Every EPD project creates a chain of handoffs. Product data and the PCR become an LCA model. The model becomes a report. The report becomes an EPD and a set of recommendations.

Each handoff makes the work easier to distribute—but it can also separate the result from the context that produced it.

The report shows the answer. The model contains the structure, sources, assumptions and decisions behind that answer.

CarbonGraph model sharing helps teams keep that context together. Instead of passing around copies, exports and disconnected files, approved collaborators can work from the same governed model with access matched to what they need to do.

Where context gets lost

A typical EPD workflow moves through three connected jobs:

1. Build the model. A practitioner translates product documentation, plant data and PCR requirements into a defensible LCA model.

2. Verify the work. A verifier checks the model, its sources and the logic behind the results.

3. Use the results. The manufacturer turns the verified information into disclosures, customer conversations and reduction decisions.

When each job happens in a different format, questions multiply. Why was this dataset chosen? Which version produced the number in the report? What changed between two product configurations? Can the client test a different input without changing the verified baseline?

A static report cannot carry every answer. The model can.

One model, shared with the right access

CarbonGraph supports sharing a model with a named person or another organization. Access is assigned according to how the recipient needs to work:

• Modeler access is for people who build and maintain the model.

• Analyst access is for people who need read-only access to inspect the model and results or run scenarios without changing the underlying baseline.

That means the practitioner, verifier and client can work from the same model without giving everyone the same level of control.

Sharing can also include the model’s reachable linked-model structure, so collaborators receive the context needed to understand the system rather than an isolated top-level result. Access remains governed by the permissions applied to the model and its dependencies.

Cross-organization model sharing is currently enabled on request. CarbonGraph can help confirm the appropriate access and sharing setup for a team.

What changes for the verifier

A verifier working only from a report is reviewing a translation of the model. When appropriate model access is available, the verifier can inspect the model structure and the information behind the result more directly.

This does not change the verifier’s independence or guarantee a verification outcome. It changes the quality of the handoff.

Instead of reconstructing the model through email exchanges and supporting files, the verifier and practitioner can refer to the same governed source. Questions can be tied to the model context that produced them, and the practitioner can address them without creating another disconnected copy.

What changes for the client

The client receives more than a final document. Their team can retain access to the model behind it.

That makes the work useful beyond disclosure:

• Analysts can explore configurations and understand which inputs drive the result.

• Decision-makers can review the level of information appropriate to them.

• New collaborators can receive governed access without restarting the handoff from scratch.

• The maintained model can remain the shared reference as product data evolves.

The EPD is still an essential deliverable. The shared model makes the work behind it easier to understand, maintain and use.

From a completed report to an ongoing capability

LCA work becomes more valuable when the model is not abandoned after the report is delivered.

A shared, governed model gives teams a common place to:

• maintain the product system;

• inspect assumptions and sources;

• test scenarios;

• coordinate verification; and

• carry environmental information into future product decisions.

The report communicates the result. The model preserves the reasoning and structure that made the result possible.

Share the model, not just the report—and keep everyone working from the same context.

Book a working session to discuss how model sharing could support your team, client or verifier: https://carbongraph.io/company/book-a-demo