When you have a part open, the Sustainablity Task Pane appears with the Material section at the top to let you begin by selecting or modifying the part's material.
This view of the Task Pane is available in either SustainabilityXpress or full Sustainability.
To display the Task Pane, do one of the following:
- To use SustainabilityXpress, click SustainabilityXpress
(Tools toolbar or Evaluate CommandManager tab) or click .
- To use full Sustainabilitiy, click Sustainability (Tools toolbar or Evaluate CommandManager tab) or click .
Task Pane options are available in both SustainabilityXpress and Sustainability except where otherwise noted.
Material
The materials that are available include Sustainability data. You can add a custom material to this list by linking it to a material with similar characteristics in the default SolidWorks Materials database.
See Adding Sustainability Data to a Custom Material.
| Class |
Sets the major class of material, for example, Steel or Plastics. |
| Name |
Sets the specific material. |
| Recycled content |
Percentage of material that has been recycled. If the sustainability database contains primary (virgin), secondary (recycled), and trade mix (default mix of virgin and recycled content) values, the percentage of recyled content is shown. If these values are not available, the recycled content is 0%.
In SustainabilityXpress, the recycled content value is read-only.
In full Sustainability, you can edit the recycled content value if you have more precise information. The Use Trade Mix button lets you return to the database defaults.
|
| Weight |
Displays the component's weight using the selected material. |
| Find Similar |
Opens the Find Similar Material dialog box, where you can:
- Compare similar materials to a baseline of environmental impacts for the selected material.
- Select a new material to improve the environmental impact.
See Using the Find Similar Material Tool.
|
| Set Material |
Assigns the current selected material to the active configuration of the model in the FeatureManager design tree. This material is then applied to all other aspects of the SolidWorks software, such as mass property analysis, rendering, and so forth. |
Manufacturing
| Region |
Sets the region of manufacture, for example, Asia.
Use the Region drop-down list or click the map to set the region.
Available regions are North America, Europe, Asia, Japan, South America, Australia, and India.
Data is not available for all regions. Regions that contain data are highlighted when you hover over them.
|
| Built to last |
Length of time the part will last. In SustainabilityXpress, this value defaults to 1 year.
In full Sustainability, the numeric field and increments are editable.
|
| Process |
Sets a manufacturing process. Availability depends on the selected material class. In SustainabilityXpress, the following values are shown for the process you select:
 Total electricity usage Total natural gas usage Scrap rate (amount of the material discarded as scrap)
In full Sustainability, editable fields let you change usage amounts if you have more precise values for your manufacturing process. To return to defaults, reselect the process.
|
Use
| Region |
Sets the region where the product is transported to and used, for example, Asia. Select a region from the drop-down list or click a region in the map to set the region.
|
Transportation
Shows the default mode of transportation and distance traveled from the Manufacturing region to the Use region.
In full Sustainability, you can edit these values by clicking a transport mode's button and typing in the field that is enabled. When you add a transportation mode or modify the default mode, the field turns yellow and a Reset to Defaults button appears to let you discard your changes.
End of Life
Shows default percentages for end of life disposal of the part. Default values are based on the part's material in the sustainability database.
 |
Recycled |
 |
Incinerated |
 |
Landfill |
In full Sustainability, editable fields let you change the percentages.
The total of the values always equals 100%. If you change the recycled or incinerated value, the landfill value updates. If you change the landfill value, the recycled value changes.
When you edit a value, the field turns yellow and a Reset to Defaults button appears to let you discard your changes.
Environmental Impact
The Environmental Impact dashboard provides real-time feedback about the environmental impact of the design. SolidWorks Sustainability products use the CML environmental impact assessment methodology (Institute of Environmental Sciences at Leiden University) to calculate the environmental indicators (global warming, eutrophication, and acidification). This methodology is frequently used in life cycle assessment (LCA) studies worldwide.
| Impact Parameters |
 |
Display the impact for each parameter on the environment impact areas. Use is only calculated for assemblies.
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| Duration of Use |
|
Length of time the product will be used. This number is used in conjunction with the Built to Last value in the Manufacturing section to calculate more accurate results.
In SustainabilityXpress, this value defaults to 1 year.
In full Sustainability, the numeric field and increments are editable.
|
| Environmental Impact Areas |
Pie charts show the percentage of impact of each parameter on the four environmental impact areas.Bars below each pie chart compare the current material to the previous or baseline material.
Green bars indicate the current material has a lower environmental impact than the previous material.
Red bars indicate the current material has a higher environmental impact than the previous material.
Mouse over the bars to see the current and baseline values. 
Arrows beside the pie charts emphasize the increase  or decrease  in environmental impact and the percentage of change.
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- Carbon Footprint
- A measure of carbon dioxide and equivalents, such as carbon monoxide and methane, that are released into the atmosphere primarily by burning fossil fuels.
- Energy Consumption
- All forms of nonrenewable energy consumed over the entire life cycle of the product.
- Air Acidification
- Acidic emissions, such as sulfur dioxide and nitrous oxides, which eventually lead to acid rain.
- Water Eutrophication
- Contamination of water ecosystems by waste water and fertilizers, resulting in algae blooms and the eventual death of plant and animal life.
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| Home |
 |
Returns you to the initial display of the Environmental Impact Dashboard. |
| Generate Report |
 |
Creates a Microsoft® Word document that summarizes the results of the current and baseline environmental impacts. You can customize the reports, for example the header, by modifying the report template at
install_dir\lang\language\sustainability_report.dotx.
Report customization affects all users of the computer where the template is stored.
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| Send Report |
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Generates a report, opens a new message in your default email application, and attaches the Microsoft® Word document. |
| Set Baseline |
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Sets the current selections in the Task Pane as the baseline against which you compare different selections. The Baseline bar is the bottom bar below the pie charts. |
| Import Baseline |
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Lets you import an existing baseline to use in the current model. |
| Online Info |
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Opens a Web site that provides additional information about Sustainability, including a calculator to help you understand the impact of your design. |