The GUF Tool is on its way!

The project consortium has continued to work on the design and development of the GUF Tool during the last six months. The design of the tool structure and features has been completed, as well as the graphical image and interface. The core programming framework has already been developed and the tool functionalities are now being programmed, including:

• Criteria for green public procurement (GPP) of urban furniture, which will allow public authorities to include environmental clauses for urban furniture in their call for tenders and evaluate the offers received accordingly.

• Simplified environmental assessment, which will allow public authorities (or manufacturers) to perform environmental comparisons (or improvements) of urban furniture products.

All the information needed for the GUF Tool database was collected, evaluated and simplified, but further simplification is being conducted to boost the usability of the tool and make it easier for users. Simplification measures are being based on the results of life cycle assessment (LCA) studies currently under development for ten urban furniture products. The LCA studies will be completed and their results published by the end of April 2017.

Moreover, the consortium has invested extra effort in engagement of stakeholders, including public authorities, urban furniture manufacturers and retailers, and other organisations. At this moment, the project already counts on the support of thirty-four stakeholders, who has been asked for active participation in the project: public authorities were involved in the review and validation of GPP criteria, while furniture manufacturers were asked to provide field data on their product for the LCA studies. Many other public authorities and companies will be encouraged to actively support the project during the next months, inviting them to use and validate the GUF Tool whose completion is foreseen by the end of September 2017.

AIMPLAS Instituto Tecnológico del Plástico

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