Net Zero Compare
TallyLCA

TallyLCA

by Building Transparency

Integrated Environmental Assessment for Material Choices

Updated by Onye Dike on December 19th, 2025
TallyLCA (also called tally) is a whole-building life cycle assessment (LCA) tool integrated into Autodesk Revit that helps architects, engineers, and design teams quantify the environmental impacts of building material choices during design rather than post-construction. It links BIM element quantities to a curated life-cycle materials database to deliver impact data in real time within the design workflow. Tally supports evaluation of embodied carbon and other impacts and enables side-by-side comparisons of design options, helping teams understand trade-offs and make data-informed sustainability decisions early in project development.

Available Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Features

Data Import/Export
Data Quality/Pedigree
EPD Database
Emissions Hotspot Identification
Environmental Product Declaration (EPD)
ISO Compliance
Product Comparison
Projects GWP
Scenarios
System Boundaries & Cut-offs

Missing Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Features

API Integration
Allocation & Co-product Rules
Background Database Connectivity
DPP Database
Data Quality at Scale
Digital Product Passports (DPP)
ECI
EPD Global
EPD International
EPD Search Tool
Goal & Scope Builder
IBU
ILCD+EPD
ILCD/EcoSpold/JSON-LD Import
INIES
Lifecycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) Methods Library
Multiple Program Operators
NMD
Parameterized Models
Product Carbon Footprint (PCF)
Product Environmental Footprint (PEF)
Review & Audit Trail
Sensitivity & Contribution Analysis
Smart EPD
Supplier Collaboration Tools
Uncertainty (Monte Carlo)
Unit-Process Modeling

Pricing

Starting Price
USD 695.00 / per year
Options
  • Free Trial
  • Annual Subscription

Available Since

2020

Deployment Options

No data available

Good Option For

  • Small Business (11-50 people)
  • Medium Business (51-250 people)
  • Large Business (250+ people)

Deep dive


Core Features

TallyLCA’s approach centers on integrating whole-building LCA directly into architects’ and engineers’ primary design environment. It provides embodied impact analysis for full buildings and comparative design options based on material quantities from Revit and a built-in database, making impact feedback part of the design process rather than a separate post-hoc exercise. Some of its main features are:

  • Revit-embedded whole-building impact analysis — Performs LCA on the full building model without leaving Autodesk Revit.

  • Design option comparison — Enables side-by-side analysis of alternative design scenarios to explore differences in environmental impact.

  • Material linking to database — Associates BIM quantities to materials in Tally’s database for automated calculation of impacts.

  • Real-time embodied carbon feedback — Displays embodied impact results as the model evolves, supporting decisions during design.

  • Supports lifecycle stages — Includes embodied impacts across phases such as manufacturing, transport, use, and end-of-life per whole-building LCA conventions.

Closing Insights

Tally began within KieranTimberlake’s research ecosystem to bring actionable life cycle assessment into the hands of design teams rather than reserving it for specialists after project completion. It is recognized as one of the earliest LCA plugins for Revit, enabling whole-building embodied impact evaluation directly in design software rather than separate tools or manual workflows. In 2021, stewardship of Tally was formally transferred from KieranTimberlake to Building Transparency, a nonprofit focused on open-access carbon tools, aligning its development with broader industry decarbonization efforts and closer integration with Building Transparency’s other resources.

Building Transparency has announced development of Tally 2.0 with planned features such as interactive reporting and enhanced standard alignment, reflecting ongoing investment in making embodied impact data more accessible and actionable for project teams. TallyLCA is typically licensed (including a free trial) with continued updates to maintain compatibility with recent Revit releases.

Professionals who want embodied-impact insights within their primary BIM workflow may find TallyLCA attractive because it embeds LCA into Revit and supports direct comparison of design choices. Its path from research prototype to widely used industry tool underscores a long-standing interest among architects and engineers in integrating sustainability metrics into mainstream practice.


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