Specification of data quality of the consumption data

When entering the consumption data, the quality of the entered value should be specified in the Precision column. There are four options available, which are explained below:

Rating level	Precision	Data type	Definition
Document / Measurement	+/- 5%	Primary data	Data is based on actual measurements or documented records, e.g. electricity consumption from an annual utility bill.
Extrapolation	+/- 15%	Secondary data	Data is extrapolated based on available information, e.g. employee commuting behavior based on a survey.
Spend-based	+/- 30%	Secondary data	Data is based on costs instead of actual quantities, e.g. expenses for a cleaning service.
Estimate	+/- 65%	Estimate	Data is based on rough assumptions, e.g. estimated waste volume without measurement.

To determine the overall uncertainty, the data qualities are weighted with the associated consumption values of the activities. The resulting weighted mean value represents the average uncertainty of the system boundaries under consideration. Going forward, this value will be shown in the PDF report.

Specification of data quality of the consumption data

In order to be able to assess the accuracy of the LCA balance, it is important to specify the data quality of the consumption data entered.