Material and Substance Flow Analysis

In general, the Material and Substance Flow Analysis (MFA/SFA) deals with the quantification of material and substance flows within a system and beyond its system boundaries. With MFA/SFA the interesting questions such as the bonding of a material in different industry sectors or products are analysed and answered.

The operative Material and Substance Flow Management causes via worldwide production networks with complex production routes extensive material, energy and substance flows and requires major logistic expense. The broad range and temporal fluctuations need an ingenious logistic management system to keep this system sustainable. This problem is solved by applying material, energy and substance flow analysis.

Practical application

The integration of all part flows, resources, energy sources and emissions in a comprehensive operative management of substance and energy flows:

• improves the resource efficiency,

• minimises the input of material and energy (and associated costs),

• reduces emissions and waste and

• optimises the recycling rate.

Our competence

The GaBi group (in German “Ganzheitliche Bilanzierung” means Life Cycle Engineering (LCE)) of the LBP (“Lehrstuhl für Bauphysik” means Chair of Building Physics) has established a huge material and process database. The integrated database has been constructed from many years of research and experience on LCE. The database is used worldwide in companies and research institutes together with the Software GaBi 4, which was also developed at the Department Life Cycle Engineering.

The comprehensive and consistently designed database, linked with funded know-how of the LBP’s working group and the powerful software tool, enables an efficient decision support based on LCA and material and substance flows.