ISO 50001 and your sustainable energy performance
With a call for more sustainable energy use across the world, is an energy management system aligned with ISO 50001 the answer for your business?
Energy management systems and continuous improvement could be your business’ way to achieve ISO 50001 certification and a green economy. Businesses are hearing the call for sustainable energy management, but a solid understanding of what that means isn’t clearly laid out by legislation. For many companies, energy management systems built around standards and processes are paving the way forward.
What is a green economy?
The United Nations defines a green economy as “low carbon, resource efficient, and socially inclusive”. As part of concerted global endeavors to increase corporate sustainability, regulatory changes have continued to use this definition as the target of what should be reached. To achieve a green economy requires energy transition and investment from the public and private sectors. Investment in a green economy must be implemented through various means. It requires policy and regulatory reform on tax, industry-initiated technology developments, support through infrastructure, and sources of stable financing.
While policy and government funds are still under discussion, companies still want and need practical options to reduce energy cost, proactively develop more sustainable products and services, incrementally lower energy consumption, and increase energy efficiency to react to climate change.
Enter energy management systems.
How do energy management systems help improvement?
An energy management system is a process that consolidates various energy management practices into a focused improvement program. It’s designed to assess energy consumption, set up energy goals, and optimize energy use to ensure its performance reaches efficiency, benefiting environmental sustainability.
The energy management process includes:
- Identifying energy consumption
- Collecting and analyzing energy data
- Reviewing possible energy sources
- Saving functions with feasible improvement measures
- Recording the management process
Energy management systems are widely adopted in various industrial sectors, especially for heavy energy users like power generation plants or manufacturing industries with many greenhouse gas emissions.
It’s a challenging target to reach carbon neutrality, but it isn’t unfeasible.
How does the ISO 50001 standard factor into energy management systems?
ISO 50001 is a global standard recognized for energy auditing and certification for an energy management system. The certification provides a framework for companies to build up an energy management system and develop a feasible energy strategy that can be effectively and consistently audited.
ISO 50001 applies to all industries, regardless of the type, size, use, or activities involving energy consumption. Like all ISO certification, ISO 50001 outlines the plan-do-check-act (PDCA) cycle as the method for managing energy usage. Companies can use the PDCA cycle to establish, implement, and review an organization’s energy policy with a systematic approach to achieving energy targets and ultimately realizing energy efficiency.
The PDCA cycle is the ISO standard method to review an organization’s energy performance policy
Like other ISO standards, an organization’s corporate management must commit to the energy policy and ensure the execution and success of the energy management system. This encourages a top-down culture of compliance that has been proven to be more effective in the adoption of new policies and processes.
The ISO 50001 standard also requires companies to document their energy policy, criteria, assessment, implementation, audit, and corrective actions. ISO 50001 can be incorporated with the management system under ISO 9001 (Quality Management System) or ISO 14001 (Environmental Management System) to enhance an organization’s environmental management.
How does ISO 50001 align energy management with legislation?
While ISO 50001 certification is not mandatory, nevertheless, environmental regulators have acknowledged an accredited ISO 50001 certification as an accomplishment for fulfilling energy management system requirements.
ISO 50001 in Europe
The European Union’s Energy Efficiency Directive 2012/27/EU, revised in 2023,sets forth measures to achieve energy efficiency goals by 2020 and 2030. The 2023 revised Directive requires enterprises with an annual consumption higher than 85 TJ of energy over the previous three years to implement an energy management system. Furthermore, the 2023 Directive expands the energy audit obligation to include enterprises with an average annual consumption higher than 10 TJ of energy over the previous three years without an energy management system, Including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The applicable enterprises must carry out their first energy audit by 11 October 2026 and the subsequent energy audit at least once every four years. IMember States should also consider relevant European or International Standards, such as EN ISO 50001 Energy Management System, EN 16247-1 (Energy Audit), or EN ISO 14000 (Environmental Management System), to develop domestic programs for companies subject to a mandatory energy audit.
ISO 50001 in China
In China, under the Measures on the Energy Conservation of Heavy Energy Users, companies with an annual energy consumption of 10,000 tons of standard coal or more are defined as “heavy energy users”. Companies with a yearly energy consumption of between 5,000 and 10,000 tons of standard coal and designated by competent national or provincial energy saving authority, must establish an energy management system in accordance with the Energy Management System – Requirements with Guidance for Use (GB/T 23331-2020/ISO 50001: 2018). The energy management system must include the specification of energy management duty, development of rules on energy management, phase-out of outdated technology, promotion of energy efficiency, and punishment and reward system.
ISO 50001 in Singapore
In December 2021, Singapore recognized the ISO 50001 certificate as the benchmark for energy management systems under the Energy Conservation (Energy Management Practice) Regulations 2013. The regulation requires an energy user that reaches an energy consumption of 54 terajoules per calendar year in the manufacturing industry or electricity, gas, or water supply industries to build up an energy management system that is certified with ISO 50001 or equivalent with the requirements prescribed under the regulation. Specifically, companies must ensure they:
- Conduct an annual energy review and a management review of your Energy Management System — plus take necessary steps to improve it
- Review the non-conformity of your Energy Management System, correct the non-conformity, and conduct a second energy review
- Submit the Energy Management System report to the National Environment Agency and keep the reports for five years in electronic form
The annual energy review must include selecting a specific business activity or any equipment, facility, or process and establishing a corresponding energy baseline to assess energy performance. Companies must determine the feasibility of energy efficiency measures and improvement plans.
A clearly defined energy management system provides steps toward sustainability
It’s a challenging target to reach carbon neutrality, but its not unfeasible. Energy management systems and ISO 50001 shed light on clear steps for getting there. An energy audit to examine your energy consumption and review the options to improve energy loss or waste in the production process can provide companies with a blueprint and target for energy management. By promoting a sustainable production process with energy efficiency to reduce the consumption of resources, waste, and energy, you’ll be on your path to a green economy and ready to extend that energy efficiency to more operational aspects.
Learn more about carbon neutrality and energy management
Achieving carbon neutrality is a major goal for many governing bodies across the world, no matter which jurisdictions you may operate in.
It’s therefore vital to be aware of, and fully understand, the impending regulatory requirements for your business.
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