Athena Impact Estimator for Buildings Ver.4 Unveiled

The Athena Sustainable Materials Institute Ottawa, Canada, and its collaborator in software development, Morrison Hershfield, have released the ATHENAR Impact Estimator for Buildings 4, the newest version of the acclaimed building assessment software. Numerous enhancements make the only North American software for the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of buildings an even more valuable tool. Key features of Version 4 are its greatly increased capacity to handle data flows, allowing inclusion of more impact measures, and enhanced functionality and flexibility for design teams in specifying building assembly components. The Impact Estimator is a whole building, environmental life cycle based decision support tool for use by building designers, product specifiers and policy analysts at the conceptual design stage of a project, when key decisions are made about the shape and material make-up of a building's structure and envelope. The software makes comprehensive Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) information easily accessible to the building community, fostering more holistic and informed environmental decisions. The Impact Estimator is capable of simulating over 1,200 different assembly combinations and is applicable to about 95% of the building stock in North America.