Nowadays, ‘environmentally friendly’ and     ‘green’ are becoming cliché marketing terms used by numerous brands     across multiple industries. However, Kia Motors has always respected   the   responsibility that these terms suggest, and believes that  earning    non-biased and accredited environmental certifications gives  our    customers a reason to believe not only in our brand, but also in  Mother    Nature.
   
  Kia achieved an important  environmental    milestone this month by having three of its newest models  earn    renowned certifications for their minimal impact on the  environment.    Today, three bright researchers from our research and  development    center have contributed a special guest post that  illustrates what it    takes to earn these certificates and to be truly  ‘green.’
  It’s been a scorching summer with the     heat wave, typhoon and all kinds of unpredictable weather phenomena     happening here in Korea. Experiencing varying weather conditions brings     to mind the underlying environmental issues that affect our planet’s     climate such as global warming.
   
   
  When Kia undergoes the development  of    new vehicles, we pay close attention to minimizing their impact on  the    environment. The ability to incorporate light weight and fuel    efficient  technologies while avoiding heavy metals can tremendously    reduce the  ecological footprint of automobiles on our planet. That’s   why  we  continue to focus on being more environmentally friendly and   going   beyond just saying we’re “green” by actually showing results   that our   environmentally conscious customers can believe in.
   
  With that said, we’re proud to  announce    that three new Kia vehicles have earned environmental  certifications    from TÜV Nord Group, the renowned independent technical  inspection    organization.
   
  These environmental certifications  are    in accordance with the environmental policies of the International     Organization for Standardization (ISO). They are achieved according to     two major ISO standards: Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) based on the ISO     14040 series and Design for Environment (DfE) based on ISO 14062.  We’ll    explain the contents of the certifications briefly below.
  TÜV Nord Group is an international     certification organization with more than 10,000 engineers from     approximately 70 different countries and is headquartered in northern     Germany. They supervise the international certification process of all     industries and are well known in the automotive sector. Accordingly,     many top automotive brands in Germany have their environmental     certification testing conducted by TÜV Nord Group.
   
  Kia’s first TÜV Nord certification  was    earned in 2008 with the first generation cee’d, and this year’s     certifications bring the total number of Kia models with ISO 14040 Life     Cycle Assessment (LCA) certification to ten. Furthermore, both the    first  and second (current) generations of Kia’s cee’d C-segment vehicle for the European market have earned DfE: Design for     Environment (ISO 14062) certifications, giving Kia certifications in   all   of major environment-related certifications from TÜV Nord.
   
  What Does Environmentally Friendly Really Mean?
   
  You might be wondering, “How can we     define a standard for ‘environmental friendliness’?  Is there really a     clear solution to finding out if a new vehicle is ‘environmentally     friendly’?”
   
  This is where the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) test comes into play.
   
  Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
   
  In order to find out the exact rate     that shows the environmental improvement from newly developed vehicles,     Kia Motors has been utilizing a method called LCA. The LCA inspection     examines the environmental impact of both the car and its overall     manufacturing process throughout the course of its lifetime, taking  into    account factors such as choice of materials, engine exhaust  emissions    and recycling. So Kia’s new product development process  includes the    following five major steps that cover the development,  production,    repair and disposal phases of all Kia vehicles.
   
    - Application of an eco-friendly check-sheet throughout the entire vehicle lifecycle
- Utilization of 3D drawings at the design stage for verifying recyclability
- Breakdown of the product during the development process to verify recyclability
- Usage of eco-friendly materials
- Streamlining the manufacturing process through improvements in materials and parts design simplification
  - Calculate the input and output amount of substances used at all steps
- Multiply the amount of substance by its factor for causing environmental problems
- Calculate the environmental impact of the product during its entire life cycle
Kia Motors started applying LCA on vehicle parts in 2006, and we have building more experience over the years.
  What about Kia Motor’s new vehicles in 2012? 
  cee’d, Quoris, and Upgraded Sorento
  Kia Motors has continued to produce     attractive new vehicles in 2012, which have all utilized LCA,  such as     the second generation cee’d, luxury Quoris sedan; the upgraded Sorento    R; and the Optima Hybrid, which will soon be available in the  European   market.
   
  So how much improvement does the  cee’d,    upgraded Sorento, and Optima Hybrid show in terms of  environmental    impact? Let’s take a look at the results.
  With great looks and technology, the    cee’d  has captivated the European market, and compared to the previous    model,  its environmental friendliness has improved significantly. For     instance, its Global Warming Potential (GWP) has improved by 15.6%   over   the previous model. The GWP is a measurement used to show the   effects   that the life cycle of a product has on global warming. In   other words,   this means that the cee’d produces 4.5 tons less   greenhouse gases than   before.
  Acidification Potential (AP) measures     the acid gases that are released into the air and potential for falling     “acid rain” which is absorbed by plants, soil and surface waters    leading  to leaf damage that can negatively affect the growth of plants.
   
  Photochemical Oxidant Creation     Potential (POCP) is the scientific term for the amount of smog created     in the overall product life process. Both AP and POCP improved by 13%     and 7.5%, respectively for the cee’d.
  The reasons for such significant gains in environmental improvement are better mileage and a reduction in exhaust gas emission.
  Next is the upgraded Sorento,  which was    released this past July. Compared to its predecessor, the  Sorento   also  improved significantly in terms of environmental  friendliness.   Its  Global Warming Potential improved by 10.5% and its  Acidification    Potential by 7.3%.
  The reason for its improved environmental friendliness is due to its mileage improvement and reduction of exhaust emissions.
  The Optima Hybrid  also improved    dramatically over its previous models by a whopping  24.5%, and    demonstrated Kia’s excellence in hybrid technology. This  means that 8.9    tons of greenhouse gases and carbon dioxide have been  reduced.
  As you can see, Kia vehicles are     increasingly becoming environmentally sound, and this has been proven     through LCA testing and further validated by respected organizations     such as the TÜV Nord Group.
   
  Kia Motors will continue to strive for environmental sustainability and you can continue to count on us.
  Courtesy of Kia-Buzz..com