ISO 14955-1:2017 constitutes the application of eco-design standards to machine tools, mainly for automatically operated and/or numerically controlled (NC) machine tools.

ISO 14955-1:2017 addresses the energy efficiency of machine tools during the use stage, i.e. the working life of the machine tool. Environmentally relevant stages other than the use stage and relevant impacts other than energy supplied to machine tools are not within the scope and need special treatment (e.g. according to ISO/TR 14062).

Elements of eco-design procedure according to ISO/TR 14062 are applied to machine tools. Reporting of results to users and suppliers and monitoring of results are defined.

Evaluation of energy efficiency implies quantification of the resources used, i.e. energy supplied, and of the result achieved. ISO 14955-1:2017 provides guidance for a reproducible quantification of the energy supplied. It does not suggest a methodology for quantifying the result achieved due to the lack of universal criteria. The result achieved in industrial application being machined workpieces, their properties (e.g. material, shape, accuracy, surface quality), the constraints of production (e.g. minimum lot size, flexibility) and other appropriate parameters for the quantification of the result achieved are intended to be determined specifically for each application or for a set of applications.