Introduction of environmental aspects in designing of machines

Until now, in designing, an engineer’s main task was to find solutions for practical problems including limitations of mainly material, technological and economical nature. Recently it was stated that environmental aspects need to be included as well in any design algorithm to provide low environmental impact profile of any technical object. In this paper, the example of use of the tool oriented at environment impact analysis – Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) – in the design stage of technical objects, is presented. The environmental analysis is done on the wrapping machine, with the special interest given to its gear transmission. Using LCA, environmental profiles and environmental indices for different constructions of gear wheels are elaborated and on this basis, an environmentally optimal combination of materials for elements of transmission gear: shaft, gear wheels and body is proposed. The analysis of results brings interesting observations and conclusions, important and useful for both machine designers and producers.