As a consumer, it can be difficult to know how our choices affect the climate. We want to make it as simple as possible for you – which is why, in collaboration with MÅLBAR, we have started calculating the climate footprint of many of our designs. The results will be continually published here on the website.
MÅLBAR
MÅLBAR is an independent Danish consultancy specialising in helping companies calculate the total climate impact of a product. They subsequently make this data tangible by describing it with familiar things: how many times can I eat a cheeseburger, drink a cup of coffee or stream television, to create the same CO2eq emissions that this product creates in its lifetime?
What does CO2eq actually mean?
Often, we use the term CO2 when we talk about greenhouse gases. But carbon dioxide is only one of many gases that affect the climate – the emission of methane, nitrous oxide and ozone also contributes to global warming. The E in CO2eq therefore stands for equivalent and describes all the emitted greenhouse gases in one overall measurement.
The MÅLBAR screening tool calculates the product’s total CO2-e emissions – through its production, lifetime and disposal. That is to say all raw materials and their treatment, manufacturing, packaging, transport, maintenance, cleaning and the final waste handling.
The data is calculated in accordance with the European Commission’s guidelines for Product Environment Footprint (EU PEF), and uses data from Ecoinvent, the world’s largest database of materials and process emissions. The data is presented according to EN14067, but with some simplifications made, to make the results more understandable. You can read more about how the calculations are made at MÅLBAR right here.
A tool for development
In addition to giving you an insight into the CO2-e emissions of our designs, the data is also an important tool for our designers when developing and improving our collection. It makes it easier to select the very best materials and production methods and shows us where we can improve in terms of production, transport and much more.