Measuring Environmental Impact with SOLIDWORKS Sustainability - Overview

Eco-friendly and Sustainable products are buzz words we are frequently hearing on the internet, radio, and TV. The "Green Movement" as it is commonly referred to, is taking a look at our manufacturing processes (and other activities) to make sure that we do not use up or destroy life forms and resources when making our products. At the end of the day, we want to design products that will make our lives better, and ensure that we are saving the environment for future generations to come.

Companies all over the world are striving to meet green certifications. Dassault Systems is one of these companies that has been recognized for their efforts in meeting the green certification requirements.

But how does SOLIDWORKS help us measure how green our products are? SOLIDWORKS Sustainability.

With SOLIDWORKS Sustainability, you'll have the built-in environmental intelligence to make more informed decisions about what materials to use. You'll also see how region-specific material sourcing, manufacturing, use, and disposal will affect your product's life cycle before manufacturing begins. 

SOLIDWORKS offers 2 different levels of this product. Sustainability and Sustainability Xpress

Sustainability Xpress only works with part files containing solid bodies and is part of SOLIDWORKS Standard. The full Sustainability product handles parts and assembly files and is available in SOLIDWORKS Premium. The full version of this software adds in configuration support, advanced reporting options, and expanded environmental impacts.

Below, is a table that compares the different functions we get in each of the products:

To start using these products, they can easily be found under your Tools pull-down menu (there is no add-in for these products under Tools, Add-ins). You will find the Sustainability Xpress with the other Xpress tools (Tools, Xpress Tools, Sustainability Xpress). You will find the full program under the SOLIDWORKS Applications option of the Tools menu (Tools, SOLIDWORKS Applications, Sustainability)

By using Sustainability in your product designs, you will be able to look an entire life cycle assessment (LCA). This will show you how your choices in material, manufacturing methods, and manufacturing locations will impact the environment. All by applying some simple parameters into the Sustainability task pane.

Sustainability will analyze the environmental impact factors base on your inputs, including the Carbon Footprint, Energy Consumption, Air Acidification, and Water Eutrophication (contamination of the water ecosystem).

So if you are interested in showing how green your products are, or if you just want to save a tree, check out the SOLIDWORKS Sustainability products. Please continue to follow this series as we will continue take a deep dive into this product and explain how it all works. 

We hope this series gives you some good insight to the new SOLIDWORKS Sustainability product.  Please check back to the CATI Blog as the Dedicated Support Team will continue posting new series of articles every month that go further into the details of many of the SOLIDWORKS tools. All of these articles will be stored in the category of Daily Dose…of SOLIDWORKS Support and links to each article with their release date are listed below:

• Measuring Environmental Impact with SOLIDWORKS Sustainability– Overview (Bryan Pawlak 10/15/15)
• Measuring Environmental Impact with SOLIDWORKS Sustainability– Task Pane (George Branes 10/19/15)
• Measuring Environmental Impact with SOLIDWORKS Sustainability– Parts (John Van Engen 10/20/15)
• Measuring Environmental Impact with SOLIDWORKS Sustainability– Assemblies (Blake Cokinis 10/21/15)
• Measuring Environmental Impact with SOLIDWORKS Sustainability– Custom Materials (Neil Bucalo 10/22/15)
• Measuring Environmental Impact with SOLIDWORKS Sustainability– Visualization (Ron Flaugh 10/26/15)

Bryan Pawlak, CSWE

Sr. Application Engineer

Computer Aided Technology