Environmental evaluation of R&D project to support Ecodesign initiatives

Background: It is generally accepted that 80% of the environmental impacts of a product are locked at the design phase, with few opportunities of improvement during the use phase. This is why the ecodesign approach and... [ view full abstract ]

Background:
It is generally accepted that 80% of the environmental impacts of a product are locked at the design phase, with few opportunities of improvement during the use phase. This is why the ecodesign approach and environmental analyzes are particularly relevant to the aerospace industry, which develops products with long life span and needs to consider any environmental requirement as early as possible in the development phase.

Results achieved:
Bombardier has developed a new approach to perform simplified environmental analysis for Research & Development projects. A set of indicators have been developed to evaluate the environmental performance of R&D projects, among seven were found to be relevant and systematically used in our analyzes (CO2 emissions, Hazardous material, buy-to-fly ratio, Noise emissions, NOx, Energy use, Water use).

The simplified analyzes are then used to drive the environmental performance of the R&D portfolio, by choosing the most appropriate ecodesign initiatives to be deployed, based on the Technology Rediness Level of the project. The indicators are also used to communicate the improvement brought by the new technology developed to various stakeholders.

This simplified environmental assessment methodology support the deployment of the ecodesign thinking at Bombardier as well as global strategy to develop more sustaining products.