New body to limit environmental impact of engineered products

Granta’s David Cebon: “These issues are vital.”

The founder members are NASA, the UK aerospace company Rolls Royce, US engineering giant Emerson Electric and Eurocopter, and Granta Design, a UK company specialising in developing software for materials management.

“We’re excited to be launching this major new project in such a crucial area for both industry and society,” said David Cebon, Managing Director at Granta and Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Cambridge University. “The calibre of the initial members and the broad interest that we have experienced across industry sectors demonstrates its importance. These issues are vital – whether you are an aerospace organisation seeking to avoid use of materials that may become obsolete in future, or an appliance manufacturer aiming to reduce the environmental impact of products without increasing cost.”

EMIT will develop information resources and software to aid members’ response to environmental regulations and to enable them to design for minimum environmental impact. This will include helping to ensure products have a low carbon footprint and are energy efficient, and enable members to reduce wastes and emissions and avoid restricted substances.

The three-year project is expected to grow to between 10 and 15 member organisations.

The effects of REACH

Regulations such as the European Union’s REACH rules on the use of chemicals are having a profound effect on manufacturing organisations. The new rules could mean materials or processes may become obsolete or prohibitively expensive. Problems with compliance will introduce delays and cost.

At the same time, other environmental objectives, such as low carbon footprint or design for end-of-life, are becoming more important owing to consumer demand and government action, such as carbon trading schemes. By far the best response is to build consideration of these factors into the design process at the point where modifications cost least and have the greatest impact.

Choices of materials and of manufacturing processes are of central importance, since these determine the use of restricted substances and can have a major influence on energy usage and emissions over a product’s lifetime. Requirements for such choices include:

• Accurate information on restricted substances and on properties such as the carbon dioxide generated in producing a raw material

• Specialist analysis capabilities, for example, to estimate the carbon dioxide that a potential product will generate at each stage in its lifecycle, based on the materials and processes it uses

• Well managed corporate materials information integrated with the organisation’s wider business and engineering systems to enable all materials in a product to be identified and the impact of materials substitutions to be assessed

Currently, manufacturers have none of these elements in place. Excellence in eco design demands integrated and easy access to all of them. This is the focus of EMIT.

The starting point will be proven technology developed by Granta and the University of Cambridge in each of, eco property data, eco analysis software, and materials information management. Consortium members will implement and apply this technology in their design processes, and guide its further development and integration.

The model for the project is the successful Material Data Management Consortium, which has brought together leaders in aerospace, defence, and energy to develop best practice approaches and software to manage mission-critical materials data. The MDMC is now in its sixth year, with seventeen active member organisations.

Dr Graham Sims, Knowledge Leader for the Industry and Innovation Division at the National Physical Laboratory, said EMIT fits the lab’s mission to deliver economic and social impact through science and knowledge services. EMIT “will put materials information technology to very practical use, delivering business benefits to its members, while also helping to achieve wider environmental objectives”.