Eco-Material Selection for Auto Bodies

Over the last decades, most automakers have started to include lightweight materials in their vehicles to meet stringent environmental regulations and to improve fuel efficiency of their vehicles. As a result, eco-material selection for vehicles emerged as a new discipline under design for environment. This chapter will summarize methods of eco-material selections for automotive applications with an emphasis on auto bodies. A set of metrics for eco-material selection that takes into account all economic, environmental, and societal factors will be developed using numerical and qualitative methods. These metrics cover products' environmental impact, functionality, and manufacturability, in addition to economic and societal factors.