A new plug-in Web app from Autodesk Labs allows designers to calculate the environmental impact of their material and product choices from within an Autodesk Revit model more quickly and cost-effectively than the conventional method of conducting a life-cycle assessment (LCA). Tally’s database provides environmental-impact information, such as embodied energy and global warming potential, for construction materials that users can assign to BIM elements and objects in their designs. The program outputs a report that summarizes a project’s impact in five of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Tools for the Reduction and Assessment of Chemical and Other Environmental Impacts categories and three cumulative energy demand categories. The report can further sort the results by life-cycle stage, Revit category, and Construction Specifications Institute division.
Tally launched in beta at the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo in November 2013 and is available for free through February 2014. After which, the app will be available through Autodesk Exchange. Its price has not yet been set.
The software powering the app was developed by architecture, planning, and research firm KieranTimberlake, and it integrates LCA data provided by global sustainability consultants PE International.
