Demonstrate and Assess New Tools for Environmental Sustainability DANTES Lennart Swanström ABB Corporate Research ABB examples

Demonstrate and Assess New Tools for Environmental SustainabilityDemonstrate and Assess New Tools for Environmental Sustainability

DANTESDANTES

Lennart SwanströmABB Corporate Research

ABB examples

http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/life/home.htm


PROJECT INFORMATIONPROJECT INFORMATION ABB

• ABB is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve performance while lowering environmental impact

• The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs around 102,000 people

• Revenues 20 721 MUSD (2004)

• ABB in DANTES• Four people from Corporate Research in the project

group• Five people representing the Business Areas and

Group Function Sustainability Affairs in the steering group

STRATEGIESSTRATEGIES


Two DANTES strategies developed by ABB

• R&D– How to integrate sustainability aspects in

product development through a Gate model

• Marketing– How to use Environmental Product

Declarations (EPD) in marketing



Sustainability aspects in product development

• The ABB Gate model provide a framework for management of development projects.

• The aim is to ensure that projects are driven by business objectives and executed with full management commitment

• The use of the ABB Gate model also implies that the line organization is actively involved in the project and that the project status is made visible.

• The ABB Gate Model is mandatory in all ABBs business areas


STRATEGIESSTRATEGIES Sustainability aspects in product development

• A gate is a decision point in a project where the achieved results are evaluated from a business and strategic (and sustainability etc..) point of view to determine whether to continue the project or not.

• Each Gate consists of two parts, a Gate assessment and a Gate meeting



• Sustainability objectives and plans was included in the ABB Gate model during year 2000

• A supporting sustainability toolbox on ABBs Intranet and training programs were then also launched



The key is early planning of actions!

The sustainability plan is acritical part of the concept“the red thread”




Objectives Resourceweeks

Finished (date)

Responsible person

No hazardous materials(check laws & restricted list)

0,25 2004-04-30 N.N.

LCA Light comparing newproduct with presentproduct

1,5 2004-04-30 M.M.

Low energy consumptionduring usage phase

0,25 2004-09-30 N.N.

LCC tool adapted to newproduct

1,5 2004-10-31 N.N./P.P

Marketing material based onenvironmental performance

1,5 2004-12-15 N.N/S.S


Sustainabilityplan - example




Experiences• The time consumption (calendar and resource)

for the implementation process should not be underestimated

• Establishment of a supporting toolbox and organization is critical but resource demanding– It is of especial importance to consider long

term maintenance of the toolbox and support organization

– www.dantes.info can be helpful in this process




What can be found on www.dantes.info?• Strategy/R&D

– A strategy on how to implement environmental aspects in product development through a Gate model

• Publications– An article describing ABBs experiences

• Tools & Method/Management– A more general description of a Gate model

• Tools & Method/Software tools– LCA light & LCC Light tools



How to find the Strategy?



Use of EPD in marketing

• EPD provide customers with objective, credible and third party verified LCA based data of ABB products

• ABBs objective is to develop EPDs for “core products”.

• More than 60 environmental product declarations have been developed for ABB’s products. Thirteen of these have been certified.

LCA = Life Cycle Assessment, EPD =Environmental Product Declaration


STRATEGIESSTRATEGIES Use of EPD in marketing

Examples of content in an EPD




• Decide who should have the EPDs :– e.g. customers, suppliers, stakeholders

• Decide for which products that EPDs should be developed:

– e.g. all products, core products, high-volume products

• Decide when the EPDs should be distributed: – e.g. sales, quotations, web sites, fairs

• Decide in what format should the EPD be distributed:

– e.g. stand alone document, integrated in brochures, electronic distribution




Experiences• In most cases, customers do not specifically ask for

an EPD. However, customers often require general information on the environmental performance of our products and therefore value the information contained in EPDs - when they are made aware of the fact that we do have EPDs

• Some customers perceive the information in an EPD as being too complex

• It is resource demanding to develop an EPD• There is a need for a complement to EPDs

– easier to use and understand– give information not common in EPDs

(working environment, safety etc.)




What can be found on www.dantes.info?• Strategy/Marketing

– A strategy on how to use EPD in marketing

• Publications– An article describing ABBs EPD experiences

• Tools & Method/Communication Tools– A general description of the EPD concept

• Strategy/Environmental support– Guidance on how to conduct an EPD

– Guidance on how to conduct an LCA


STRATEGIESSTRATEGIES Use of EPD in marketing

How to find the Strategy?

Documents

Demonstrate and Assess New Tools for Environmental Sustainability DANTES Lennart Swanström ABB Corporate Research ABB examples