Målbar as data partner behind The Material Pyramid for Furniture & Design
How can we inspire new ways of thinking about materials? Not just in design, but across education and entire organisations?
That question lies at the heart of The Material Pyramid, a new visual tool developed to help designers, students, and furniture industry professionals make more informed choices and open meaningful conversations about the role of materials in the low carbon economy.
The Material Pyramid is created by The Royal Danish Academy in collaboration with Målbar, who has contributed as data and knowledge partner. Together, we have worked to transform complex climate data into an engaging and dialogue-driven format.
Why the design phase matters
Up to 80% of a product’s environmental impact is determined during the design phase, before anything is even produced.
This insight, referenced by the European Commission, highlights how material choices and construction methods, product lifetime, and recyclability shape a product’s climate footprint long before it reaches production.
The Material Pyramid is developed specifically to support designers, companies and students in addressing these early-stage decisions.
By visualising the typical climate impact of different materials, it encourages reflection and collaboration around how to reduce emissions where it matters most.
Source: European Parliament / European Commission
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/topics/en/article/20151201STO05603
From data to dialogue
The pyramid visualises how different materials rank in climate footprint and can be used in education, development projects, and professional design contexts to foster reflection and discussion.
Some materials might show up in surprising positions in the material pyramid. Often quite differently from how they are described in public debate.
Take concrete, for example. It is at the bottom of the pyramid, meaning it has a low climate footprint per kilo. At the same time, it is often pointed out as a major source of emissions in the building industry. And both things are true.
Concrete has a relatively low footprint per kilo, but because it is dense and used in large amounts (especially in construction) the total emissions can still be high in a typical building project.
Another important point is that concrete does not need to be melted or heated like many other castable materials. That means the emissions from the production of concrete components are relatively low.
At the end of its life, concrete also performs fairly well. Whether it is incinerated or landfilled, it does not release significant climate emissions.
That is different from wood, which can emit methane gas when landfilled. This is especially relevant for products like furniture, which are often exported. In Europe, for example, around 50% of furniture at End of life is landfilled and the other 50% is incinerated. This means that landfilled wood contributes to notable climate emissions.
At the top of the pyramid, we find materials like wool textiles and leather. Wool is a fibre derived from animals, and both wool and leather are often viewed positively because they come from biological sources. However, it may come as a surprise that these materials typically have relatively high climate footprints.
Animals need a lot of feed to produce a relatively small amount of material. For every kilo of wool or hide, a sheep or cow might consume around 10 kilos of feed. During digestion, ruminant animals like sheep and cattle also release methane, which contributes significantly to their total climate impact. If a sheep mainly produces wool and not much else, the emissions from the wool can be especially high.
Similarly, leather is assigned a large share of the emissions from the animal it comes from.
On top of that, the actual processing of textiles and leather adds more emissions. Textile production loses a lot of fibres during steps like carding, spinning, and weaving. Leather tanning uses a lot of energy and contributes further to the climate footprint. And in the end, both materials often have large amounts of waste when they are cut to shape for final use.
“We have created a communication tool that makes it easier to talk about the CO₂eq footprint of materials in a simple and visual way.
A large part of the project has been about creating a tool for dialogue — to establish a shared conversation about furniture materials and their climate footprint, for students but also for the industry,” says Nicolai de Gier, initiator, Professor MSO and Programme Director of Furniture Design – Products, Materials and Contexts at The Royal Danish Academy.
Our daily work with environmental calculations for companies in the furniture and lifestyle sectors has provided the data foundation and insights behind the classification of materials within the pyramid.
“The green transition necessitates large changes of our consumption patterns. This can only happen if truthful unbiased scientific information is shared with the ones responsible for creating the products and with the ones responsible for buying the products. For us, that means sharing data and insight that can provide knowledge about materials and climate,” says Anders Koefoed, Co-founder and Head of Data & Calculation at Målbar.
As Nicolai de Gier adds:
“We need a common language when we talk about climate impact in design. The Material Pyramid is an attempt to create exactly that.
In our teaching, materials and their environmental footprint are central — alongside aesthetics and form. Here, the pyramid becomes a starting point for discussion, education, and reflection.”
A shared foundation for future design
The Material Pyramid is freely available and already being used in teaching at The Royal Danish Academy. The collaboration between the academy and Målbar will continue with a shared ambition to bring transparency, data-based knowledge, and curiosity to the design and furniture industries.
The project is supported by Lifestyle & Design Cluster, co-financed by the European Union and the Danish Business Promotion Board.
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