Glimpact philosophy
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Technical configuration
Sectorial documentation
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A category specifies an object of study. This could be anything that can be assessed, from raw materials and processes to finished goods or media campaigns, etc.
Each category has its specific impact assessment methodology, depending on its nature. Wherever possible, we use a PEFCR, the OEF or an internal PCR (Product Category Rules). The latter is used if Europe has not yet addressed this specific category. As a result, the scope of a category is often directly defined by the methodology it follows.
<aside> 👉 Bonus: even categories have IDs!!
Just like entities and analysis cases, categories also have their specific and unique IDs. These IDs are particularly useful when importing data through TSV files or an API.
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Examples of entity categories
The form is the user interface where you can input all the activity data for your analysis case, which will then allow you to evaluate its impact. Each category evaluates different objects and therefore, each has its own unique form! However all forms follow the same logic.
With the example of a component form you can see that the form is divided into 2 areas :
The meta data: which are general information about your entity, such as who created it, when etc.
The activity data: specific data about your entity, used by the calculation engine to provide environmental impacts.
This part is divided into several sub-sections, here “Raw material” and “Manufacturing” but each category form is different, as the data required varies according to the type of entity being evaluated. For product forms, the form generally follows the logic of the product life cycle stages.
<aside> ℹ️ Yellow exclamation marks indicate mandatory fields, without which the evaluation cannot be completed. The field turns green when correctly filled in. Other fields are optional but improve assessment quality, if you do not provide these specific data, a default value will be defined by the PEFCR.
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Component form composition
Occasionally, the methodology for a specific category may evolve, or we identify a necessary update. In these cases, it may be necessary to collect more activity data or to do so in a different way, which requires the forms to be adapted. To take account of these changes, we create a new version for the entity category. This new version is called a new referential.
Because referentials may vary and are not always fully compatible, you will notice that some functionalities are restricted when dealing with different referentials.
But don't worry, as an external user, you'll always have the most recent version of the referential without noticing any changes!