The innovation lies in addressing the needs of the user and the deconstruction of four barriers that have until now blocked brands from impact transparency.
• Accessibility: A design solution that maximizes usability and accessibility, making carbon footprint calculations for products understandable by all.
• Free: A collaborative model – free of charge to ensure global distribution and sharing of emissions data
• Timesaving: From weeks to minutes by completely redesigning the experience, method, and interaction.
• Results: Comparable regenerative data aggregation by brands uploading their data to the platform
Background
Consumers are looking for increased transparency and brands are looking to provide information enabling conscious consumption.
Calculations made by using The 2030 carbon footprint for products (CFP) calculator are calculated on average emissions factors for materials, energy consumption, and transportation based on product category, the total weight of the product, the weight of unique materials used in each product (or packaging) part, location and distances between supplier, manufacturing facility and distribution center and modes of transport between each as well as the source of energy used in production.
Carbon Footprint calculations made by The 2030 Calculator cover the cradle-to-gate phases of a typical product life-cycle assessment which are under the operational control of the product manufacturer. These calculations are not intended to provide an exhaustive assessment of a product’s GHG footprint as would be the purpose of a full product life-cycle assessment.
Budget: 75 000 €
Describe the idea
The 2030 Calculator democratize carbon labeling and facilitate like-for-like comparisons between products.
Calculating the carbon footprint of products has long been difficult and costly, with regular LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) calculations taking weeks to complete per product. This creates a significant hurdle for brands that aspire to become more transparent. The challenge of calculating the carbon footprint of products is especially difficult for small- and medium-size brands, which is a problem since many are willing to use carbon labeling as a competitive edge.
The 2030 Calculator can generate a result in minutes, at no cost, thus empowering brands to be more transparent. As a result, consumers will be motivated to choose lower-impact products, the playing field will be leveled, and labels made comparable.
The desired future state is price tags, presenting not only the financial cost of the product but also the cost for the impact on the planet
What were the key dates in the development process?
1/1 2020 Pre-study
20/1 Workshop with the Swedish Government on calculations for the World Expo
15/3 Workshop with leading LCA consultancy
14/7 Release of the 2030 Calculator for apparel
22/9 Release of the first brand in the furniture category
Describe the innovation / technology
To complete a product carbon footprint calculation, the user has to have production data available including the total weight of the product as well as the weight and material of each product part (or piece of packaging material), the location of each material supplier, the location of the manufacturing facility (and type of energy used) and the location of the final distribution center, including the modes of transport between them.
With those data points, calculations can be made in minutes at 2030calculator.com and downloaded as a pdf.
We developed a database of CO2e emissions data for the cradle-to-gate emissions generated by materials used in all parts and packaging of products (by total weight of each finished part/material), average energy use for product assembly (by product category, country location, and type of energy used in assembly) and transportation (by total product weight, distance traveled and mode of transport between supplier, manufacturing facility and distribution center).
The 2030 Calculator model ensures exponential growth is based on additional emission data provided by brands each time they perform a calculation, creating a growth platform for shared impact data calculations and comparable results
Describe the expectations / outcome
We have establish an open platform to ensure sharing of data and comparable datasets with incremental scalability as a result. The model to ensure exponential growth is based on additional emission data provided by brands each time they calculate. The effect of that is that we are building the world’s largest database for comparable product impact calculations for NGOs, consumers, media and academia.
Global reach and potential is further accelerated by our partners Mastercard and UNFCCC
Doconomy aim to contribute to reaching the 2030 goal in carbon emissions reduction by educating the consumers of tomorrow to avoid accelerate the climate crisis of today.
The 2030 calculator is a tangible strep in making sure low impact product and sustainable production becomes a competitive edge.