The challenge
Danish engineering giant Danfoss wanted science-based information to answer customers’ questions about the environmental performance of its products, get ahead of EU regulations and develop more sustainable products. The company engaged thinkstep-anz to help it provide this information in-house, by building its Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Master Model and helping build LCA skills, knowledge and data capture into Danfoss functions and business lines. LCA measures the environmental footprint of a product over its life cycle.
About Danfoss
Danfoss manufactures hydraulic, power, heating, cooling and related systems in more than 20 countries for a global market. The company’s headquarters are in Southern Denmark and the business employs more than 40,000 staff worldwide.
The company has an approved science-based target and aims to be carbon-neutral by 2030. To meet these goals, the business is reducing the carbon in its products and helping customers reduce their carbon by ‘being our customers’ preferred decarbonisation partner’.
What we did
This is what a business needs to carry out rigorous life cycle assessment and use the results : technology, models, and data to carry out LCA studies; skilled people who can model this data; and a clear, simple way to communicate results. We helped Danfoss build these LCA ‘must-haves’ in-house.
Building internal skills
When Danfoss hired their first LCA expert, we trained her to use GaBi software (now Sphera LCA for Experts). Later we helped train the LCA team Danfoss set up. Danfoss recorded these training sessions to use again.
Creating internal computer models for Danfoss products
We created flexible, reusable LCA models for Danfoss’ products using LCA for Experts. With these models, the Danfoss team can test scenarios to understand how using different materials or assuming different production processes or duty cycles during use affect the environmental footprints of their products.
Converting and using data
To make it easy for the Danfoss team to use their data, we created an Excel-based tool. The tool converts complex information, including the Bills of Materials (BOMs) for Danfoss products, into data that Danfoss’ LCA models can readily use. The company has since developed this tool further.
Sharing their products’ environmental features
Danfoss has a lot of valuable environmental information to share with its customers. While the company has piloted externally verifying some Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), it is currently self-publishing most of this information. To help the team communicate its products’ environmental credentials, we:
- wrote an internal standard for designing sustainable products
- developed Product Category Rules (PCR) that guide how the team gathers and assesses LCA data
- created an EPD template to communicate relevant information from LCA reports to customers in a clear consistent way. The Danfoss website features many of these documents.
Testing and peer review
Then, because quality assurance and good sustainability practice go hand in hand, we tested the system from start to finish and peer-reviewed Danfoss’s initial documents.
How we are helping Danfoss to succeed sustainably
In two years, Danfoss has gone from relying on external support to having an internal team of ten LCA practitioners equipped with the skills, systems, data and tools they need to manage their own LCAs. LCA is helping Danfoss improve the environmental impacts of its products, reduce its business risks and costs, and strengthen its brand and market position.
The extra benefits of building an in-house LCA function
Danfoss’ scale and scope mean that building an in-house team offers further benefits. For example, with an internal team of LCA experts who understand their products and customers well, Danfoss can develop and adapt its products quickly to be faster to market.
The team can also communicate its LCA data to support product launches and respond to customers’ sustainability queries promptly. These activities strengthen the Danfoss brand and relationships with customers.
Danfoss’ investment in building an internal team also appeals to employees who want to work for a business that takes sustainability seriously. Plus, with LCA skills in short supply around the world, it shows LCA practitioners that the company values their expertise and offers opportunities to develop. This investment helps Danfoss attract, engage and retain skilled team members.