Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Title
Thinking Globally: How ISO 50001 - Energy Management can make industrial energy
efficiency standard practice
Permalink
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/92d8q553
Author
McKane, Aimee
Publication Date
2010-07-13
Peer reviewed
Thinking Globally:
How ISO 50001 – Energy Management can make
industrial energy efficiency standard practice
Environmental Energy
Technologies Division
August 2009
This document was prepared as an account of work sponsored by the United States
Government. While this document is believed to contain correct information, neither the
United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor The Regents of the University of
California, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or
assumes any legal responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any
information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not
infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product,
process, or service by its trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not
necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the
United States Government or any agency thereof, or The Regents of the University of
California. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or
reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof, or The Regents of
the University of California.
ABSTRACT
Industry utilizes very complex systems, consisting of equipment and their human
interface, which are organized to meet the production needs of the business. Effective
and sustainable energy efficiency programs in an industrial setting require a systems
approach to optimize the integrated whole while meeting primary business requirements.
Companies that treat energy as a manageable resource and integrate their energy program
into their management practices have an organizational context to continually seek
opportunities for optimizing their energy use.
The purpose of an energy management system standard is to provide guidance for
industrial and commercial facilities to integrate energy efficiency into their management
practices, including fine-tuning production processes and improving the energy efficiency
of industrial systems. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has
identified energy management as one of its top five priorities for standards development.
The new ISO 50001 will establish an international framework for industrial, commercial,
or institutional facilities, or entire companies, to manage their energy, including
procurement and use. This standard is expected to achieve major, long-term increases in
energy efficiency (20% or more) in industrial, commercial, and institutional facilities and
to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions worldwide.
This paper describes the impetus for the international standard, its purpose, scope
and significance, and development progress to date. A comparative overview of existing
energy management standards is provided, as well as a discussion of capacity-building
needs for skilled individuals to assist organizations in adopting the standard. Finally,
opportunities and challenges are presented for implementing ISO 50001 in emerging
economies and developing countries.
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it saves industrial firms money while having a positive effect on productivity. Despite
this, energy efficiency is still viewed during hard times as a luxury that industry can’t
afford, rather than a strategic investment in future profitability.
This phenomenon cannot be understood in purely economic terms because it is
largely a function of institutional behavior. High energy prices or constrained energy
supply will motivate industrial facilities to try to secure the amount of energy required for
operations at the lowest possible price. But price alone will not build awareness within
the corporate management culture of the potential for energy reduction and cost savings,
maintenance savings, and production benefits that can be realized from the systematic
pursuit of industrial energy efficiency. Managers, whether at the C-level or plant level,
are not typically drawn from the ranks of facility engineering and often have little context
for understanding the economic consequences of energy-inefficient operations and
practices. It is this lack of awareness and the corresponding failure to manage energy use
with the same attention that is routinely afforded production quality, waste reduction, and
labor costs that is at the root of the opportunity.
To be effective, energy efficiency programs need to engage industry at the
management level as well as facilities engineering. Because industrial decision making is
largely driven from the top, failure to engage management results in missed opportunities
for energy efficiency improvement, even when technical staff is educated and aware of
the opportunities. This paper offers up a potential solution, an international energy
management standard, ISO 50001: Energy management and guidance for use, suitable
for any organization, whether industrial, commercial, or institutional.
To build context, an overview will be provided of the current status of energy
management standards, regulations, and specifications in a number of countries as well as
examples of enabling policies and programs used to promote adoption of these standards
by industry. Because of its importance to future climate change mitigation efforts,
particular attention will be given to existing and planned efforts to address barriers to
future adoption of ISO 50001 by industries in developing countries.
The process of developing ISO 50001 will also be described, including
international participation and a discussion of some of the core issues under consideration
by the ISO committee responsible for this work, Project Committee 242 (ISO PC 242).
The paper will conclude with a discussion of the anticipated impact of the standard in
international markets, industrial decision making, and industrial energy policy.
2
• Greater weight given to addressing upfront (first) costs compared to recurring energy
costs, especially if these costs are a small proportion of production costs (Monari,
2008).
3
Table 1 compares the elements of the energy management standards in seven
countries or regions with existing energy management standards (or specifications) plus
two under development and Japan (energy management required by legislation). In all
instances, the standard has been developed to be entirely compatible with the ISO quality
(ISO 9001:2008) and environmental (ISO 14001:2004) management standards. A number
of countries have enabling programs, such as target-setting agreements and/or tax policies,
which drive the use of their national energy management standard. The importance of
enabling programs to accelerate uptake of the standard cannot be overstated. As indicated
in Table 1, market penetration of the US energy management standard is less than 5%,
although it has been in place since 2000. This can be largely attributed to the lack of
enabling programs and policies. The first such program, Superior Energy Performance,
is now in its pilot phase.
While the existing energy management standards and specifications have many
features in common, they have subtle variations in language, content, and approach. The
continued proliferation of national and regional energy management activities in a market
that is increasingly global in scope creates the need for an international approach. ISO
now identifies energy management as one of its the top five priorities based on its
enormous potential to save energy, increase profitability, and reduce greenhouse gas
(GHG) emissions worldwide.1
A successful program in energy management begins with a strong commitment to
continual improvement of energy efficiency. A first step once the organizational structure
(management representative and cross-divisional/functional team) has been established
involves assessing the major energy uses in the facility to develop a baseline of energy
use and set targets for improvement. The selection of energy performance indicators and
objectives help to shape the development and implementation of an action plan. The
effectiveness of an action plan depends on the involvement of personnel throughout the
organization, who need to be aware of energy use and performance objectives. Staff and
those who work on behalf of the organization need training in both skills and day-to-day
practices to improve energy performance. The results should be regularly evaluated and
communicated to all personnel, recognizing high achievement. The emergence over the
past decade of better integrated and more robust control systems can play an important
role in energy management and in reducing energy use. 2
Experience in countries with energy management standards has shown that the
appropriate application of these standards requires significant training and skill.
Implementation of an energy management standard within an organization requires a
change in existing institutional practices toward energy, a process that may benefit from
technical assistance from experts outside the organization. There is a need to build not
only internal capacity within the organizations seeking to apply the standard, but also
external capacity from knowledgeable experts to help establish an effective
implementation structure.
1
http://www.iso.org/iso/energy_management_system_standard
2
Related ACEEE 2009 Industrial Summer Study paper: Automated Demand Response: The Missing Link
in the Electricity Value Chain
4
Table 1: Comparison of National and Regional Energy Management Standards
5
Supporting the Transition to Energy Management in Industry
3
http://www.sei.ie/energymap/
4
Ushio, Y., 2008. "The Energy Manager System in Japan" from the Energy Conservation Center, Japan,
presented at the Enhanced Energy Efficiency by Management Seminar, September 18, 2008, Singapore.
6
conformance with ISO 50001 and improved energy performance.5 It is anticipated that
the Certified Practitioners will draw potential candidates from both energy efficiency and
management system backgrounds. Candidates must demonstrate experience in
management systems and will be subject to a rigorous qualification exam, certified by an
independent third party organization and, once certified, be subject to periodic
professional enrichment requirements.
The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) is continuing
its interest and support for energy management through the inclusion of capacity-building
as part of its regional and national programs in a number of countries in Southeast Asia,
plus South Africa, Russia, and Turkey. Since system optimization is not taught in
universities or technical colleges, these programs also include capacity-building for
system optimization, based on a successful model developed for a pilot program in
China.
While the industrial sector represents more than one third of both global primary
energy use and energy-related carbon dioxide emissions (Price et al., 2006), it is
frequently in excess of 50% in emerging economies and developing countries and can
lead to conflicts with constraints on energy supply. Further, countries with an emerging
and rapidly expanding industrial infrastructure have a particular opportunity to increase
their competitiveness by applying energy-efficient best practices from the outset in new
industrial facilities. For example, 80% of global industrial growth in over the past ten
years has been in China (IEA 2007). Integrating energy efficiency into the initial design
or substantial redesign is typically less expensive and allows for better overall results
than retrofitting existing industrial facilities. Conversely, failure to integrate energy
efficiency in new industrial facility design in emerging economies and developing
countries represents a large and permanent loss in climate change mitigation potential
that will persist for decades until these facilities are scheduled for major renovation. The
current economic downturn provides a unique opportunity for industry, particularly
rapidly growing industries in developing countries, to regroup and embed energy
management practices in anticipation of the next cycle of economic growth.
UNIDO recognized the industry’s need to enhance competitiveness while
responding effectively to climate change and to the proliferation of national energy
management standards. In March 2007, UNIDO hosted a meeting of experts from
developing countries and emerging economies, nations that had adopted or were
developing national energy management standards and representatives from the ISO
Central Secretariat. That meeting led to submission of a formal recommendation to the
ISO Central Secretariat to consider undertaking work on an international energy
management standard.
UNIDO has been supporting the development process of ISO 50001 by
facilitating the participation of developing countries and emerging economies in the
process through international and regional workshops, and a survey on energy
management in industry.
5
http://www.superiorenergyperformance.net/
7
A key objective of the UNIDO survey is to better understand the potential
opportunities, barriers and challenges for industry in adopting and implementing energy
management standards. In partnership with the Standards, Productivity and Innovation
Board (SPRING) and the National Environment Agency (NEA) of Singapore, UNIDO
piloted the survey in July 2008.
Table 2: Distribution of Survey Respondents.
The Survey was sent to 47 Size
enterprises of six different sectors, Sector Small Medium Large Tot
with 27 enterprises completing and Chemical 0 1 3 4
returning the survey. Table 2 Electronic 1 0 6 7
shows the sectors and distribution Food & Beverage 0 2 1 3
of respondents by company size. Textile 0 0 1 1
Pharmaceutical 0 3 5 8
Below is a summary of the results.
Wafer fabrication 0 1 3 4
Fig.1 Enterprises ISO 9001/14001 certified Fig.2 Enterprises with energy policy
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management decision-making, development, financing, and implementation process. The
lack of information at the plant level remains a key barrier to improved energy
management and energy efficiency in industry. This sample indicates a high level of
interest in access to expert networks, sector-specific energy efficiency expertise, and
technical tools (Figs 5 and 6). Energy benchmarks are seen as highly useful, yet remain
largely unavailable (Fig 7).
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 YES NO
While the small sample of respondent enterprises (27 out of 47) does not allow
extrapolation of results to Singapore industry as a whole, the data has provided useful
insight and hints for further analysis. The survey is currently being replicated in
Brazilian enterprises in collaboration with the Brazilian National Confederation of
Industry and will be implemented in a modified form in Southeast Asia. It is important to
note that Singaporean industries are better aligned with developed, rather than developing
economies relative to the integration of energy management into business practices. It is
reasonable to assume that the need for access to energy efficiency information and skills
will be even greater in developing countries
9
Table 2 Industrial Standards Framework
6
http://www.iso.org/iso/energy_management_system_standard
10
2008 to initiate a dialogue on harmonization of national and regional standards in
preparation for the first meeting of ISO PC 242.
The first meeting of ISO PC 242 was held in September 2008 in Washington, DC
with participation by delegates from 25 countries from all regions of the world, as well as
representation from UNIDO, which has liaison status. The goal of ISO PC 242 is to
develop the new management system ISO 50001 on an accelerated schedule. Between
the first meeting in September and the second meeting in March 2009 in Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil, ISO PC 242 produced two working drafts for expert review and comment by
member countries (35 as of March 2009). At the March meeting, a decision was made to
go to Committee Draft (CD) in June 2009, following additional expert review and input.
This puts development of ISO 50001 on track for publication in early 2011.
Some of the major issues being addressed by ISO PC 242 include:
• The definition of energy and energy performance, with the term “energy
performance” encompassing energy efficiency, energy conservation, and
increased use of renewable energy, as determined by the implementing
organization in their policy, targets, and objectives;
• The role of top management in setting policy and empowering staff to implement
it;
• The term “team” as applied to persons responsible for carrying out the energy
management policy. Team describes the personnel resources necessary to
implement and maintain the action plans and objectives of the organization and
could be one person;
• An approach for energy planning that focuses on the process an organization
would use both to implement and to maintain their management system;
• The appropriate role of purchasing for energy efficient supply, equipment,
products, and services in a globally relevant standard;
• The role of renewable energy in energy management and energy performance,
and
• The need for an annex that helps small and mid-size organization.
Potential Impact
Existing ISO standards for quality management practices (ISO 9001) and
environmental management systems (ISO 14001) have successfully stimulated
substantial, continual efficiency improvements around the globe. The emergence of ISO
50001, the international energy management standard is anticipated to have far-reaching
effects on the energy efficiency of industry when it is published in early 2011.
This will be especially true in developing countries and emerging economies that
still lack national energy management standards as well as policies and mechanisms to
achieve improved efficiency in the industrial sector. Past experience with environmental
management standards shows that the ISO standards have provided stimulus and a
framework for the development of national standards, policies, laws and regulation. In
addition, all indications are that ISO 50001 will become a significant factor in
international trade, as ISO 9001 has been.
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ISO 50001 has the potential to impact 60% of the world’s energy use, including
not only industry, but also the commercial and institutional sectors. Based on
demonstrated savings that have been achieved by organizations that have implemented
energy management plans and a continual improvement framework, energy intensity
improvements of greater than 2.5% per year are achievable and can be sustained for the
next decade. The International Energy Agency has stated that
(the) manufacturing industry can improve its energy efficiency by an impressive 18 to 26%, while
reducing the sector’s CO2 emissions by 19 to 32%, based on proven technology. Identified
improvement options can contribute7 to 12% reduction in global energy and process-related CO2
emissions (IEA 2007).
.
The emergence of ISO 50001 will be an important link in realizing these impacts.
References
International Energy Agency. 2007. Tracking Industrial Energy Efficiency and CO2
Emissions: A Technology Perspective. Paris: IEA; ISBN 978-92-64-03016-9
http://www.iea.org/w/bookshop/add.aspx?id=298
McKane, Aimee, 2007, Industrial Energy Management: Issues Paper, prepared for
UNIDO Experts Group Meeting: Using Energy Management Standards to stimulate
persistent application of Energy Efficiency in Industry, Vienna, Austria, 21-22 March
2008 http://www.unido.org/fileadmin/import/63563_EM_Issues_Paper031207.pdf
McKane, A., L. Price, and S. de la Rue du Can. 2008. Policies for Promoting Industrial
Energy Efficiency in Developing Countries and Transition Economies, for the United
Nations Industrial Development Organization, May 2008, Vienna, Austria.
http://www.unido.org/index.php?id=o71852
Price, L., S. de la Rue du Can, J. Sinton,, and E. Worrell., 2006. Sectoral Trends in
Global Energy Use and Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Berkeley, CA: Lawrence Berkeley
National Laboratory (LBNL-56144). http://ies.lbl.gov/iespubs/56144.pdf
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