Software

For a quick overview of HBEFA, its contents, its applications, its institutional and methodical background, and an overview of columns in the emission factor query output, click the orange button below.

HBEFA is a Microsoft Access application. It runs on all Windows versions that support Microsoft Access (from Version 2016 upward, as well as Office 365). As of Version 4.1, HBEFA can also be run with 64-bit versions of MS Office.

The installer will install a “runtime” version of MS Access if no compatible version of Access is pre-installed on the target machine. Please note that HBEFA 4.2 cannot be installed in parallel with HBEFA 4.1. Detailed installation instructions can be found by clicking the orange button "Installation instructions" below.

Please note that HBEFA 4.2 cannot be installed in parallel to HBEFA 4.1 using the installer.

HBEFA may sometimes reach the limits of memory available to MS Access. Already in previous versions of HBEFA, “out of memory” errors sometimes occurred. With increasing data amounts contained in the application, such errors occur more frequently in newer versions of HBEFA. It is planned to release the next major update (HBEFA 5.1) on a new software platform to solve this problem.

The following measures may serve as a work-around if “out of memory” errors occur in HBEFA:

• Close other MS Office applications while running HBEFA;
• Close and reopen HBEFA when an out-of-memory error occurs;
• Close and reopen HBEFA frequently to free up memory blocked from opening forms, tables etc.
• Run HBEFA and its back-end (System, User, Library) databases on a local drive (C:), not on network drives.
• Optimize/defragmenting the hard drive on which HBEFA (via Windows 10 settings or Control Panel in older Windows versions) is stored.

The Windows 10 start menu sometimes does not show certain shortcuts, even though they are available. The HBEFA shortcuts (to start the application or to optimize the System or User databases) can also be affected. In this case, a simple workaround is to access the shortcuts in Windows Explorer via the following path:
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs

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The standard MS Access installation produces regularly security warnings. There are different ways to disable these security warnings. This document explains two ways. However, INFRAS is not responsible for any impacts which might occur if these security warnings are disabled by the user.

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