SOLIDWORKS Sustainability and ISO 14000 certification

ISO 14000 addresses various aspects of environmental management. The standards, ISO 14001:2004 and ISO 14004:2004 deal with environmental management systems (EMS).

ISO 14004:2004 provides guidelines on the elements of an environmental management system and its implementation, and discusses principal issues involved.

ISO 14001:2004 specifies the requirements for such an environmental management system. Fulfilling these requirements demands objective evidence which can be audited to demonstrate that the environmental management system is operating effectively in conformity to the standard.

An EMS meeting the requirements of ISO 14001:2004 is a management tool enabling an organization of any size or type to

-          Identify and control the environmental impact of its activities, products or services, and to

-          Improve its environmental performance continually, and to

-          Implement a systematic approach to setting environmental objectives and targets, to achieving these and to demonstrating that they have been achieved.

How can SOLIDWORKS Sustainability help?

SOLIDWORKS Sustainability evaluates the environmental impact of a design throughout the life cycle of a product.  A user can compare results from different designs to ensure a sustainable solution for product and environment.  By integrating Life Cycle Assessment into design process, a user can see how decisions about material, manufacturing and location (where the parts are manufactured and where they are used) influence a design’s environmental impact.  SOLIDWORKS Sustainability distills the results into environmental impact factors, which it measures and totals in terms of Carbon Emissions, Energy Consumed, Air Acidification and Water Eutrophication.

The objective behind ISO 14001:2004 is to assure management and stake holders on environmental issues, comply with regulations, support an organizations environmental policy, and actions. Because ISO 14001:2004 does not lay down levels of environmental performance, the standard can be implemented by a wide variety of organizations. SOLIDWORKS Sustainability can provide a framework to demonstrate conformity. SOLIDWORKS Sustainability can help support an organizations claims and communications on their environmental initiatives.

Rajat Trehan

Product Manager – Design Validation

Computer Aided Technology Inc.