Ways that ISO 50001 Supports Energy Efficiency in Organizations

Energy makes it all possible. Everyday life of every one of us is powered through direct or indirect sources of energy. Starting from the morning coffee we make, the clothes we wear, the car we drive to work or public transport we take, completion of the daily tasks in our PC, operating machines, to buying groceries. Basically, energy underpins our modern life.

Equally, every day operations of every business are made possible through the use of energy. Every business uses both direct and indirect sources of energy. Some industries operate mainly using direct energy such as production and manufacturing companies, which use machinery to finish their main operations. Yet, in the administrative departments they also use energy, but they use indirect forms of energy like already manufactured PC-s, cars, etc. On the other hand, some businesses use mainly indirect forms of energy for their main business activities, such as service providing companies, trade companies, restaurants, universities, shops, etc.

From the previous paragraphs one can clearly see the importance that energy has for everyone.

The constant increasing demand of energy has led people to engage in energy conservation and renewable energy movements, as the energy supply derived from our planet is finite. As most of the energy consumed comes from non-renewable energy sources, energy conservation is of a great importance. Through energy conservation organizations will be able to reduce the dependence of non-renewable sources of energy, reduce environmental pollution, reduction of CO2 emissions, indirectly this will contribute to an improved economic performance. Moreover, it enhances organization’s performance related to the social impact of their activities.

Organizations can be a factor in energy conservation through energy efficiency, which can be achieved by energy management systems (EnMS). All necessary steps of an EnMS needed to achieve energy efficiency are described in details in ISO 50001.

ISO 50001:2011 Energy management systems – Requirements with guidance for use enables an organization to follow requirements that aim to establish, implement, maintain and improve an energy management system, whose purpose is to enable an organization to follow a systematic approach in achieving continual improvement of energy performance, including energy efficiency, energy security, energy use and consumption.

EnMS supports organizations through processes that effectively monitor energy consumption, processes that improve energy efficiency consistently and continuously, and processes that identify energy reduction opportunities, energy objectives and targets, plans to tackle energy consumption while not affecting the organization’s productivity. By applying these processes they will be able to reduce their consumption of energy by a significant amount, thus contributing to the same amount of output achieved with lower energy, resulting in lower costs. Organizations that aim expansion can apply these processes to achieve an increased amount of output with the same energy consumption. In addition, the system established through the guidance of this standard will enable the organizations to meet legislative and company’s own carbon targets, reduce reliance on fossil fuels, enhance the entity’s competitive advantage as a socially responsible organization, and many other benefits.

PECB International is a certification body for persons on a wide range of professional standards. Among other standard certifications, it offers certification against ISO 50001.

ISO Standards and Professional Trainings offered by PECB:

• PECB Certified ISO 50001 Lead Auditor (5 days)
• PECB Certified ISO 50001 Lead Implementer (5 days)
• PECB Certified ISO 50001 Foundation (2 days)
• ISO 50001 Introduction (1 day)

Arta Hashimi is a Transport, Telecommunication and Energy (TTE) Course Development Manager at PECB International. She is in charge of developing and maintaining courses related to Transport, Telecommunication and Energy. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact: training@pecb.com

For further information, please visit PECB ISO 50001 Training Courses.