treeze

What treeze does

treeze Ltd. is a Swiss life cycle assessment (LCA) consulting company headquartered in Uster, Switzerland (Kanzleistrasse 4, CH-8610 Uster). Founded by Dr. Rolf Frischknecht and operating with 1-10 employees, the firm quantifies environmental impacts of products and services across the full life cycle - from raw material extraction through manufacture, use, and end-of-life treatment. Its core technology stack is methodological rather than software-centric: the proprietary Ecological Scarcity Method (in Swiss 2013 and Japanese JEPIX adaptations), regionalized water scarcity assessment, life cycle inventory analysis, and impact assessment frameworks. treeze also publishes downloadable eco-factors compatible with SimaPro 7.3 and contributes to the ecoinvent data ecosystem through its founder's prior stewardship (1998-2008).

The business model is a pure professional services consultancy. Revenue is generated through four engagement types: (1) LCA consultancy for product development and environmental management; (2) independent critical review of third-party LCA studies; (3) applied research, including EU-funded projects and Swiss National Science Foundation work; and (4) education and coaching via ETH Zürich lectures and LCA coaching programs. Customer segments span government agencies (Swiss FOEN, Japan's Ministry of Agriculture), enterprises (Franke Beverage Systems), and research consortia (NRP 69 with FiBL, Rütter Soceco, ZHAW, and University of Zurich). Marketing and demand generation are driven by peer-reviewed publications, the long-running LCA Discussion Forum at ETH Zentrum, and the 2020 Springer Nature textbook 'Lehrbuch der Ökobilanzierung.' Distribution is direct via engagement-based contracts; pricing is not publicly disclosed.

treeze is privately held, owner-operated, and has no parent company, subsidiaries, or outside funding rounds. Its moat is anchored in Dr. Frischknecht's individual authority - SETAC Europe Lifetime Achievement in LCA (2020), honorary membership in the ecoinvent association (returned 2022), and ongoing ETH Zürich teaching role - and in the regulatory and institutional adoption of its methodologies, including commissioned updates from the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment and international adaptations for Japan and EU member states.

Name

treeze

Legal name

treeze Ltd.

Website

https://treeze.ch

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

treeze is a Swiss life cycle assessment consulting firm that quantifies environmental impacts of products and services for government agencies (Swiss FOEN, Japan MAFF), enterprises, and research institutions, founded by Dr. Rolf Frischknecht in Uster, Switzerland.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Environmental Consulting

NAICS

Environmental Consulting Services (541620)

SIC

Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700)

akta.pro primary industry

Circularity Consulting & Program Management (EPR, Design-for-Circularity, LCA) (EUAIANAH)

Keywords

• Life cycle assessment
• Carbon footprint consulting
• Water footprint analysis
• Environmental impact assessment
• Sustainability methodology

Headquarters

HQ city

Uster

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Consultancy Services: Professional life cycle assessment consulting services for product development, environmental management of companies and organisations. Services include life cycle assessment, carbon footprint, water footprint, and labelling services.
2. Critical Review Services: Independent critical review services for life cycle assessments conducted by other parties.
3. Research Projects: Applied research in life cycle impact assessment, life cycle inventory analysis, and EU projects.
4. Education and Coaching: ETHZ lectures and LCA coaching for professionals in industry and administration, plus teaching materials and textbooks.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

treeze Ltd. provides professional life cycle assessment (LCA) consulting services quantifying the environmental impacts of products from resource extraction through manufacture, use, and end-of-life treatment. Offerings include LCA, carbon footprint, water footprint, labelling, critical review, applied research, and education/coaching, supported by proprietary methodologies such as the Ecological Scarcity Method (Swiss 2013 and Japan versions).

Product overview

treeze Ltd. is a life cycle assessment (LCA) consulting company offering environmental consultancy services including life cycle assessment, carbon footprint, water footprint, labelling, critical review, research, and education. Their core methodology offerings include the Ecological Scarcity Method (2013 and Japan versions), which provides eco-factors for impact assessment. The company also develops case studies in energy, building and construction, mobility, and consumption and production sectors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Life Cycle Assessment Consultancy Environmental life cycle thinking consulting applied to product development, environmental management of companies and organisations, policy making, training and research; quantifies environmental impacts of products from resource extraction through manufacture, use, and end-of-life treatment.
• Carbon Footprint Services Assessment of greenhouse gas emissions across product life cycles for companies and organisations.
• Water Footprint Services Assessment of water use and water scarcity impacts across product life cycles, including regionalized water use scarcity assessment using Google Earth layers for water catchment areas.
• Critical Review Services Independent critical review of life cycle assessments performed by other parties for quality assurance.
• Research Services Applied research in life cycle impact assessment, life cycle inventory analysis, and EU research projects.
• Education and Coaching ETHZ lectures and LCA coaching services for professionals in industry and administration, supported by teaching materials and a textbook.
• Ecological Scarcity Method 2013 Life cycle impact assessment methodology commissioned by the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN), providing eco-factors for greenhouse gases, air pollutants, water use, land use, noise pollution, heavy metals, PAHs, radioactive isotopes, and regionalized water scarcity.
• Ecological Scarcity Method Japan (JEPIX) Japanese adaptation of the ecological scarcity method for life cycle impact assessment, supporting biomass utilization and agricultural production assessment in Japan.

Quantifiable outcome

• Ecological Scarcity Method adapted for Japan and European Union member states
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOngoing partnership for environmental methodology development. Commissioned treeze to establish updates of ecological scarcity method (2013). FOEN also funded Swiss consumption and production studies and Environmentally Extended Input-Output Table projects.
• Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of JapancoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSupported the development of Ecological Scarcity Japan (JEPIX) through Rural Biomass Research Project (BUM-Ca2300). Collaboration adapted Swiss ecological scarcity methodology for Japanese context.
• ecoinvent AssociationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDr. Rolf Frischknecht served as spiritus rector for ecoinvent databases v1 and v2. Honorary membership in ecoinvent association since 2015. treeze involved in ongoing methodology development for life cycle inventory databases.
• Rütter + PartnerminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated on Swiss consumption and production study examining environmental impacts of Switzerland's consumption from 1996 to 2011. Project financed and published by FOEN.
• Rütter SocecominorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered on Environmentally Extended Input-Output Table (EE-IOT) project for Switzerland 2008, part of NRP 69 on Healthy Nutrition and Sustainable Food Production.
• FiBL (Research Institute of Organic Agriculture)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerConsortium partner in NRP 69 phase 2 project analyzing economic and environmental impact of nutrition in Switzerland, along with Flury & Giuliani, Rütter Soceco, ZHAW, and University of Zurich.
• ETH ZurichcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOngoing collaboration including LCA Discussion Forum hosting at ETH Zentrum campus. Dr. Frischknecht teaches life cycle assessment to bachelor and master students at ETH Zurich. Clausius-talks and LCA forum series founded with PhD colleagues at ETH.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Carbon Trust: Established carbon footprint and product-level environmental assessment provider, working with governments and multinationals. Overlaps with treeze's carbon and water footprint services and critical review offerings, though at significantly greater scale.
• Anthesis Group: Large sustainability consultancy with significant LCA and product footprint practices. Competes with treeze for corporate LCA engagements but offers a much broader suite of ESG, supply chain, and circular economy services.
• ERM (Environmental Resources Management): Global environmental and sustainability consultancy offering LCA, carbon footprinting, and product stewardship as part of a broader portfolio. Overlaps with treeze on LCA delivery but operates at vastly larger scale and serves a wider set of sustainability services.
• Ramboll: Global engineering and sustainability consultancy with a sizeable LCA and built-environment footprint practice. Overlaps with treeze on building/construction LCA case studies but competes as a broad incumbent rather than a pure-play LCA expert.

Others

• GreenDelta: Developer of openLCA, an open-source LCA software platform, and provider of related methodology and database services. Competitively adjacent to treeze as an enabler of LCA practice; not a like-for-like consultancy but a structural peer in the LCA tooling ecosystem.
• ecoinvent Association: Provider of the ecoinvent life cycle inventory database, which underpins most modern LCA studies. The founder was previously its honorary member, making it a strategic ecosystem partner rather than a competitor; treeze's LCAs rely on ecoinvent data and methodologies.

Direct peers

• Quantis: International sustainability consulting firm specializing in life cycle assessment, environmental footprinting, and eco-design. Compares directly to treeze on service offering (LCA, carbon and water footprint) and target customers (corporates and brands across consumer goods, food, and industrial sectors).
• Sphera: Owner of the GaBi LCA software and a major provider of LCA consultancy services. Comparable to treeze as a leading vendor offering LCA methodology, software, and consultancy in the same product category and customer base.
• PRé Sustainability: Developer of SimaPro, the leading commercial LCA software platform, and operator of an LCA consultancy. Directly comparable to treeze as both work on life cycle impact assessment methodology and LCA tooling, and treeze's Ecological Scarcity Method is distributed in SimaPro-compatible format.
• 2.-0 LCA Consultants: Specialist Danish LCA consultancy delivering life cycle assessments, EPDs, and critical reviews across sectors. Highly comparable to treeze on service scope, methodology depth, and boutique-firm positioning.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/treeze-ltd.

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about treeze