable or unsustainable forestry). When products from sustainable forestry selected, biogenic carbon included in climate change impact. | Potential sequestered carbon dioxide (as biogenic carbon) in materials shown separately, per MBIE’s embodied carbon technical methodology. |
| Displayed/tabulated life cycle stages | Modules A1–A5, B2, B4, B6, B7, C1–C4 and D displayed for designed and reference buildings | User can select which modules are displayed or tabulated, including module D and biogenic carbon. Therefore, if using for embodied calculations only, modules B6 and B7 can be de-selected, so design results can be more easily compared to equivalent reference building results. |
Table of LCAQuick feature changes