Ford Europe Publishes Sustainability Index
by Jenna Watson, Barcelona on 08.31.07
Ford has published a Product Sustainability Index based on life cycle assessment studies carried out according to ISO 14040 Standards (life cycle assessment ). The report covers and compares the Ford Mondeo, Ford S-Max and Ford Galaxy. The company says that further models at Ford of Europe will be developed and designed using the same PSI criteria, including the 2007 Ford Mondeo. The report says that the models included have improved sustainability performance in environmental, social and economic performance over previous models.
The PSI report looks at eight key sustainability elements of a vehicle: life cycle global warming potential, life cycle air quality potential, the use of sustainable materials, substance management, exterior noise impact, safety, mobility capability, and life cycle ownership costs. The report follows ISO and the LCAs also undergo external peer review as specified in the Standards.
Ford explains that vehicles undergo a simplified LCA (carried out by non-experts) during the design phase to see where impacts can be reduced and processes improved. Before the vehicle is launched, a Ford LCA and Life Cycle Costing (LCC) specialist carry out a full LCA using extended databases. The LCA conclusions state that the calculations performed by non-experts were basically in-line with the calculations later performed by the experts before launch. The PSI also indicates to what extent CO2 equivalent emissions are reduced along the vehicle life cycle and the results are pretty obvious in stating that the older versions of each model are not as efficient as the newer versions. As well, diesel vehicles are found to be economically preferable.
Via: Environmental Leader. Image credit:The Henry Ford Museum. Thanks for the tip Michiel.
