The system_boundary table

The closed vocabulary of what a factor counts. Not a label: it is the position on the decomposition axis, and it is what makes two numbers comparable or not.

Fields#

field type required example meaning
code text yes The stable short identifier used to reference this row.
description text yes Free prose describing this row.
family text yes lifecycle / energy_stage / contribution / asset_stage / unknown
standard text yes Scheme that DEFINES the code: 'open_ef' for our semantic aggregates, 'en15804' for the EN 15804 / ISO 21930 life-cycle module codes, etc. So the table records provenance instead of pretending EN 15804 modules are ours.
phase_upstream text yes What the code covers of the upstream phase: raw materials, inbound transport, well-to-tank, T&D losses (MOD-0032 R1): full / partial / none / unstated / n_a. unstated is the publisher's silence and n_a a phase the product has no such thing as (a fuel's downstream and end of life); neither is none, and no renderer folds them into it. The four phase columns are declared in ingest.lifecycle_coverage and seeded by revision.
phase_production text yes Same vocabulary, for production: manufacturing, packaging, the activity's own fuel burn, fugitive releases and purchased energy.
phase_downstream text yes Same vocabulary, for downstream: outbound transport, retail, installation, use and maintenance.
phase_eol text yes Same vocabulary, for end of life: collection, treatment and disposal.
role text yes whole / part / credit / unknown (MOD-0032 R2): the number stands alone, is one slice to add to its siblings, is a signed credit never summed into a total, or the source stated no boundary at all.
preset text yes The reader-facing group the explorer's boundary filter draws as a parent (cradle_to_gate, energy_full_chain, upstream_slice, ...): exactly one per code, from ingest.lifecycle_coverage.PRESETS; a preset's role is the role of every code under it.

Referenced by#

emission_factor.system_boundary, system_boundary_scope.boundary_code.

Notes#

Aggregate only over family <> 'contribution'. A contribution (raw materials, transport, ...) is a part of its parent factor: reporting one alone under-reports, silently. Every code and its meaning is listed in the vocabularies page.