Brand new GaBi 5 Demo version!

The new GaBi 5 Demo version is a 30-day limited full version of the GaBi 5 software, enabling you to learn about all the features and functions of GaBi 5 with a guided example for the LCA of a paper clip.

The GaBi 5 Demo version comes with a small database for a guided example.

Try out the world's leading LCA software yourself and download the brand new GaBi 5 Demo version!

EeBGuide Project - New website launched

The EeB Guide Project is a project financed by the European Commission under the seventh framework program. This project will develop documents and instruments providing operational guidance for Life Cycle Assessment studies of the Energy Efficient Buildings (EEB) Initiative.

The project, which started on November 2011, is intended to last one year. Six partners are involved in the project: the Fraunhofer-Institut für Bauphysik (FhG-IBP), PE INTERNATIONAL, Centre Scientifique et Technique du Bâtiment (CSTB), Escola Superior de Comerc International (ESCI), British Research Establishment (BRE) and Christer Sjöström Consultancy.

Development of a guidance document for energy efficient buildings

The overall goal of this project is to develop a specific guidance document for application to Energy Efficient Buildings and related training material with courses for practitioners in industry and research. This is to be based on and in line with the International Reference Life Cycle Data System (ILCD) Handbook, co-developed by the European Commission’s JRC-IES. To ensure a high acceptance of the stakeholders, the ILCD requirements will be crossed with the new CEN/TC 350 standards like FprEN 15804 (Environmental Performance on product level) or FprEN 15978 (Environmental Performance at the building level).

The goal: high-quality Life Cycle Assessment studies

The concept for this guidance document will be based on two core elements: an extensive list of elements that need to be taken into account when dealing with Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) within the Energy-efficient Buildings Initiative and the solution approaches how to address different issues and an extensive guidance including examples and operational instructions on how to conduct adequate, high-quality LCA studies.

New website launched

PE has set up the website that will serve as the platform to enable efficient expert and public consultation procedures.

More information: www.eebguide.eu 

Masdar City Chooses SoFi to Monitor Carbon in Buildings

Masdar City has selected PE INTERNATIONAL’s SoFi system to monitor carbon embodied in buildings for its ambitious project to construct one of the world’s most sustainable cities, the two companies announced today.

Masdar City, one of the integrated units of Abu Dhabi’s multi-faceted renewable energy company Masdar, has captured enormous worldwide interest by demonstrating how sustainable cities can be developed. SoFi is PE INTERNATIONAL’s high performance tool which provides a central platform for benchmarking and forecasting sustainability performance and developing sustainability strategies. The system plays a key role in helping Masdar’s supply chain team and contractors to track and monitor the carbon embodiment of building materials, thereby calculating the amount of carbon associated with construction activities.

Having now implemented SoFi, Masdar has the capability for target setting and monitoring the evolving project. The city can also use SoFi for benchmarking against targets and comparing how much CO2 would be involved in producing a building in the city compared to a standard building in, for example, London, Paris or New York.

Sustainable Steel Council in New Zealand

Although sustainability attributes of steel are well-researched overseas, and a great deal of international data has been amassed (worldsteel, whose members produce approximately 85% of the world’s steel, has been undertaking Life Cycle Inventory work since 1996), there is a general lack of awareness of these benefits in New Zealand.

In response to this issue, the Sustainable Steel Council (SSC) was formally launched in 2011. SCC’s membership consists of the major steel producers; manufacturing industry associations; coatings industry; supply chain distributors; contractors and builders; and research and development organisations. SSC commissioned PE INTERNATIONAL, to develop a 5-year plan and has been forging links through meetings with, among others, the Australian Steel Institute (ASI), worldsteel, British Constructional Steelwork Association (BCSA).


“The Sustainable Steel Council NZ is committed to improving sustainability of its members’ materials and products. PE INTERNATIONAL supported us with their expert advice, workshops and the development of our strategy and roadmap to drive sustainability in our sector in New Zealand.” Dr Stephen Hicks, Chair of the Sustainable Steel Council and Manager Structural Systems, HERA

Kraft says YES to improved sustainability

Kraft Foods has launched an initiative to eliminate 100 million pounds of packaging material from its products worldwide by 2015.

This commitment was the driver behind delivering the Yes Pack, Kraft's new sustainable flexible pouch for salad dressings to the foodservice industry.

The Yes Pack is a stand-up pouch with dual handles, and a rigid screw cap closure that replaces the traditional rigid plastic container for salad dressings. The company states the product is more compact than rigid jugs, and flattens when empty, which can provide easier disposal and lower waste-removal costs.

Kraft partnered with PE to conduct a Life Cycle Assessment (Ökobilanz), which quantified the environmental benefits of the Yes Pack.
"After extensive data collection from our suppliers, technical modeling, and a rigorous third-party critical review of the study, we confirmed without a doubt that our new packaging design was not only better for our customers - in terms of yield and ease - but also in terms of environmental sustainability," Kraft stated.


As of now, the Yes Pack is designed only for Kraft's foodservice salad dressing portfolio.

More information: www.kraftyespack.com or contact s.murphy@pe-international.com

Responsible Steel in Australia

The Steel Stewardship Forum has been established to bring together all participants in the Australian Steel Supply Chain with the common goal of achieving sustainability improvements across the entire chain.

An early initiative of the Forum is the development of a certification scheme for Australia.


PE INTERNATIONAL is currently working with the Forum to develop the Business Case for this initiative. The project seeks to develop a clear and measurable sustainability certification process across the entirety of the steel supply chain, from mining to scrap recovery, and to measure progress in sustainability improvement against a set of agreed benchmarks.


The Steel Stewardship Forum’s goal is to develop a credible and independently verifiable steel certification scheme, to be known as Responsible Steel, which  seeks to minimise impact and improve performance throughout the steel value chain, and is recognised by the industry and external stakeholders.



More information: www.steelstewardship.com or contact b.nebel@pe-international.com