LCA Calculator

LCA Calculator is an online tool to allow designers and engineers to assess the environmental impact of their product designs, and was developed as a joint venture between product design agency IDC and Naked Creativity.

LCA Calculator is currently being used extensively by design engineers across Jaguar Land Rover; at various academic institutions; as well as being available to the general public via a subscription.

The user is guided through four stages in modeling their product – manufacture, transport, use and disposal. Each stage has its own discreet functionality and requirements, from adding and reordering parts and assemblies at the manufacture stage, to adjusting the recycling rate of those parts at disposal.

Upon completing each of the stages, users see a breakdown of the CO₂ equivalent for each of their parts and assemblies, the transport of those parts to the end-user, and a breakdown of any electricity or consumables used during the product’s lifetime. The application is designed to allow users to rapidly compare design options and ascertain where the biggest gains can be made in terms of sustainability. This information is also available in a detailed report, created as a PDF.

As sustainable design is about wider issues than simply CO₂emissions, a new version of the calculator, currently being rolled out, now tracks the environmental impact across more metrics than solely CO₂, such as eutrophication and ozone depletion.