Welcome to the Federal LCA Commons

A new CONMAT release is ready. The new release is available through the National Institute of Technology CONMAT repository on the Federal LCA Commons (FLCAC) and at NIST’s Public Data repository.

The USLCI Fall Quarter 2026 release is available through the National Laboratory of the Rockies’ USLCI repository on the Federal LCA Commons (FLCAC). The update in openLCA zolca format can also be downloaded from the USLCI GitHub Support Content Downloads page.

Commons Merged is a new database built from multiple data packages (i.e., data objects in a repository, as released with a version identifier) on the Federal LCA Commons. The database is assembled by the LCA Data Package Manager (LDPM), which follows the original authors’ instructions for connecting processes via exchange default provider pointers across data packages.

The Engineering Laboratory (EL) in collaboration with the Material Measurement Laboratory (MML) updated the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Construction Materials repository (CONMAT). Unit processes were created for five priority data gaps from the production chains of concrete and gypsum board:

New softwood forestry LCA datasets from four U.S. regions and softwood lumber from Northern U.S. have been added to the Forestry and Forest Products repository in the latest releases. These datasets expand coverage of regional forestry practices and support more accurate, and location specific life cycle assessments.

The USLCI Summer Quarter 2026 release is ready. The new release is available through the National Laboratory of the Rockies’ USLCI repository on the Federal LCA Commons (FLCAC). The update in openLCA zolca format can also be downloaded from the USLCI GitHub Support Content Downloads page along with the associated libraries.

The Federal LCA Commons has released an updated version of the U.S. Electricity Baseline repository to reflect conditions in 2023. Generation, emissions, and trade data is from the ElectricityLCI v3.0.0 package. This release also includes new residual mix datasets for use.

The Federal LCA Commons API has been updated with two new flow usage search endpoints, with API key authentication managed through api.nal.usda.gov. Additionally, the LCA Commons API Guide has been corrected to accurately reflect the endpoint paths as they appear through the NAL gateway.

The USLCI Spring Quarter 2026 release is ready. The new release is available through the National Laboratory of the Rockies’ USLCI repository on the Federal LCA Commons (FLCAC). The update in openLCA zolca format can also be downloaded from the USLCI GitHub Support Content Downloads page along with the associated libraries.

Overview:
The Federal LCA Commons API has been updated and is now accessible through the NAL API gateway at api.nal.usda.gov, with API key authentication managed through api.data.gov. This update allows for more reliable tracking and access to LCA Commons data for users.

The API currently supports five public endpoints covering the most common data access workflows: