Increasing energy costs mean that companies can’t afford to ignore this essential part of an organization’s operation any longer and must seek better ways to manage their energy use. Energy is a critical component in most organization’s operations and one that has major cost implications. Reducing energy related costs can have a huge impact on an organization’s bottom line performance. Therefore it makes good financial as well as environmental sense to manage this component systematically. Energy Management Systems in accordance with ISO 50001, an international standard outlining the best management practices for achieving energy efficiency, can help you achieve these savings for your organization.
International Certifications can assess and certify your organisation to ISO 50001 to get the best energy efficiency credentials on the market. Certification to ISO 50001 can prove that your business is managing energy use effectively; that you’re reducing your greenhouse gas emissions; and you’re working to meet your environmental targets.
The key benefits of Energy Management Systems:
- Measure and monitor energy use to drive efficiency improvements
- Identify and Manage the risks regarding future energy supply and costs
- Demonstrate environmental credentials to stakeholders
- Prepare for legislative requirements related to energy management
- Improved market access by demonstrating commitment to energy efficiency
- Improve overall energy performance to cut energy costs and carbon emissions
What is ISO 50001?
ISO 50001 provides a framework to manage your energy performance in a systematic and logical approach. So even if you manage your energy performance already, this standard can help you to formalise this process in a similar way as other management systems do by applying the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle that will drive continual improvement. If you are not managing your energy performance yet, this standard will give you a good starting point by providing a systematic approach.
The requirements of the standard are similar to an environmental management system but with focus on the energy management component of the business. The key requirements include:
Commitment and Policy – Management must demonstrate commitment to the Energy Management System by providing adequate resources and establishing a policy statement that sets out the foundation of the energy system and aid continual improvement in energy efficiency.
Planning – All energy aspects must be identified, legal and other obligations related to energy performance must be identified and measurable energy objectives and targets to improve energy efficiency must be established.
Implementation and operation – Resources must be provided and staff adequately trained on the requirements of the system. Operational controls must be implemented to ensure the energy objectives and targets are being met.
Checking – Relevant monitoring and measuring programmes and indicators must be established to ensure attainment of energy objectives and targets can be measured. Compliance to legal and other obligations must be evaluated and internal audits of the system must be performed.
Review of the energy management system – The energy management system must be reviewed for its effectiveness at regular intervals to ensure improvement in energy performance is achieved.
ISO 50001 offers a best practice approach to achieve energy efficiency, whatever the nature of your business. The standard will help you meet your environmental and carbon reduction targets as part of improved energy performance. It can be part of your environmental management system but will give you a structured approach to tackle energy management and help you to take a structured approach towards measuring and monitoring how much energy you use. After all ISO 50001 will improve your energy performance, lower your energy bills and reduce your carbon emissions.
International Certifications offer the following certification programs for ENERGY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS:
ISO 50001:2011 – Energy Management System (www.iso.org)
ISO 50001 is based on the management system model of continual improvement also used for other well-known standards such as ISO 9001 or ISO 14001. This makes it easier for organizations to integrate energy management into their overall efforts to improve quality and environmental management.
ISO 50001:2011 provides a framework of requirements for organizations to:
- Develop a policy for more efficient use of energy
- Fix targets and objectives to meet the policy
- Use data to better understand and make decisions about energy use
- Measure the results
- Review how well the policy works, and
- Continually improve energy management