After ESOS Phase 1, I honestly believed that the UK was going to start taking Energy Management more seriously so I personally took my ‘Energy Education’ very seriously too and embarked on a training course led by BSI to learn how to be a ISO 50001 Lead Auditor. However, ISO 50001 has in my opinion never ever taken off. I really do not know why that is, because the whole standard ensures an organisation can really take control of their energy consumption starting from the Board. We are now in ESOS Phase 3 and I am still not seeing much up take of this accreditation.
So, what is ISO 50001?
ISO 50001 is a voluntary International Standard developed by the International Organisation for Standardisation to provide organisations an internationally recognised framework to manage and improve their energy performance.
The standard specifies the requirements for establishing, implementing, maintaining and improving an energy management system, whose purpose is to enable an organisation to follow a systematic approach in achieving continual improvement of energy performance, including energy efficiency, energy security, energy use and consumption. The standard aims to help organisations continually reduce their energy use, and therefore their energy costs and their greenhouse gas emissions. The standard addresses:
- Energy use and consumption
- Measurement, documentation, and reporting of energy use and consumption
- Design and procurement practices for energy-using equipment, systems, and processes
- Development of an energy management plan and other factors affecting energy performance that can be monitored and influenced by the organisation. This is known as an Energy Management System (EMS)
Implementing an EMS:
- Develop an energy policy that includes commitment to the EMS from top management.
- Identify a management representative to lead and implement the EMS.
- Establish a team of representatives from each major function of the organisation.
- Decide on the areas of the EMS.
- Undertake an energy review to identify significant energy uses, their energy consumption, and opportunities for improvement.
- Establish an energy baseline.
If an organisation wanted to implement ISO 50001 and they already have ISO 9001 and 14001 then the transition is the same. So, by deploying this with an expert or using an internal resource could be very straight forward. The first step would be to complete a Gap Analysis of your business to see what needs to be done. Then focus on the process Plan, Do, Check, Act.
What are the drivers
- To reduce the depletion of non-renewable resources (Fossil Fuels)
- To reduce Global Warming.
- To reduce acid rain which are the results of emissions
- Less Contaminated land
- Less toxins in our atmosphere
Since my training I have developed many of my own tools to support this process and built a templated manual which follows the process of the ISO Standard. It is my personal professional opinion as a trained ISO 50001 Auditor that the whole implementation process needs to be managed around the actual audit process, ensuring that accreditation is achieved first time with no issues.