Products, Materials & Datasets
Datasets are the original source of impact data (emission factors). They can come from databases like ecoinvent, be shared by other companies, or be created by the user. A Product (also called an LCA) is a modeled footprint — it has a bill of materials (aModel with many Inputs) and calculates its impacts from them.
A Material gets its impacts by referencing a Dataset directly, rather than modeling a bill of materials. You add metadata like supplier, SKU, and location to it.
This modeled-vs-referenced distinction applies broadly — Products, Materials, Processes, Energy, and Transport modes can all either be modeled (with a BOM) or reference a Dataset.
| API endpoint | What it returns | Description |
|---|---|---|
/product | Products | Modeled footprints with a bill of materials |
/material | Materials | Sourced items that reference a Dataset for their impacts |
/dataset | Datasets | User-created, supplier-shared, or database-added emission factor data |
/database | Datasets | Search the full Variable emission factor database |
Models & Inputs
AnInput is a line item in a Product’s bill of materials — an amount of Material, Product, Dataset, Processing activity, Transportation, or Use Stage calculation with a resulting CO2e value.
Activity
AnActivity represents the actual flow of materials through the system. Activities are a quantity of Product, Material, or Transportation with a resulting CO2e value.