Welcome to Variable

Variable is a Life-cycle assessment (LCA) platform that helps you calculate and track the environmental impact of your products. Whether you want to publish Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), measure your product carbon footprint (PCF), or cut emissions across your supply chain, Variable provides the tools you need.

What you can do with Variable

Create LCA models for products

Build detailed life-cycle assessment (LCA) models for your products

Track company-level emissions

Monitor emissions across your company’s value chain and find opportunities to reduce them

Core terminology

These are the building blocks of a model in Variable — how Products, Inputs, Elements, and Datasets fit together.

Term	Definition
Product (LCA)	The life-cycle model of a product. The total impact of the product is calculated from its Inputs.
Input	A row in a Product (LCA). Carries a quantity and unit, and points to an Element. The Input’s calculated impact is its quantity multiplied by the per-unit impact data from the Element’s Dataset.
Element	The named source that an Input points to. Like Products, Elements can have their own model — breaking them down into sub-Inputs. Elements come in four kinds — Material, Energy, Transport, and Process — and each Element is connected to a Dataset that supplies its per-unit impact data. Elements live in your Inventory and can be referenced by Inputs across many Products.
Inventory	Your collection of Elements (Materials, Energy, Transport, and Processes) that you re-use across your Product (LCA)s.
Material	A kind of Element representing a sourced material or component (steel, plastic pellets, a pre-formed housing). Carries metadata like supplier, SKU, and location.
Energy	A kind of Element representing energy used in your processes, such as electricity or fuel.
Transport	A kind of Element representing a transport lane from origin to destination. A lane is made up of one or more legs, each with its own mode (truck, rail, ship, air) and distance. An Input that points to a Transport Element only needs the weight of material being moved - Variable derives the rest from the lane’s legs.
Process	A kind of Element representing a manufacturing or processing activity.
Dataset	The original source of environmental impact data — per-unit impact values for one or more indicators (GWP, acidification, water use, etc.). Often called emission factors when the focus is on carbon. Connects to an Element to supply its impact values. Datasets come from databases like ecoinvent, DEFRA, or Ember, and you can import your own.
Activity	A quantity record of a flow through your value chain over a defined period, classified by org unit and GHG scope (1/2/3). Activities are the basis for corporate carbon accounting and reduction planning.

LCA acronyms

Standard LCA acronyms you’ll encounter in EPDs, PCRs, and impact reports.

Term	Definition
LCA	Life-cycle assessment. The process of evaluating the environmental impacts of a product throughout its life-cycle.
GWP	Global Warming Potential, measured in kgCO₂e (kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent).
PCF	Product Carbon Footprint. Typically covers life-cycle stages A1-A3 (cradle to gate).
EPD	Environmental Product Declaration. A standardized document describing environmental impacts.
PCR	Product Category Rules. The rules that define how to calculate an EPD for a specific product category.

Variable’s main indicator is GWP-fossil. Premium accounts get access to many other indicators including eutrophication, water use, and more.

Navigating Variable

The main areas of the application are organized to match your workflow:

Section	What you will find
Products > LCAs	Your Product (LCA)s and the environmental impacts calculated for them
Products > Declarations	Generate EPDs and other environmental product declarations
Inventory > Elements > Materials	Materials in your inventory with assigned datasets
Inventory > Elements > Energy	Energy sources used in your processes
Inventory > Elements > Transport	Transportation modes and logistics
Inventory > Elements > Process	Manufacturing and processing activities
Inventory > Datasets	Datasets from ecoinvent, DEFRA, etc., plus your custom datasets
Inventory > Activities	Quantity records of flows through your value chain over time, classified by org unit and GHG scope (1/2/3). The basis for corporate carbon accounting.
Reports & plans	Analyze activity data, create carbon accounts, and build reduction plans
Data import	Upload bills of materials and bulk-import inventory data

For developers

If you’d like to work with Variable programmatically, you’ll need an API User with an API Key - account admins can manage these in users.

REST API reference - endpoints for Products, Materials, Models, and Activities
Postman collection - try out the API
Data model - how the pieces fit together

Next steps

Ready to calculate the carbon footprint of your first product? Start by creating a Product (LCA).

Create your first Product (LCA)

Learn how to set up a new Product (LCA) and understand the modeling interface

Getting started

Help articles

Data import

Concepts

Security

What you can do with Variable

Create LCA models for products

Track company-level emissions

Core terminology

LCA acronyms

Navigating Variable

For developers

Next steps

Create your first Product (LCA)

​What you can do with Variable

Create LCA models for products

Track company-level emissions

​Core terminology

​LCA acronyms

​Navigating Variable

​For developers

​Next steps

Create your first Product (LCA)

What you can do with Variable

Core terminology

LCA acronyms

Navigating Variable

For developers

Next steps