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If you can’t (or don’t want to) stream your model through Speckle, you can upload an IFC export instead. Real-Time LCA reads the IFC entities, groups them into types, and exposes their quantities for material mapping — just like a Speckle stream. IFC upload is in open beta. Behavior and supported schemas may change as we refine the importer — let us know if you hit issues with a specific export.

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When to use IFC upload

  • Your authoring tool doesn’t have a Speckle connector available.
  • You’re working with a model handed over by an external consultant.
  • You want a quick one-off LCA from a static export rather than a live design link.

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Prepare the export

What you include in the export directly affects how well Real-Time LCA can group elements and read their quantities — an export missing quantities or property sets will still upload, but you’ll end up filling in more by hand afterwards.

IFC Requirements and Preferences

What the file should contain — schema version, quantity sets, classification, and supported element types.

Prepare Export

Where to configure it in Revit, ArchiCAD, and other authoring tools.

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Open the upload menu

Open the project’s Materials page and choose New → IFC model in the Inventory header.
Inventory New menu open with IFC model highlighted under file upload.

The New menu on the Inventory

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Choose the model and file

Upload IFC file dialog with an Upload to model dropdown, a staged .ifc file in the drop zone, and a link to the tutorial.

The Upload IFC file dialog

Upload to model lists every model configured on the project. Pick the one matching the discipline of the export — structures for a structural engineer’s hand-off — because the file’s types are added to that model’s slice of the Inventory. Then drop the .ifc file in the drop zone, or click to browse, and click Upload. Cancel or × aborts without changes.
The dialog links a short tutorial on preparing an export. What the file contains decides how much you have to fix by hand afterwards — see Requirements and Prepare export.

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While it processes

Large IFC files take a while, so the import runs in the background.
Processing IFC file notice explaining you can keep using the app, with a toast confirming the IFC file was imported successfully.

Processing in the background

You can keep working — the project updates itself when the import finishes, and a toast confirms it. Dismiss hides the notice without stopping the import. The imported types then appear in the Inventory with the quantities and classification read from the file, ready to map — see Material Mapping.

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Updating the model

Uploading a new IFC creates a new version of the model’s data. Existing material mappings carry over for types that still match by identifier.