eco
Be up for the ecological challenges or prototyping
eco
Be up for the ecological challenges or prototyping
The EcoCheck asks you several questions to determine the ecological properties of your product. For that purpose, the entire life cycle - from the extraction and processing of raw materials and energy, through production and use, to recycling and final disposal of the product, is taken into account. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has developed a step-by-step guide to sustainable product design: The Design for Sustainability Step-by-Step Approach. The EcoCheck methodology is based on this approach. By means of an extensive database, it is checked to what extent the product properties already determined meet various sustainability strategies and how many greenhouse gases are emitted over all life phases of the product. As a result, the Eco Performance and a CO2 footprint of your product can be determined.
The analysis is based on a comprehensive survey of all Makerspaces and FabLabs in Germany. The type of materials, tools and equipment used are recorded. In addition, the various working methods and product types are classified. With the help of this inventory and demand analysis, sustainability strategies could be developed, which follow UNEP‘s Design for Sustainability Approach.
In each phase of your product's life, different sustainability strategies play a role and each choice you make in the EcoCheck can influence one or even more of these strategies. The decision of whether the selection of, for instance, a product characteristic, meets a criterion or it does not, is based on the current knowledge of recognized research institutes, scientific associations and environmental authorities.
Example:
If you choose a strong adhesive to join two different types of plastic parts together, this makes the joint and thus your product more resistant. This is one of the criteria for the sustainability strategy "Create a durable product". At the same time, such a non-detachable connection prevents the two parts from being recycled separately. A criterion for the sustainability strategy Enable the Ecologically Optimal Disposal is not fully met.
In order to determine the Eco Performance of your product, all specified product characteristics are compared with the criteria of the sustainability strategy and it can be determined to what extent your product fulfills the strategies in a certain phase of its life. This is clearly presented to you in a radar diagram. In addition, you will receive hints and tips that reflect your selection and help you to find an ecologically optimised product.
The CO2 footprint tells you how many greenhouse gases your product emits into the environment. Not only carbon dioxide is considered, but also other climate-impacting gases known as CO2 equivalents. These gases include methane, which contributes 25 times more to global warming than carbon dioxide over a period of 100 years. One gram of CO2 corresponds to 1 g CO2 equivalent and the same amount of methane corresponds to 25 g CO2 equivalent.
During the extraction and processing of the raw materials, the use of electrical equipment in the production process and the disposal of your product, climate-impacting gases are produced in different ways. Greenhouse gases are mainly released when fossil fuels are used, but also in agriculture or waste disposal.
The values for the specific emissions caused by the provision of the materials come from the databases of the world's leading life cycle assessment systems GaBi and ecoinvent. Emissions during production are determined on the basis of the average power consumption of the equipment, using empirical studies and manufacturer data. Emissions during disposal are strongly dependent on the disposal method. Information on the respective disposal routes is taken from a final report of the Federal Environment Agency from 2019. However, the recycling process does not only generate greenhouse gas emissions. They are also avoided, as the provision of secondary raw materials prevents the production of the material from primary sources. Such a credit is also included in the calculation of the CO2 footprint.
However, background emissions in maker space, for example from heating, cleaning or the production of the equipment used, are not taken into account.