ERA CO₂ Calculator — Daniele Dominici

How much CO₂ does a machine produce in its life, from the factory to the end of its working days? For the European Rental Association we designed the tool that answers it.

From 2019 to 2021, with my team at Mallet Studio, I worked on ERA’s equipment calculators: the CO₂ calculator and its sibling, the TCO calculator. CE Delft ran the analysis behind the calculations on ERA’s behalf. We started with the illustrations and the first UX/UI concepts, then designed the whole experience together with them: the interface, the illustrations and their animation, the promotional videos and, at ERA’s request, the magazine that presented the service to every member.

One question at a time

A footprint is made of many things: how the machine is produced, how it travels, how long it works and on what energy, how it is maintained, how its life ends. Instead of one long form, the calculator asks for them one step at a time, and every step has its own scene, so you always know which part of the machine’s life you are describing.

A full calculation, at double speed: every step changes the scene.

The calculator’s user flow: screens connected by lines on blue, from login to the result — The user flow, from sign-in to the result.

Four screens of the calculator: choosing a calculation, defining the equipment, selecting items and the result — Four moments: choose, define, select, read the result.

The Energy consumption step: a short form beside an illustration of a worker using an electric tool on a building site — Energy consumption, on a building site.

The Maintenance step: a short form beside an illustration of a workshop — Maintenance, in the workshop.

A number you can use

The result is one number with its breakdown: transport, oil and maintenance, energy, production and end of life, stacked in a single bar, ready to print, share or save. A calculation can cover a single machine or a whole project, on a desk or on a phone.

A dialogue box to start a new CO₂ calculation, for a piece of equipment or a project — One machine, or a whole project.

The result page: a project’s total footprint of 1,030 kg CO₂ eq with a stacked bar by category — The total, and where it comes from.

Phone screens of the calculator on green: categories, steps and a footprint result — The same calculator on a phone.

The interface kit on blue: inputs, selectors, toggles and progress controls — The interface kit: fields, selectors, toggles and progress.

An illustrated world

Carbon numbers are abstract, so we gave them a world: machines, workers, warehouses, cities and the Earth itself, drawn in one flat style and animated for the website and the videos.

Flat illustration: an excavator and a worker on a building site, with a crane and city buildings behind — The building site, one of the scenes of the system.

Calculator screens tilted in a grid, with illustrated scenes and phone mockups — Every scene carries into the interface.

Telling the members

A promotional video tells the calculator’s story in about a minute, from storyboard to animation. And at ERA’s request we designed the magazine that presented the service to all its members.

From the promo: the calculator, step by step.

The promo video storyboard: illustrated frames in sequence — The storyboard.

ERA magazine: a cover reading Discover rental and a spread asking What can be rented? — “Discover rental”: the magazine for ERA’s members.

A stack of ERA magazines on green — The issue, in print.

An ERA magazine spread headed How to choose a rental company? — “How to choose a rental company?”

Its sibling, the TCO calculator

The same system carries the TCO calculator, for the total cost of ownership of a machine.

TCO calculator screens tilted on light blue, desktop and phone — The TCO calculator, desktop and phone.

Outcome