ISO 50001: A strategic guide to establishing an energy management system

By Alan Field and Archie (Male Synthesized Voice)

Reduce energy costs and combat climate change with ISO 50001

ISO 50001:2018, the international standard for energy management, provides a framework for organisations – both large and small – to manage and reduce their energy usage and associated costs. Implementing an effective EnMS (energy management system) that complies with ISO 50001 ensures that an organisation can:

• Meet legal and contractual energy compliance requirements;
• Save money by managing energy more efficiently;
• Reduce its carbon footprint;
• Increase energy security; and
• Demonstrate a commitment to improved energy performance.

With energy security concerns rising and climate change an existential threat, consumers are increasingly aware of sustainability issues.

ISO 50001 – A strategic guide to establishing an energy management system provides a practical but strategic overview for leadership teams of what an EnMS is and how implementing one can bring added value to an organisation. It:

• Explains how ISO 50001:2018 (which is based on ISO’s Annex SL) differs from the previous version of the Standard;
• Provides readers with a greater understanding of what energy management is and how taking a risk-based approach can save money and improve brand reputation; and
• Covers how ISO 50001 can be implemented and how the EnMS can be integrated with other management systems, such as an ISO 14001 EMS (environmental management system).

Your strategic guide to energy management and ISO 50001 – buy this book today!

• Language: English
• Publisher: itgovernance
• Release date: Nov 28, 2019
• ISBN: 9781787781542

Alan Field

Alan Field, LL.B (Hons), PgC, MCQI CQP, MIIRSM, AIEMA, GIFireE, GradIOSH is a Chartered Quality Professional, an IRCA Registered Lead Auditor and Member of The Society of Authors. Alan has particular expertise in auditing and third party assessing Anti-bribery Management Systems (ABMS) to BS10500 and counter fraud systems in the public sector to ISO 9001 requirements. Alan has many years’ experience with Quality and Integrated Management Systems in the legal, financial, property services and project management sectors in auditing, assessment and gap analysis roles.

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INTRODUCTION

What is an EnMS and why should we invest in one?

This pocket guide gives a practical but strategic overview for leadership teams of what an energy management system (EnMS) is and how implementing one can bring added value to an organisation. It is not a ‘how to’ book but explains why starting the ‘do‘ is a good strategic decision.

Energy management is, in one sense, not so much about energy but rather the management of resources. This doesn’t just apply for the organisation but, ultimately, for the wider world. This is one reason why an EnMS can become part of a broader corporate social responsibility approach.

This book is also a strategic guide to how an EnMS can integrate with an environmental management system (EMS). Many organisations that are considering implementing an EnMS will already have an EMS. An EnMS has similarities to an EMS but there are key differences as well.

So, an EnMS can be about more than the management of energy; it can also support a wider range of sustainable policies, which can be a catalyst for or simply an outcome of developing an EnMS.

An EnMS, effectively implemented, can reduce energy costs, aid strategic thinking about longer-term energy savings, increase energy security and support continual improvement for an EMS, as well the energy management processes themselves. Energy consumption is almost always the servant of the core processes that support the production of goods and services, e.g. what pays the bills and stakeholder dividends.

ISO 50001:2018 (which we will refer to as ISO 50001, although please be aware there is an earlier version of the Standard) is the International Organization for Standardization’s (ISO) framework for organisations – both large and small – to manage and reduce their energy use and costs. This pocket guide follows ISO 50001’s principles for an EnMS, but can also be read by those who are using other approaches to their EnMS or wider environmental or sustainability issues. IT Governance Publishing also produces pocket guides on standards such as ISO 14001:2015 (the international standard for an EMS)¹ and ISO 9001:2015 (which specifies the requirements for a quality management system (QMS), which can support an EnMS by providing systems for measurement and analysis of data).² These pocket guides detail the individual standards’ requirements and how they can benefit an organisation. There is also a pocket guide on implementing an integrated management system (IMS),³ which can help those considering integrating their EMS with an EnMS, as well as other standards.

There are different approaches to energy management, and its importance, whether financial or reputational, to individual organisations varies depending on sector. For example, an EnMS is very relevant to a commercial property management business, where there are a lot of energy-related resources, such as a large estate of office buildings, and where a defined approach to energy management is important to purchasers, tenants and joint venture partners.

If key energy policy insights and objectives are not determined at the outset, the EnMS journey can become unnecessarily slow or even misdirected. This pocket guide can help you start that journey on the right foot by defining policy and strategy at the earliest stage.

ISO 50001 is not a technical standard in the sense of expecting particular technological solutions; each EnMS is different and the way that energy consumption is determined, resourced and improved will be different, even if the techniques used often follow a number of common approaches. Sometimes an EnMS will