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Sarah Krasley, Autodesk's industry manager for sustainability, said, "I couldn't agree more with the skeptics."
She was responding to my question about the environmental impact of material choices, an area Autodesk is delving into. The impact of material selection is just one aspect of sustainability, some would argue. To assess a product's impact on the environment, one needs to consider the entire lifecycle, from raw material acquisition and transportation to retirement. Krasley is in agreement with that outlook.
The company already has a fair amount of material data in its Moldflow database (a result of its acquisition of Moldflow in 2008). Its recent partnership with Granta Design, which specializes in material intelligence, is expected to spawn a sustainability solution. It's too early to get details about product features and pricing, but Autodesk has revealed that it'll be web-based and it'll first appear in its manufacturing division.
"With [our partnership with Granta Design], we're planning to make the rich data available at the points of the workflow where it can enable better decision making," said Krasley.
At the present, SolidWorks remains one of the few 3D modelers in the market with a CAD-integrated sustainability solution. SolidWorks Sustainability Xpress, which ships with every copy of the software, and SolidWorks Sustainability, an add-on that requires fee, let SolidWorks users determine several categories of environmental impacts (air pollution, water contamination, energy consumption, and carbon emission) based on their material choices and other input. The product is a result of a partnership between SolidWorks and PE-International, a sustainability expert and consultancy.
Autodesk's upcoming sustainability solution, developed based on its partnership with Granta Design, will most likely appear as part of Autodesk Inventor, an Autodesk product that competes with SolidWorks.
For more, listen to my recorded interview with Sarah Krasley below:
Kenneth Wong is Digital Engineering's resident blogger and senior editor. Email him at [email protected] or share your thoughts or suggestions at digitaleng.news/facebook.
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