From Data Gaps to Better Design Decisions
A conversational AI-enabled PEF Copilot that helps SMEs and innovators make robust sustainability, substitution and eco-design decisions.
ECOPILOT is developing an AI-enabled, conversational Product Environmental Footprint Copilot that makes advanced sustainability assessment more accessible, transparent and reproducible for SMEs, designers and innovators.
Life Cycle Assessment plays a vital role in the development of safer and more sustainable products. However, its wider use is often constrained by incomplete data, methodological complexity, high resource requirements and limited access to user-friendly digital tools. ECOPILOT addresses these barriers by transforming complex assessment processes into an intuitive, guided workflow.
The Copilot will support users step by step—from product definition and data collection to impact assessment and the comparison of alternative materials and design options. It will provide ranked recommendations, confidence indicators and structured outputs designed to support verification and compliance processes.
By combining Product Environmental Footprint methods with Safe and Sustainable by Design principles, ECOPILOT will help users make informed decisions on safer substitution, eco-design, circularity and environmental performance.
The system will be validated in the furniture and mattress sectors, focusing on coatings for metal and wood components, adhesives used in furniture assembly, and flame retardants applied to textiles and foams. These pilot cases respond to pressing substitution needs, growing regulatory expectations and strong opportunities for safer, lower-impact and more circular solutions.
ECOPILOT
A Conversational PEF Copilot for Safe-and-Sustainable Furniture & Mattresses - From Data Gaps to Design Decisions
101295317
Horizon Europe
HORIZON-CL4-2025-01
HORIZON-CL4-INDUSTRY-2025-01-MATERIALS-52
Horizon Research and Innovation Action
36 months
National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), Greece
AI-enabled Product Environmental Footprint, Life Cycle Assessment, Safe-and-Sustainable-by-Design, Digital Product Passports and Green Claims support for furniture and mattresses
TRL6 by project end
Turning Sustainability Assessment into Practical Design Support
ECOPILOT has defined six project-specific objectives that connect scientific innovation with practical industrial use. Together, they will deliver an accessible, transparent and interoperable sustainability-assessment environment for furniture and mattress value chains. Progress will be measured through concrete Key Exploitable Results and quantified performance indicators.
From objectives to impact
By achieving these objectives, ECOPILOT will help SMEs and innovators make faster, evidence-based decisions on safer substitution, eco-design and circularity. At the same time, policymakers and verifiers will gain more transparent, reproducible and compliance-ready sustainability evidence.
ECOPILOT will create a sector-specific digital assistant that guides SMEs and designers through product definition, data collection, modelling and interpretation. The Copilot will support preliminary cradle-to-grave assessments in less than one hour and reduce the time and cost of LCA by at least 30%, while progressing to TRL 6 through industrial validation.
Key expected results: Conversational PEF Copilot and Digital Product Passport generator.
Key KPIs: assessment completed in under one hour; measurable reductions in time, cost and user effort; successful use by non-experts in operational settings.
The project will generate prospective, PEF-aligned life-cycle inventory datasets for emerging alternatives to substances of concern, including coatings, adhesives and flame retardants.
Key results: interoperable ILCD/EILCD datasets with complete documentation, uncertainty information and provenance.
Key KPIs: at least three core alternative-material datasets, 100% ILCD validation, 100% FAIR metadata and DOI coverage, and a minimum PEF Data Quality Rating of Level C. The wider project ambition is to publish at least 12 new LCI datasets through relevant European data infrastructures.
ECOPILOT will integrate predictive characterisation factors, prospective and dynamic LCA, Planetary Boundaries, circularity scenarios and robust uncertainty analysis.
Key results: predictive characterisation-factor library, dynamic LCA module, Planetary Boundaries engine, circularity guidance and uncertainty tool.
Key KPIs: validated predictive models and scenarios, transparent uncertainty ranges, sensitivity analysis and integration of the advanced modules into the Copilot.
The project will connect LCA information with chemical identifiers, product data, external sustainability platforms and Digital Product Passport systems.
Key results: an interoperability layer with APIs, semantic mappings, ILCD/JSON exports and DPP-ready payloads.
Key KPIs: successful machine-to-machine exchange, automated generation of compliance artefacts, and alignment with PEF, ESPR, SSbD and Green Claims requirements.
ECOPILOT will complement environmental LCA with streamlined Social Life Cycle Assessment and Life Cycle Costing.
Key results: practical S-LCA and LCC modules for SMEs.
Key KPIs: validated social indicators and cost models, integrated environmental–social–economic comparisons, and demonstrated use in furniture and mattress cases.
ECOPILOT will engage industry, policymakers, verifiers and the wider sustainability community to ensure that project results are understood, tested and used.
Key results: training programme, exploitation roadmap and targeted policy outreach.
Key KPIs: at least five stakeholder events with 100 participants, three documented co-creation cases, at least 50 trained individuals, three policy briefs, two business-model pilots and more than 10,000 communication impressions.
Who ECOPILOT is Designed For
ECOPILOT is designed for organisations and professionals involved in the development, production, assessment and regulation of furniture and mattresses. By combining scientific sustainability methods with an intuitive conversational interface, the project will make reliable environmental information easier to generate, understand and apply.
Furniture, mattress and component manufacturers will use ECOPILOT to assess products, identify environmental hotspots and compare alternative materials, chemicals and design options. The Copilot will reduce the time, cost and specialist knowledge required for sustainability assessment
Design teams will receive practical guidance during early product development, when decisions on materials, durability, repairability, recyclability and end-of-life performance have the greatest influence on environmental impact.
Developers and suppliers of coatings, adhesives, textiles, foams and flame retardants will be able to evaluate safer alternatives, document their performance and support their uptake in sustainable products.
Experts will benefit from structured data collection, transparent assumptions, uncertainty indicators, interoperable datasets and reproducible assessment workflows that support more efficient analysis and verification.
ECOPILOT will provide evidence on how Product Environmental Footprint and Safe and Sustainable by Design principles can be translated into practical industrial tools, supporting policy development and implementation.
Auditors, verifiers, retailers and procurement organisations will gain access to clearer, traceable and compliance-ready information for reviewing environmental performance and supporting credible sustainability claims.
Researchers, sector associations, clusters and standardisation bodies will benefit from new methods, datasets, pilot evidence and recommendations that can support wider adoption across European value chains.
ECOPILOT connects these groups within a common digital environment, helping transform sustainability assessment from a specialised exercise into a practical part of everyday product development and decision-making
From Data Gaps to Better Design Decisions
ECOPILOT aims to make robust sustainability assessment faster, more accessible and more useful in everyday product development.
By combining conversational artificial intelligence with Product Environmental Footprint methods, advanced modelling and traceable data, the project will help SMEs and innovators move from incomplete information to better-evidenced design decisions.
The ECOPILOT Copilot will guide users through preliminary, cradle-to-grave product assessments in under one hour, replacing fragmented and highly technical workflows with a structured conversational process. The project also targets a reduction of more than 50% in the time and cost required for Life Cycle Assessment, helping smaller companies reduce their dependence on specialist resources.
When information is missing, the Copilot will suggest appropriate proxy data, explain uncertainty and provide confidence indicators. This will help users compare materials, assess safer alternatives and identify environmental hotspots while keeping assumptions transparent and traceable.
ECOPILOT will generate and publish at least 12 new life-cycle inventory datasets in ILCD-compatible formats through relevant European LCA data infrastructures. Documented metadata, provenance and uncertainty information will make these datasets easier to find, understand and reuse.
The integrated system will be validated in furniture and mattress value chains, focusing on coatings, adhesives and flame retardants. By project end, ECOPILOT aims to reach Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 6, demonstrating the Copilot in relevant industrial environments and generating evidence on usability, reliability and decision support.
Structured outputs will help companies organise evidence for Product Environmental Footprint assessments, Digital Product Passports, Safe and Sustainable by Design processes and credible environmental claims. The project will also prepare at least three policy briefs to transfer its scientific and industrial findings to European policy and technical communities.
Training resources, stakeholder workshops and practical guidance will help SMEs, sustainability professionals, policymakers and verifiers understand and apply the project’s methods and tools. Public datasets, deliverables and policy resources will remain accessible through the ECOPILOT Knowledge Hub.
Target time for a guided preliminary product assessment.
Targeted reduction in LCA time and cost.
New reusable life-cycle inventory datasets for emerging materials.
Integrated system demonstrated in relevant industrial environments.
Evidence and recommendations for European policy and technical audiences.
Coatings, adhesives and flame retardants in furniture and mattresses.
