In today’s global marketplace, being a responsible company is often paramount to success. From shareholders to consumers, everyone is increasingly demanding products that are more environmentally conscious, if not 100 percent “green.” Australia is leading the world in environmental consciousness. SolidWorks Sustainability, released with SolidWorks 2010, by Solidtec Solutions helps the Australian design community better understand the ecological impact of its work and make more informed and environmentally focused design choices. SolidWorks 3D CAD is recognised as the class leader in ease of use.
Environmental Impact Factors Defined
Carbon Footprint A design’s carbon footprint consists of greenhouse gases, such as the carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and methane it releases that can contribute to global warming.
Air Acidification Air acidification refers to the burning of fossil fuels that can result in acid rain.
Water Eutrophication Water eutrophication occurs when fertilizers reach coastal waters and cause algae blooms that can result in the death of local sealife.
Total Energy Consumed Total energy consumed refers to all forms of energy the design consumes and releases over its life cycle.
Life Cycle Assessment
From raw material extraction and manufacturing to product use and disposal, SolidWorks® Sustainability shows designers and engineers the environmental impact of their choices in the product design process.
Environmental Impact Dashboard
SolidWorks Sustainability measures the environmental impact over the life cycle of your product in terms of four factors: carbon footprint, air acidification, water eutrophication, and total energy consumed. For each of these, the dashboard displays current value, a baseline comparison to your original design and percent contribution. Because it’s all done in real time, you’ll be able to easily understand the environmental impact of your design choices — and effortlessly make sustainability a standard part of your design process using SolidWorks 3D CAD.
Material Selection Tool
Historically, designers have had to search databases and compare properties one by one to find the right material for a particular job. Now, SolidWorks Sustainability can take individual part models and automatically show how “like” materials compare to the original material you selected in terms of environmental impact. This helps you to hone in on the perfect material more efficiently.
Full Environmental Reports
SolidWorks Sustainability generates customized reports showing sustainability data, complete with your contact information and company branding. With one click, you’ll have a professional presentation to demonstrate the real, intelligent steps you’ve taken to design in a sustainable world.
Become an even more successful design professional
By using SolidWorks Sustainability, you will demonstrate to your managers, co-workers, and customers that you are a forward-thinking, environmentally conscious designer. Your custom Life Cycle Assessment reports will show exactly how you’ve improved your designs — information that could be valuable to your colleagues in sales and marketing, as well.
Seamlessly integrated with SolidWorks 3D CAD
Because the SolidWorks Sustainability product lives right in the SolidWorks Task Pane, it effortlessly becomes a natural part of workflow. Sustainability data is even stored in the model file as standard engineering information for the design — so when the model is shared with others, the Life Cycle Assessment data is available to them as well. Individual model assessments are then compiled into one report when assembly begins.
Get instant design feedback
With SolidWorks Sustainability, the user does not have to wait around for data to come back or tests to be run. The environmental impact of all designs can be seen instantly as variables change. This allows the user to evaluate changes more quickly and more easily understand the environmental impact of each design choices — all on a real-time basis.