Landscape Life Cycle Analysis Tool

Landscape Life Cycle Analysis Tool - Coming August 12!

The Landscape Life Cycle Analysis (LLCA) Tool evaluates landscapes through comprehensive lens that considers the landscape’s tangible and intangible resource requirements. The LLCA tool is designed to estimate landscape resource needs beyond the financial cost and water demand, incorporating energy inputs, labor, maintenance materials and climate impacts. By including multiple variables in a life cycle assessment, the LLCA tool enables users to compare landscape designs and understand the tradeoffs among them.

Tool Highlights:

• The tool calculates life cycle resources of a landscape including
  • Financial cost
  • Water use
  • Energy use
  • Labor hours
  • Fertilizer & pesticide use
  • Particulate matter production
  • Carbon sequestration (hydrocarbon balance)
• User friendly Excel-based tool
• User Guide available for tool support
• Comparison of life cycle resource requirements for 3 landscapes
• A decision tree to help choose landscapes based on resource requirements
• Visual outputs to show resource requirements

Access the User Guide Here

Landscape Life Cycle Analysis Case Study

The tool was informed by a field  study of six landscapes in Northern Utah. The research team scaled results from this field study and applied them to Salt Lake City residential landscapes. The Landscape Life Cycle Analysis Case Study details landscape resource requirements from 2024 - 2025 and models the 30-year life cycle of each landscape type.

Access the Case Study Here

Tool Development

The Landscape Life Cycle Analysis Tool was developed by Utah State University Center for Water-Efficient Landscaping in association with the Alliance for Water Efficiency’s Resource Positive Landscapes Project funded by The Scotts Miracle-Gro Foundation. The LLCA Tool was developed from and improved upon the Value Landscape Engineering Tool by Rosenberg and colleagues (2011).

Please use the following citations when referencing the tool.

Alliance for Water Efficiency & Utah State University. Landscape Life Cycle Analysis Tool. Chicago, IL: Alliance for Water Efficiency, 2026.

Rosenberg, David, Kelly Kopp, Heidi Kratsch, Larry Rupp, Paul Johnson, and Roger Kjelgren. 2011. Value landscape engineering: Identifying costs, water use, labor, and impacts to support landscape choice.  Journal of the American Water Resources Association. 47:635-649. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752-1688.2011.00530.x.

Need tool support? Reach out to research@a4we.org with questions.