Scattered supports
Geometry lives in CAD, quantities in BOMs and spreadsheets, environmental results in a separate tool, guidance in documents. Each assessment becomes an isolated snapshot.
A digital decision-support platform for yacht design
Environmental evidence that evolves with the design.
Pelagos brings Life Cycle Design into yacht development. Project inventory, environmental data, assessment results and design guidance stay connected in one persistent project context, from the Rhino model to the design decision.
- Reference
- PCR 2015:06 · Yachts
- CAD
- Rhino plug-in
- Knowledge base
- 260 YLCD Guidelines
- Background data
- IDEMAT 2026
01Why Pelagos
Environmental information doesn’t stay connected to the yacht.
Project data, environmental datasets, assessment results, guidelines, alternatives and decisions are produced through different tools, and drift apart as the configuration evolves. Pelagos is the digital layer that keeps them related.
A moving configuration
A yacht is defined progressively, through alternatives, configurations and revisions. A result is only useful while it stays tied to the configuration and the data that produced it.
Timeliness against reliability
A full LCA arrives when the key decisions are already taken, while early decisions rest on incomplete data. Assessment has to work at every level of information maturity.
02Platform
One platform, two components, one flow of data.
Pelagos BOM works where the geometry is made. Pelagos Core keeps the inventory, the environmental data and the results attached to each Project and Design, and links them to the guidance that can act on them.
CAD-facing layer · Rhino plug-in
Pelagos BOM
Links Rhino objects to a hierarchical Bill of Materials, derives quantities from geometry and turns what is modelled into a structured, quantified inventory that can be sent to Core.
- Objects, materials and components in one tree
- Area, volume, length and masses from the model
- Export to a Pelagos Core project
Project-based environment · Web
Pelagos CORE
The main environment: projects and design variants, inventory, material and environmental libraries, streamlined assessment, results history and the YLCD Guidelines knowledge base.
- Portfolio → Project → Design, kept over time
- Assessment aligned with PCR 2015:06
- Guidelines narrowed by project and results
01Rhino modelgeometry
02Structured BOMquantities · masses
03Design inventoryhierarchy
04Data mappingdatasets · data classes
05AssessmentUpstream · per Design
06Hotspotsmaterials · systems
07YLCD Guidelinesdesign actions
03Workflow
From the inventory to the decision, in one context.
The operational core of Pelagos Core: Project and Design management, inventory, material matching, streamlined assessment, results and guidelines. Core screens use a fictional demo project with illustrative data and an AI-generated yacht image.
Inventory Area
The yacht as a hierarchy, not a flat list.
The Design BOM organises assemblies, systems, components and materials, each with quantity, mass and taxonomy. Data comes from Pelagos BOM, from imported documents and BOMs, or is entered by hand.
- Mass breakdown by system and macro-group
- Inventory completeness visible at every node
- One structure from CAD transfer to assessment
04Method
Recognised LCA rules, adapted to how yachts are designed.
The calculation follows the four phases of ISO 14040/44 and takes PCR 2015:06 – Yachts, Small Crafts, Other Vessels and Components Thereof as its sector reference, while accepting the incomplete data of the early design stages and keeping it visible.
01
Goal & scope
- Each assessment tied to one Design
- PCR boundary: Upstream · Core · Downstream
- Reference Service Life of 30 years
- Functional unit: 1 t mLC (ISO 8666) below 500 GT, GT above
- Declared unit for partial scopes
- 95% coverage as cut-off reference
02
Life cycle inventory
- Hierarchical inventory linked to the product structure
- IDEMAT 2026 background data, plus Custom and EPD databases
- Data classed as specific, selected generic or proxy
- Default transport profile, refined per item
03
Impact assessment
- Contribution per item and per indicator
- Summed material → component → system → macro-group → Design
- EF 3.1 profile, ReCiPe 2016 Endpoint (H), kg CO₂e
- Every factor keeps method, version, unit and source
04
Interpretation
- Hotspots across the product hierarchy
- Designs compared only under compatible conditions
- Coverage, unresolved items and data mix next to the result
- Frozen and live results kept apart
I = q × f
Contribution of an inventory item: activity quantity times the impact per unit, for each indicator.
Itransport = m × d × f
Each transport stage: mass, distance and the factor of the transport mode.
FU = 1 t mLC × 1 yr
Below 500 GT, per tonne in light craft condition and per year of the 30-year RSL; GT above.
Current scope
The implemented calculation covers Upstream processes: materials, parts and components entering the vessel, with their transport. Construction (Core) and Downstream stages are outside it, and the boundary is recorded with every result. Pelagos produces a streamlined assessment for design support, not an EPD; its structure sets the path towards a Design-stage EPD.
- ISO 14040 / 14044
- PCR 2015:06 v2.0.0 · International EPD System
- ISO 8666:2020
- IDEMAT 2026
- EF 3.1
- ReCiPe 2016 Endpoint (H)
05Pelagos BOM
The inventory starts in Rhino.
A plug-in for Rhinoceros, where much of a yacht’s geometry is made. The BOM is built alongside the model, not derived at the end: elements can start as a quantity or an estimate and gain geometry as the project matures.
01
Geometry binding
Rhino objects linked to BOM nodes. Links follow deletions, duplications and reassignments as the model evolves.
02
Quantities from the model
Volume, area, length and object count derived from geometry; manual values where the model is not there yet.
03
Material presets
Presets synchronised with the Core library carry density and properties for mass calculation.
04
Complex compositions
Multilayer panels and sandwich structures, mixed-mass purchased equipment, profiles by length.
05
Validity checks
Missing materials, insufficient quantities, invalid masses and broken object links are flagged.
06
Engineering insights
Centre of gravity, surface weight and weight distribution, to see the trade-offs of lighter choices. Experimental.
Hand-off to Core
From the model to Core, without retyping.
The structured inventory, with hierarchy, quantities, materials, masses and classifications, is exported to a Pelagos Core project. There each material is mapped to its environmental dataset. The same inventory can also be exported to external formats for checking.
06Status
What the prototype does today.
Pelagos is a research prototype. Development went first to the workflow that makes the platform usable end to end, from project data to environmental results and guidance. This is where each part stands.
Implemented8
Available in the prototype and usable in its workflow.
- Project and Design management
- Design BOM and inventory
- Receiving layer for Pelagos BOM
- Streamlined Assessment Workspace
- Results & History, frozen and live
- Materials and Custom databases
- Rhino material presets
- YLCD Guidelines Knowledge Base
Partially implemented6
A defined set of functions is operational.
- Cross-design overview
- Decision Register
- Environmental Priority View
- EPD Database
- Reporting
- AI Assistant
Architecturally defined3
Role and data structure defined, next in line.
- Scenario Workspace
- External LCA Results Workspace
- Diagnostic Checklist Workspace
07Research
Developed in research, built for yacht design.
Pelagos was developed within an Industrial PhD at the Department of Design of Politecnico di Milano, exploring how connected inventory, environmental assessment and design guidance can support yacht development.
πέλαγοςpélagos, “open sea” in Greek, and the name of the Pelagos Sanctuary for Mediterranean marine mammals: the maritime domain of the platform and its environmental orientation.
Three complementary research outputs
MYDS
Method for Yacht Design for Environmental Sustainability
Process integration: when the supports are used, with which inputs and for which decisions.
YLCD
Yacht Life Cycle Design Guidelines
Knowledge: 260 guidelines that contextualise Life Cycle Design for the yacht.
PELAGOS
Pelagos Core + Pelagos BOM
Digital decision support: data, inventory, assessment and comparison in one place.
Pelagos Core · Pelagos BOM
See Pelagos on your own project.
A walkthrough on a yacht you are developing: from the Rhino model and the inventory to the first streamlined assessment and the guidelines that apply to its hotspots.