A method and system for upfront analysis of at least one substance used in the
design process of a vehicle. A vehicle ontology is created that is stored in a
database. The vehicle ontology records all the substances used in the design of
the vehicle along with all the attributes of the substances and the relations between
the substances. All the standards for the substances and the attributes of the
standards are recorded in a materials ontology. A knowledge base engine, e.g.,
the database, analyzes the materials ontology to determine whether a substance
conforms to a standard, e.g., a recyclability requirement.
