Autodesk is offering a free preview download that can help manufacturers make more responsible materials decisions that can reduce their product’s environmental impact while still meeting critical performance requirements.
The Sustainable Materials Assistant is a software add-in available from Autodesk Labs, for use with Autodesk Inventor 2009 software. The tool helps manufacturers incorporate environmental design considerations early into their unique approaches to product design, through:
• Expanded Materials Library: The Sustainable Materials Assistant adds new property fields for materials that are included in the Inventor materials library. Inventor software users can populate these new fields with information about the toxicity, recyclability, carbon footprint and regulatory compliance issues of any of these materials.
• Sustainability Report Function: Accessible from the Inventor software’s Bill of Materials Editor, the Sustainability Report analyses and aggregates the properties based on the materials and components that comprise a given design option. Users can easily output a report in HTML format to document, compare and communicate the sustainability of their designs with key stakeholders, helping design teams make informed, environmentally responsible product decisions.
The Sustainable Materials Assistant is available as a free technology preview download here.