ECODESIGN+

Core Features

ECODESIGN+ combines life cycle-based calculations with visual analysis and practical ecodesign guidance. Its emphasis is on making product carbon footprint information useful during product developmen. Key functionalities include:

• Product Carbon Footprint Calculation: Calculates greenhouse gas emissions across product life cycle stages using established life cycle assessment methodologies, including ISO 14040/44 principles.

• Environmental Hotspot Identification: Displays total product carbon footprints and their breakdown by life cycle stage, component and assembly, helping users identify the materials and processes contributing most to emissions.

• Design Variant Comparison: Provides a What-if function that allows users to duplicate product models, change materials or processes, and compare the resulting carbon footprints before implementing design modifications.

• Ecodesign Recommendations: Uses assessment results and ecodesign checklists to suggest targeted improvement measures, helping developers prioritize changes with potential to reduce product emissions.

• Environmental Data & Custom Modelling: Integrates the ecoinvent database and allows users to create reusable datasets for specific materials, processes and supplier components. CSV imports can also be used to construct product models from bills of materials or supplier data.

• Interactive Results & Collaboration: Updates environmental results as product models change, with graphical contribution analyses and model-sharing functionality.

Closing Insights

ECODESIGN+ draws on the expertise of Wolfgang Wimmer, co-founder and managing director of ECODESIGN company GmbH. A mechanical engineer and professor of Engineering Design and Ecodesign at TU Wien since 2002, Wimmer has led numerous industrial ecodesign projects and developed the ECODESIGN PILOT methodology for environmentally responsible product development. His work has included collaborations with Philips Austria, Steelcase and Siemens Transportation.

The platform's published use cases feature Austrian companies, including IFN Holding AG, Lottmann Fensterbänke GmbH and Eisenbeiss GmbH, suggesting that Austria is an important market for ECODESIGN+. Nevertheless, manufacturers and product developers outside Austria may also find its product carbon footprint and ecodesign capabilities relevant. Prospective international users can contact ECODESIGN company GmbH to discuss software access, implementation support and suitability for their specific product assessment requirements.

The Basic Plan costs €890 annually while educational institutions can obtain a semester licence for €2,490. The company offers specialist support for product modelling and more comprehensive LCA studies.