IDC Invests in Sustainable Education

International product design company, Industrial Design Consultancy (IDC), has just released an Academic version of the LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) Calculator. The LCA Calculator was launched in early 2011 and has had two major corporations sign up for the tool as well as numerous smaller businesses and individuals.

“The LCA Calculator has gone through a stringent Beta version in order to test everything as thoroughly as possible, we have now developed a tool, that to the best of our ability, is completely accurate and will be a successful guide in sustainable design,” says Stephen Knowles, Managing Director of IDC. “With the huge success in sign-ups from both companies and individuals we realised that there was only one gap left to fill: Academic Institutions,” Stephen explains.

IDC was receiving numerous requests from academic institutions as well as individual students, all keen to integrate the tool into their curriculum or field of study. “As a design company we strive to listen to the needs of our clients no matter what they may be, it was no different when requests for an academic version of the LCA Calculator started streaming in,” Stephen explains.

After careful research and many dedicated hours, the LCA Calculator academic version was launched, “Not only have we managed to keep all the applications for the academic version the same and the corporate version, but we also managed to cut the price down to £10 per student for a full year,” Stephen says.

The LCA Calculator is a quick and intuitive way for designers and engineers to understand, analyse and compare environmental impacts of products and particular design decisions. It analyses the effects that a product or service has on the environment over the entire period of its life - from the extraction and processing of raw materials from which it is made - through to the manufacturing, packaging and marketing processes, and the use, re-use and maintenance of the product, and on to its eventual recycling or disposal as waste at the end of its useful life. “If future generations are going to enjoy high quality sustainable products and lifestyles, it is essential that the designers and engineers learn how to use these tools and techniques.”

To find out more about the LCA Calculator or sign up for it go to: www.lcacalculator.com.