ATHENA Sustainable Materials Institute (www.athenasmi.ca) has developed ATHENA v2.0 Environmental Impact Estimator to calculate the life-cycle environmental effects for a conceptual building design by simulating over 1,000 different assembly combinations and is capable of modeling 95% of the building stock in North America. It lets users perform life-cycle assessments to compare the environmental implications of industrial, institutional, office, and both multi-unit and single family residential designs.
BEES (Building for Environmental and Economic Sustainability) (www.bfrl.nist.gov/oae/software/bees.html). BEES measures the environmental performance of building products by using the life-cycle assessment approach specified in ISO 14000 standards. Version 2.0 of the decision software, aimed at designers, builders, and product manufacturers, includes actual environmental and economic performance data for over 65 building products.
Energy Design Resources (www.energydesignresources.com/tools/evaluator.html) offers eVALUator to calculate the lifecycle benefits of investments that improve building design. It analyzes the financial benefits from buildings that reduce energy cost, raise employee productivity, and enhance tenant satisfaction.