Skip to main content
If you frequently map the same build-up — an external wall, a floor slab, a partition — save it once as a construction in your organisation’s library and reuse it everywhere. This page walks through the full flow, from opening the form to saving the finished construction.

​
Open the Create construction form

Click + Construction in the top-right of the Library. The form is also reachable from Material Mapping in any project — both entry points open the same page.
Create construction page showing empty Name, Description, and Declared Unit fields on the left, a drop zone for materials, and the searchable Library materials list on the right.

Empty Create construction form with the material picker on the right

The left side is the construction you are building. The right side is a searchable, filterable list of every material in the Library — exactly the same list you see on the Materials tab.

​
1. Name the construction

Fill in the Construction Name (required) and an optional Description. The description is plain text and is shown on the row in the Constructions list — use it to summarise the layers and thicknesses so teammates can identify the build-up at a glance.

​
2. Pick a declared unit

The Declared Unit is required and controls how the construction is quantified when it is mapped to a model element.
Declared Unit dropdown expanded with options m (meter), m² (square meter), m³ (cubic meter), kg (kilogram), and pcs (piece).

Declared Unit dropdown

Available units:
Create construction form with Name set to Exterior Wall 588 mm, a description listing precast concrete, Isover insulation, and yellow brick layers, and Declared Unit set to m².

Header fields completed

​
3. Drag materials into the construction

Find each material you need in the right-hand list — use the search box or the filter panel exactly like on the Materials tab. Grab the material’s drag handle and drop it on the Drag material here to add to construction zone on the left.
A material card being dragged from the right-hand Library list toward the drop zone on the left, with the drop zone outlined.

Dragging a precast concrete material from the Library onto the drop zone

Once the material is dropped, it appears as a layer under Materials with a Dimensions button.
Materials section showing a single Precast concrete partition wall element layer with a Dimensions button on the right.

First layer added — concrete

​
If the material has no lifetime

If the material you just dropped doesn’t carry a declared service life, Real-Time LCA stops the drop with a prompt before adding it to the construction. Enter a New Life Time in years, or open the Lifetime table for guidance, then Save to accept the layer.
Modal titled 'Uh-oh. Seems that you are trying to map a material without a lifetime!' with a New Life Time input pre-filled to 100 and a Lifetime table button.

Lifetime prompt shown when dropping a material with no declared service life

Click a material’s open icon to inspect its full EPD panel without leaving the form — useful for confirming you have the right product and for reading any multiplication-factor tables it ships with (see Scaled EPDs below).

​
4. Set each layer’s dimensions

Click Dimensions on a layer to open the Adjust dimensions modal. The fields that appear depend on the material’s declared unit and the construction’s declared unit — Real-Time LCA only asks for the dimensions it needs to convert one to the other.
Adjust dimensions modal for a precast concrete layer with a 3D preview, Thickness set to 0.15 m, and Quantity calculated as 2313.33 kg.

Concrete layer — thickness drives the m² → m³ conversion

Adjust dimensions modal for a yellow brick layer with Width set to 0.108 m and Quantity 171.504 kg.

Brick layer — width-driven volume per m² of wall

The 3D preview reflects each value as you type, so you can sanity-check the layer thickness before saving. Click Close to confirm the layer.

​
Scaled EPDs (e.g. insulation)

Most insulation EPDs — and several other thin-layer products — are declared for a fixed reference thickness and expect you to multiply by a factor to reach the thickness you actually need. The EPD lists those factors in its description.
EPD detail panel for Isover Formstykke 37 showing a description that lists multiplication factors '1× = 37 mm, 1.22× = 45 mm, 1.89× = 70 mm, 2.57× = 95 mm, …, 7.97× = 295 mm', with the 7.97× row highlighted.

Isover Formstykke 37 EPD — multiplication factors with 7.97× = 295 mm highlighted

In this construction the wall needs 295 mm of Isover Formstykke 37, so the factor is 7.97 (295 mm ÷ 37 mm). Enter that factor as the Quantity in the Adjust dimensions modal — the thickness and weight then update accordingly (0.295 m, 4.57 kg).
Adjust dimensions modal for an Isover Formstykke 37 layer with Quantity 7.97 m², Thickness 0.295 m, and Weight 4.5708 kg shown in the live preview.

Insulation layer scaled by entering the multiplication factor as Quantity

For non-scaled materials (such as the concrete and brick layers above), leave Quantity at its default — you only need to set the dimension the EPD doesn’t already declare.
Repeat for every material you drag in. As you add layers, the Materials list shows each one’s mass per declared unit and share of the total weight.
Materials section listing three layers — Precast concrete (92.93%), Isover Formstykke (0.18%), and Yellow bricks (6.89%) — with their mass per m² shown next to the Dimensions buttons.

Three layers added with dimensions resolved

​
5. Save to your organisation library

Click Create Construction in the bottom-right.

​
Review the preview

The Construction Preview modal summarises the name, declared unit, description, and every layer with its lifetime and resolved mass. Use Go back if anything looks wrong, or Save Construction to commit it to the Library.
Construction Preview modal listing three layers with their lifetimes and mass shares, plus Go back and Save Construction buttons.

Construction Preview before saving

​
Confirmation

A green Construction created successfully toast confirms the save and returns you to the Constructions list with the new build-up in place.
Library Constructions tab with a green 'Construction created successfully' toast at the top.

Success toast on the Constructions tab

​
Find your saved constructions

Constructions you create are owned by your organisation. To see only your own build-ups, open the filter panel on the Constructions tab and pick your organisation under Organisations.
Filter panel on the Constructions tab with the Organisations subfilter expanded and Acme Corp selected.

Filtering the Constructions list by organisation

From here you can favourite, clone, compare, or open the new construction — see Browse constructions for the row-level actions.