ISO 50001 Certification: all the benefits of an energy management system

Achieving maximum energy efficiency in a building, whether it is a manufacturing plant, commercial or office space, is the result of careful corporate policies and targeted interventions, which include constant monitoring of consumption and the presence of a strategic energy management plan, including targets and periodic evaluations.

It is enough, for example, for changes in the occupancy of premises, obsolescence of machinery or devices, or lack of regular maintenance to give rise to more or less important imbalances in energy use and management.

These imbalances can cause waste and leakage that, if not properly contained, could have a major economic impact over the long run.

The lack of consumption monitoring devices does not allow one to have a clear picture of one’s organization’s energy needs, emissions, and overall energy profile, making it impossible to take any informed action to improve efficiency, and thus align with the common global goals of reducing consumption and emissions.

For all these reasons, it is increasingly common for companies and corporations on a global scale to move toward having an energy management system (SGE), adhering to the standards set forth in ISO 50001 certification.

We will see below the horizon within which this certification fits.

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ISO 50001 STANDARD AND CERTIFICATION

ISO 50001 “Energy Management Systems – Requirements and Guidelines for Use” is a certification standard to which organizations and companies can adhere on a voluntary basis. It was developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the leading international standardization body, which aims to establish technical standards to harmonize individual countries regulations to a common international standard.

The ISO 50001 standard, in particular, was updated in 2018, and on this occasion additional specifications were included on aspects involving energy review, or the energy analysis of a company, and more detailed indicators to describe its energy performance and baseline consumption.

The goal of the standard is to improve an organization’s energy efficiency throughout its supply chain. Therefore, with the 2018 update, there is also a greater emphasis on the actions of top management and corporate leadership, from whom a concrete commitment and active attitude in implementing SGE efficiency and continuous improvement practices is expected.

The ISO 50001 standard provides companies and organizations with guidelines and strategies that can promote not only better energy management, but also cost cutting and the elimination of dispersion and waste, optimizing performance in every area of the organization’s actions, with an approach of systematic and continuous improvement of its energy performance.

Aligning with ISO 50001 will therefore make it possible to put into action an energy management system (SGE), which consists of a framework of procedures that enables organizations to establish good practices on efficient energy use and consumption, with the definition and implementation of precise energy goals.

BENEFITS OF ISO 50001 CERTIFICATION

Compliance with ISO 50001, although it involves an initial commitment on the part of the organization in terms of data collection, preparation of audits and implementation of concrete improvement actions, brings with it undoubted advantages. Let’s look at some of them:

• Adhering to the standard means being able to understand accurately the energy profile of one’s organization;
• This includes the ability to accurately measure your energy needs and consumption;
• Being able to focus on possible areas of action and use the available data to prepare a plan for targeted and strategic changes;
• Clearly identifying not only risks, but also economic opportunities over the medium and long term;
• Concretely reduce waste, leakage, and thus the cost of energy supply in a practical way, and to control CO₂ emissions by meeting global targets for reducing and containing impact.

Aligning with the ISO 50001 standard for an organization also entails a significant increase in its climate credentials, that is the environmental credentials of the company, and in general of corporate reputation, with the possibility of being a responsible partner in relation to collective issues of major importance, such as energy supply, reduction of CO₂, and responsible use of resources. An opportunity not to be underestimated from a strategic perspective.

A company’s decision to comply with the ISO standard for energy management is also a stepping stone towards implementing a strategy geared towards sustainability in a holistic sense, that gradually incorporates this approach into all aspects of the organization and long-term goals.

The ISO standard on energy management systems is applicable to any type of organization and valid worldwide. The path to apply for and obtaining certification usually follows these steps:

• Begins with a voluntary activation by the organization, which applies for it;
• The request, and its acceptance, is followed by a series of audits, that is, checks prepared and carried out by a certification body accredited by ACCREDIA;
• These audits may also be preceded by a pre-assessment audit, which is optional in nature and is intended to make an assessment of the present situation before the actual procedure takes place;
• Once identified, they are taken care of and managed;
• The certification decision follows from this.

Once the company has obtained ISO 50001 certification, it will have to undergo periodic annual audits to confirm each time that the conditions for maintaining the certification exist.

Moving toward better and more accurate collection of data and information on an organization’s environmental and social impact will be an increasingly necessary requirement, in order to position oneself as an aware and informed player in a global landscape in which the conversation about climate change, emissions reduction and energy management efficiency will be increasingly essential topics.

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