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Historically, the International Organization for Standardization published many standards. Some of them were famous like ISO 14001 on environmental management and other standards have high expectations like ISO 26000 on social responsibility. But none seem to bring about more cost reductions than ISO 50001 initially issued in 2011.
What is?
ISO 50001 energy management systems is a voluntary international standard developed by ISO. It provides organizations with the requirements for energy management systems (EMS) and serves organizations large and small, in both the public and private sectors, in manufacturing and services.
ISO 50001 can establish a framework for industrial plants; commercial, institutional and government facilities; and entire organizations to manage their energy efficiently. In fact, it is estimated that the standard could influence up to 60% of energy use in the world.
Because it is important?
Energy is critical to organizational operations and can be a significant cost in performing daily activities. In addition to the economic costs of energy to an organization, energy can impose environmental and social costs by depleting resources and contributing to problems such as climate change.
In this context, individual organizations cannot control energy prices, government policies, or the global economy, but they can improve the way they manage energy in their own facilities. Improved energy performance can deliver quick benefits to an organization by maximizing the use of its energy sources and energy-related assets, thereby reducing both energy cost and consumption.
What does this standard primarily accomplish?
1. Helps organizations make better use of their existing energy-consuming assets.
2. Facilitates communication on the management and control of energy resources.
3. Promotes energy management systems.
4. Guides the facilities to evaluate and prioritize the implementation of new energy efficient technologies.
5. Formulate a framework to promote energy efficiency.
How does it work?
ISO 50001 is based on the ISO management system model familiar to more than a million organizations worldwide implementing standards such as ISO 9001 (quality management), ISO 14001 (environmental management), and ISO 27001 (security management). information).
In particular, ISO 50001 follows the Plan-Do-Check-Act process to continually improve energy performance and EMS.
The implementation of ISO 50001 is expected to address what the organization does to effectively manage energy resources. It provides a framework of requirements for organizations to:
Develop a policy for a more efficient use of energy
Set goals and objectives to meet the policy
Use data to better understand and make decisions about energy use
measure results
Review how well the policy works, and
ยท Continuously improve energy management.
All of the above can be effectively implemented with the assistance of an energy consulting firm.
What about the Middle East?
Several countries that use the most electricity per capita are in the Middle East, and more specifically in the Gulf region. Huge developments, as well as the excessive need for air conditioning in countries such as Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia, require a large amount of electrical power supply. But instead of building more power plants, it is better to manage energy requirements and try to reduce energy demand. But first, awareness must be passed on to decision-makers in this region, as in other parts of the world.
The need to continually update regulations to control and limit unnecessary energy demands is a huge but doable challenge for governments. Energy consulting companies can surely help in this effort. The other big challenge is getting the top management of any organization to commit to and understand the benefits of implementing energy management systems.
In summary, the barriers to adopting ISO 50001 are limited technical knowledge at the organization level, difficulty in obtaining financing, and weak energy efficiency legislation.
In conclusion
ISO 50001 has been able to build on numerous national energy management standards, specifications and regulations, including those developed in China, Denmark, Ireland, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, the US and the European Union.
Reducing energy consumption without sacrificing facility operations is a dream come true for many energy-conscious organizations. With its simplicity and all the benefits it brings, time will show that ISO 50001 is one of the best standards that ISO has ever developed.