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A Bill of Materials (BOM) in GREENZERO Journey is the foundational structure that defines what a product is made of. It serves as both a product management tool and the primary input for environmental impact analysis. The BOM is essentially a structured list of all materials, components, and quantities required to manufacture a product, providing a complete inventory of everything that goes into making the final item.

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Understanding BOMs in Environmental Context

While BOMs have traditionally been used for manufacturing planning, inventory management, and cost calculation, in GREENZERO Journey they take on an additional critical role: they form the basis for Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) calculations. The environmental impact of a product is directly tied to its constituent materials and how they are processed, transported, and assembled. A well-structured BOM enables:
  • Accurate calculation of environmental impacts across multiple categories
  • Identification of hotspots where environmental improvements can be made
  • Transparent reporting of product sustainability metrics
  • Scenario modeling for potential design or material changes
  • Compliance with environmental regulations and standards

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BOM Structure in GREENZERO Journey

In GREENZERO Journey, BOMs are structured to capture all relevant information needed for both product management and environmental analysis. The system supports two primary types of BOM elements:

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Materials

Materials are the basic building blocks of a product—the raw or processed substances that make up the final item. These can include:
  • Raw materials (e.g., steel, cotton, wood)
  • Processed materials (e.g., plastic pellets, fabric, paper)
  • Chemical substances (e.g., adhesives, coatings, dyes)
  • Packaging materials (e.g., cardboard, plastic film, foam)
Each material in the BOM represents a specific substance with defined environmental characteristics. Materials are typically the endpoints in your BOM structure—they aren’t broken down further into sub-components.

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Components

Components are assemblies that group several materials or other components together into a reusable unit. Key aspects of components include:
  • They can contain multiple materials and/or other components
  • They can have their own manufacturing processes assigned
  • They can have separate transportation methods and distances
  • They allow for modular product design and analysis
  • They can be reused across multiple products
Components help organize complex products into manageable sections and enable more accurate modeling of manufacturing processes. For example, a laptop might have components such as “display assembly,” “battery,” and “motherboard,” each with their own materials and manufacturing processes.

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BOMs and Environmental Data Mapping

The most critical function of the BOM in GREENZERO Journey is connecting your materials to their environmental impact data.

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Environmental Material Profiles

Each material in your product has what we can call an Environmental Material Profile — a comprehensive set of data about how that material affects the environment throughout its life cycle.
Technical note: In Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) terminology, these environmental material profiles are formally called “Life Cycle Inventory (LCI)” data. LCI is the technical term used by sustainability professionals and researchers.
Think of an Environmental Material Profile as a detailed “environmental ID card” for each material that contains information about:
  • All resources consumed (energy, water, raw materials, etc.)
  • All emissions released to air, water, and soil
  • All waste generated
  • All transportation and processing impacts
These profiles are based on scientific measurements, industry data, and environmental modeling that track everything that goes into making a material and all the environmental effects that result.

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Environmental Profile Example

For instance, the Environmental Material Profile for “1 kg of cotton fabric” might include:
  • Water used for irrigation (e.g., 2,000 liters)
  • Fertilizers and pesticides applied during farming
  • Energy used in harvesting and processing
  • Emissions from transportation of raw cotton to textile mills
  • Chemicals used in fabric treatment
  • Wastewater generated during dyeing
  • Energy consumed in spinning and weaving
All these inputs and outputs are quantified and associated with specific environmental impacts like climate change, water pollution, or land use.

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How GREENZERO Journey Uses Environmental Profiles

When you add a material to your BOM, GREENZERO Journey’s AI:
  1. Analyzes the material description and properties
  2. Searches its database of thousands of Environmental Material Profiles
  3. Identifies the most appropriate profile match for your specific material
  4. Applies the environmental data to your specific quantity and conditions
  5. Calculates the resulting environmental impacts
This mapping process is what transforms a simple list of materials into a comprehensive environmental assessment. It’s similar to how a recipe transforms a list of ingredients into a nutritional profile — except instead of calories and vitamins, we’re calculating carbon emissions and water usage.

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BOM Line Properties

Each element in a GREENZERO Journey BOM can have several properties that affect its environmental impact calculation:

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Quantity

The amount of the material or component used in the product. This directly scales the environmental impact—twice the material typically means twice the impact.

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Weight

The mass of the material or component, which is often a key factor in environmental impact calculations, particularly for transportation impacts.

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Unit

By default, BOM line elements use the unit “kg” (kilograms), but GREENZERO Journey supports multiple units to accommodate different types of materials and processes:
  • g: Grams, for very light materials
  • kg: Kilograms, the default unit for most materials
  • l: Liters, for liquid materials
  • km: Kilometers, for transportation distances
  • m²: Square meters, for area-based materials like fabrics or coatings
  • m³: Cubic meters, for volume-based materials
The unit selection is important because it determines which type of LCI the AI will use for matching. For example, a fabric entered as “m²” will be matched with area-based fabric LCIs rather than weight-based ones.

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Supplier

Each BOM element can have a specific supplier assigned. This allows for:
  • More accurate transportation impact calculations
  • Supplier-specific environmental data when available
  • Supply chain mapping and risk assessment
  • Identification of improvement opportunities with specific suppliers

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Transport

BOM elements can have individual transportation methods and distances assigned, which accounts for:
  • Different modes of transport (truck, ship, rail, air)
  • Varying distances from suppliers to manufacturing facilities
  • Cold chain requirements for certain materials
  • Regional variations in transportation efficiency

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Manufacturing

When necessary, specific manufacturing processes can be assigned to BOM elements, particularly components. This captures impacts from:
  • Energy used in processing and assembly
  • Process-specific emissions and waste
  • Regional variations in manufacturing efficiency
  • Specialized equipment or techniques

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BOM Management Best Practices

To get the most accurate environmental impact assessment in GREENZERO Journey:
  1. Be Comprehensive: Include all materials, even those that seem insignificant
  2. Be Specific: Use precise material descriptions rather than general categories
  3. Use Appropriate Units: Select the unit that best represents how the material is measured and used
  4. Include Processing Information: Add manufacturing details when they significantly affect environmental impact
  5. Verify Quantities: Ensure that material quantities accurately reflect the final product
  6. Update Regularly: Keep BOMs current as products evolve or suppliers change
  7. Use Components Strategically: Group materials into components when they share manufacturing processes or suppliers
By following these practices and understanding the critical role of BOMs in environmental impact analysis, you can create more accurate and actionable sustainability assessments in GREENZERO Journey.
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