The Hull Vane® is a patented submerged stern wing designed to reduce a displacement or semi-displacement ship’s resistance and motion in waves. Combining Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Hull Vane team in-depth knowledge of hydrodynamics, they can customise and optimise the design of the Hull Vane® to achieve the highest level of performance.

The Water Revolution Foundation LCA study following ISO 14040 and 14044 confirms that yachts equipped with the innovative submerged wing Hull Vane present a lower environmental impact when compared with the same yacht that does not have the submerged wing; in other words it possesses the Business As Usual (BAU) Hull Vane’s innovative solution demonstrates a 14-15% reduction across all environmental impact categories in comparison to the BAU.

The Ecopoint represents the total potential environmental load of a product or solution: it is a cumulative, more holistic value that includes the impacts on human health, the ecosystem and resource diversity. The single numerical score of Ecopoint represents the overall impact of a product or solution. This score can be interpreted as a measure of sustainability performance, where lower scores indicate lower environmental impact.

The Ecopoint therefore allows us to group the 9 other environmental indicators in three different categories of damage: (1) Human Health, (2) Ecosystem quality and (3) Resources. This way, obtaining a single score representing the total environmental impacts during the product's life cycle is possible.

The ecopoint index factors in the impact on human health and ecosystems, how a product's life cycle may affect human well-being including health risks related to exposure to pollutants, and how it may impact ecosystems, including biodiversity and habitat disruption.

This takes into account the diversity and availability of natural resources, as well as the potential depletion of non-renewable resources and the consequences for future generations.

The Ecopoint index is essentially a form of multi-criteria assessment that allows decision-makers to weigh different environmental and sustainability factors. It acknowledges that environmental issues are interconnected, and a single value can provide a more comprehensive understanding of the trade-offs and impacts associated with a product.

On Earth, pollution mixed with heat and sunlight creates a concentration of Ozone (O3 gaz) in the atmosphere (stratosphere + troposphere). This gaseous element, when released in the stratosphere, acts like sunscreen for all living organisms, shielding the Earth’s surface from most of the sun’s UV light (unless it creates depletion in the atmospheric layer).

However, when this concentration remains at ground level in the troposphere, it affects the air that we breathe as humans and therefore starts becoming a health hazard. When inhaled, ozone reacts chemically with many biological molecules in the respiratory tract, leading to a number of adverse health effects.

We call this secondary air pollution Photochemical Oxidation, also known as Summer Smog. Chemically speaking, photo-oxidant formation is a photochemical creation of reactive substances: it is formed in the atmosphere by nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds in the presence of sunlight, often the consequence of emissions from fossil fuel combustion. POP calculates the destructive effects of ozone in the troposphere over a time horizon of 100 years.

The Earth receives energy from the sun through solar radiation, with about half of this energy being absorbed by the earth’s surface. The other half is reflected back into the atmosphere as infrared radiation or heat. Greenhouse gases (GHGs) trap this radiation in the atmosphere, thereby heating the Earth. Consequently, the more GHGs that are present in the atmosphere, the warmer the Earth’s temperature becomes. This process is known as the greenhouse effect.

In order to make meaningful comparisons between GHGs, scientists have adopted CO2 as the benchmark for measuring their heat-trapping abilities. CO2 is a clear, odourless gas produced during carbon combustion and in the respiration of living organisms. The heat-trapping potential of a gas, measured against CO2 over a fixed period, is known as Global Warming Potential (GWP). CO2 is used as a benchmark to measure the GWP of substances, which is expressed in kg of CO2eq.

Ultimately, GWP evaluates the potential impact of different gaseous emissions on climate change by calculating the radiative force over a 100-year time horizon.

In the stratosphere, an ozone-rich layer called the Ozone layer exists. The formation of the ozone hole is directly linked to the stratosphere’s temperature. Once temperatures drop below -78°C, polar stratospheric clouds tend to form, exacerbating ozone depletion over both of the Earth’s hemispheres.

The Ozone layer acts like sunscreen for all living organisms, shielding the Earth’s surface from most of the sun’s UV light. Its depletion could cause serious damage for humans, animals, plants and materials. Ozone Depletion Potential (ODP) calculates these destructive effectives over a time horizon of 100 years.

Acidification is an environmental problem caused by acidified rivers/streams and soil due to anthropogenic air pollutants such as ammonia, nitrogen oxides and sulphur dioxide. When acids are emitted, the pH factor falls and acidity increases, which for example can involve the widespread decline of coniferous forests and dead fishes in lakes in Scandinavia.

In the ocean, we define acidification as a reduction of the pH over an extended period of time, and it is caused primarily by an uptake of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere: the ocean absorbs the extra amount of CO2 emitted in our atmosphere. We are already observing this change in the deep ocean, especially at high latitudes.

It affects marine organisms, with a consequence on the ecosystems they belong to in and above water: disrupting the food chain (increase of the mobilisation and the leaching behaviour of heavy metals in soil), altered prey availability (for example, krill for whales), impact on habitats (lower pH destroys coral reefs), but also the amplification of noise pollution by a modification of the underwater acoustics.

As an indicator, Acidification Potential calculates the impact of the potential change in acidity in the soil due to the atmospheric deposition of sulfates, nitrates, phosphates, and other compounds.

Dust from roads, farms, dry riverbeds, construction sites, and mines are types of PM10: particulate matter with a diameter of 10 micrometres or less. These are coarse (bigger) particles, which can irritate your eyes, nose, and throat. While fine (smaller) particles (PM2.5) are more dangerous and penetrate into the deep parts of your lungs — or even into your blood, it is important to measure the level of PM10 into the surrounding air.

Scientists have defined that a level of PM10 below 12 μg/m3 is considered healthy with little to no risk from exposure. If the level goes to or above 35 μg/m3 during a 24-hour period, the air becomes unhealthy, causing a risk exposure for people with existing breathing issues such as asthma or lung diseases.

With deposits accumulating onto surfaces, including vegetation, soil, and water bodies, PM10 also impacts soil erosion, water quality, aquatic life cycles, and can carry contaminants into ecosystems. It can lead to winter smog.

The water scarcity footprint helps assess how particular water use contributes to or exacerbates water scarcity in a given area. We assess this impact by considering the quantity of water consumption and the water stress index (WSI) of the region from where the water is extracted, to determine the impact of freshwater consumption in view of its deprivation potential.

In yacht manufacturing for example, water consumption is significantly high for the extraction and production of materials. The amount of water consumed when producing yacht-building material is more than double than during the operating phase of the yacht. Further, hull construction requires water in various stages such as composite-moulding process, curing resins, and more. While these stages do not use large volumes of water individually, they become high over the course of yacht production. The water stress index can thus be an important metric in quantifying how much water is consumed and identifying hotspots where efforts to minimise water use can be implemented.

The Water Stress Index takes into account factors like available water resources, population, and industrial demand for water in that area. Of course, water resource exploitation may have a different impact depending on the extraction area.

If the water scarcity impact is high, it indicates that your product or solution is exerting considerable strain on an already water-stressed region. Consequently, it may be prudent to explore more sustainable water sourcing or conservation measures to mitigate one’s heightened environmental damage. Conversely, if the water scarcity impact is low, it suggests that your product or solution exercises a relatively minor impact on water scarcity in that region, which can be a positive indicator of sustainability.

The indicators for WSI reflect the cumulative amount of direct and indirect emissions to help us understand how a product or solution’s water use might impact water shortages.

Eutrophication calculates the destructive effects of ammonia, nitrates, nitrogen oxides and phosphorus (emitted in air and waters) on freshwater systems. In inland waters, it is one of the major factors that determine the ecological quality of an aquatic environment.

This process of pollution occurs when a lake or stream becomes over-rich in plant nutrient – as a consequence, phytoplankton increases, and the water becomes overgrown in algae and other aquatic plants. The plants die and decompose, robbing the water of oxygen so that ultimately the lake, river, or stream becomes lifeless.

While eutrophication occurs naturally in freshwater systems, man-made eutrophication occurs over millions of years and is caused by organic pollutants from man’s activities, like effluents from industries and homes.

NOX are a group of highly reactive gases produced by various natural and anthropogenic (human-caused) sources. They strongly affect the air quality in our immediate surroundings, leading to the formation of ground-level ozone and fine particulate matter, and contributing to acid rain or deposition, ozone depletion, and eutrophication of soil and water.

We know that the subsequent impacts of acid deposition and eutrophication onour soil and water can be significant, having adverse effects on aquatic ecosystems in rivers and lakes, damage to forests, crops and other vegetation. Furthermore, by contributing to the formation of atmospheric aerosols and particulate matter, NOx emissions can lead to the formation of nitrous oxide (N2O), a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming and affects human respiratory systems. When the environment is affected by NOx, it results in Summer smog, Winter smog, and Acidification in the environment impacted by its release.

Sulphur dioxide (SO2) is a colourless gas with a pungent odour, released into the atmosphere from both natural sources, such as volcanic eruptions, and anthropogenic (human-caused) sources emitted by the combustion of fuels containing sulphur.

Sulphur dioxide is a pollutant that contributes to acid deposition, which, in turn, can lead to potential changes in soil and water quality (eutrophication due to excessive nutrient input, as discussed above). Its effects can be counterbalanced by implementing flue gas desulfurization systems in power plants, and regulations on emissions from transportation sources. Winter smog and acidification are among the results of its presence in our atmosphere.

The Hull Vane® is a patented submerged stern wing designed to reduce a displacement or semi-displacement ship’s resistance and motion in waves. Combining Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Hull Vane team in-depth knowledge of hydrodynamics, they can customise and optimise the design of the Hull Vane® to achieve the highest level of performance.

The Water Revolution Foundation LCA study following ISO 14040 and 14044 confirms that yachts equipped with the innovative submerged wing Hull Vane present a lower environmental impact when compared with the same yacht that does not have the submerged wing; in other words it possesses the Business As Usual (BAU) Hull Vane’s innovative solution demonstrates a 14-15% reduction across all environmental impact categories in comparison to the BAU.

The Hull Vane® is a patented submerged stern wing designed to reduce a displacement or semi-displacement ship’s resistance and motion in waves. Combining Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Hull Vane team in-depth knowledge of hydrodynamics, they can customise and optimise the design of the Hull Vane® to achieve the highest level of performance.

The Water Revolution Foundation LCA study following ISO 14040 and 14044 confirms that yachts equipped with the innovative submerged wing Hull Vane present a lower environmental impact when compared with the same yacht that does not have the submerged wing; in other words it possesses the Business As Usual (BAU) Hull Vane’s innovative solution demonstrates a 14-15% reduction across all environmental impact categories in comparison to the BAU.

The Hull Vane® is a patented submerged stern wing designed to reduce a displacement or semi-displacement ship’s resistance and motion in waves. Combining Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Hull Vane team in-depth knowledge of hydrodynamics, they can customise and optimise the design of the Hull Vane® to achieve the highest level of performance.

The Water Revolution Foundation LCA study following ISO 14040 and 14044 confirms that yachts equipped with the innovative submerged wing Hull Vane present a lower environmental impact when compared with the same yacht that does not have the submerged wing; in other words it possesses the Business As Usual (BAU) Hull Vane’s innovative solution demonstrates a 14-15% reduction across all environmental impact categories in comparison to the BAU.

The Hull Vane® is a patented submerged stern wing designed to reduce a displacement or semi-displacement ship’s resistance and motion in waves. Combining Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Hull Vane team in-depth knowledge of hydrodynamics, they can customise and optimise the design of the Hull Vane® to achieve the highest level of performance.

The Water Revolution Foundation LCA study following ISO 14040 and 14044 confirms that yachts equipped with the innovative submerged wing Hull Vane present a lower environmental impact when compared with the same yacht that does not have the submerged wing; in other words it possesses the Business As Usual (BAU) Hull Vane’s innovative solution demonstrates a 14-15% reduction across all environmental impact categories in comparison to the BAU.

The Hull Vane® is a patented submerged stern wing designed to reduce a displacement or semi-displacement ship’s resistance and motion in waves. Combining Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Hull Vane team in-depth knowledge of hydrodynamics, they can customise and optimise the design of the Hull Vane® to achieve the highest level of performance.

The Water Revolution Foundation LCA study following ISO 14040 and 14044 confirms that yachts equipped with the innovative submerged wing Hull Vane present a lower environmental impact when compared with the same yacht that does not have the submerged wing; in other words it possesses the Business As Usual (BAU) Hull Vane’s innovative solution demonstrates a 14-15% reduction across all environmental impact categories in comparison to the BAU.

The Hull Vane® is a patented submerged stern wing designed to reduce a displacement or semi-displacement ship’s resistance and motion in waves. Combining Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Hull Vane team in-depth knowledge of hydrodynamics, they can customise and optimise the design of the Hull Vane® to achieve the highest level of performance.

The Water Revolution Foundation LCA study following ISO 14040 and 14044 confirms that yachts equipped with the innovative submerged wing Hull Vane present a lower environmental impact when compared with the same yacht that does not have the submerged wing; in other words it possesses the Business As Usual (BAU) Hull Vane’s innovative solution demonstrates a 14-15% reduction across all environmental impact categories in comparison to the BAU.

The Hull Vane® is a patented submerged stern wing designed to reduce a displacement or semi-displacement ship’s resistance and motion in waves. Combining Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Hull Vane team in-depth knowledge of hydrodynamics, they can customise and optimise the design of the Hull Vane® to achieve the highest level of performance.

The Water Revolution Foundation LCA study following ISO 14040 and 14044 confirms that yachts equipped with the innovative submerged wing Hull Vane present a lower environmental impact when compared with the same yacht that does not have the submerged wing; in other words it possesses the Business As Usual (BAU) Hull Vane’s innovative solution demonstrates a 14-15% reduction across all environmental impact categories in comparison to the BAU.

The Hull Vane® is a patented submerged stern wing designed to reduce a displacement or semi-displacement ship’s resistance and motion in waves. Combining Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Hull Vane team in-depth knowledge of hydrodynamics, they can customise and optimise the design of the Hull Vane® to achieve the highest level of performance.

The Water Revolution Foundation LCA study following ISO 14040 and 14044 confirms that yachts equipped with the innovative submerged wing Hull Vane present a lower environmental impact when compared with the same yacht that does not have the submerged wing; in other words it possesses the Business As Usual (BAU) Hull Vane’s innovative solution demonstrates a 14-15% reduction across all environmental impact categories in comparison to the BAU.