Eco-design is the integration of environmental aspects in the product design process, aiming at reducing the negative environmental impacts along the whole life cycle, considering, in the meantime, such requirements as cost, quality, function and aesthetics. Eco-design can help companies to improve efficiency, image, customer relations and compliance to environmental laws. eVerdEE new is a tool designed to facilitate the integration of environmental requirements in companies, especially Small and Medium Enterprises, supporting the users along a simplified environmental analysis of products and the identification of critical points and improvement potentials, allowing an easy software integration with other design supporting tools.
eVerdEE new is a web application for eco-design, integrated in product design
eVerdEE new is the updated version of a web application that enables environmental analyses using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology. This method quantifies the potential environmental impacts of a product throughout its life cycle, taking into account various impact indicators. eVerdEE new allows users to carry out scientifically accurate yet simplified analyses of products and services “from cradle to grave”, that is, from raw material extraction to the end of the product’s life, and is supported by a database containing environmental information on materials and processes, including those from the European Reference Life Cycle Database. eVerdEE new was developed within the G.EN.ESI project (FP7-NMP-2011-SMALL-5 – Grant Agreement Number 280371).
The latest version of the application give users the possibility to share XML files with other design supporting tools, such as CAD (Computer Aided Design) software and tools for improving the efficiency of electric and electronic equipment. eVerdEE new thus supports eco-innovation in companies, especially Small and Medium Enterprises, offering practical solutions for the LCA methodology to be applied, even by non-experts and allowing to identify improvement potentials in the product development process.
eVerdEE is designed to be used in companies, belonging to the industrial or agricultural sectors, which want to start eco-innovation paths and to reduce the environmental impact of their products. The tool can also be used to teach students the use of Life Cycle Assessment and the interpretation of results.
eVerdEE radar chart comparing environmental impacts of the existing and re-designed cooker hood
Eco-design of a cooker hood
To maintain its competitive advantage and offer a new product with an “A class” energy label, a cooker hood manufacturer decided to re-design one of its most popular products to create a new product line with a reduced environmental impact. First of all, the company defined its environmental goals, and then collected all the data related to the life cycle of its best sold product. Then it used eVerdEE new to calculate the environmental impact of the existing product, identifying environmental critical points and potentials, and elaborated the results, translating them into indicators and design objectives. Based on these, it re-designed the product to reach the set environmental goals. The company finally used eVerdEE new to quantify the generated improvement, in relation to different environmental impact categories. The company replaced halogen lamps with LED ones and used a brushless motor, halving the energy consumption along the product life cycle. eVerdEE new then allowed to quantify the improvements realized thanks to the reduced energy use and to verify how, for some environmental impacts, other activities and phases are more critical, underlining the need for a multi-indicator analysis to give back a correct picture and lead to an overall reduction of the product impact.
Faber Spa
eVerdEE new is available for free, upon registration, at http://www.ecosmes.net. The Laboratory is willing to customize the application for interested companies.
eVerdEE has been used to support the eco-design process of a cooker hood