Monday, November 21, 2011

Energy Management and ISO 50001:2011 - Questions and Answers

Edwin Pinero, chair of ISO TC 242, answers your questions:

Question:
Does the Energy Management System ISO 50001 cover on Energy conservation and supporting for the supply of energy by preserving the environment?
Answer:
THE STANDARD IS A TYPICAL ISO-TYPE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM STANDARD FOCUSED ON HOW AN ORGANIZATION MANAGES ITS ENERGY USE.  THIS INCLUDES BOTH CONSERVATION AND EFFICIENCY.  BUT IT ALSO INCLUDES THE MANAGEMENT OF THE TYPE OF ENERGY THE ORGANIZATION DOES HAVE TO USE, FOR EXAMPLE SELECTING RENEWABLE OVER FOSSIL FUELS  MANAGEMENT DECISIONS REGARDING ENERGY CAN TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION CRITERIA SUCH AS ENVIRONMENT, ENERGY RELIABILITY, ENERGY SECURITY, CLIMATE CHANGE CONCERNS AND MANY OTHERS.
  
Question:
Secondly, is the scope of this standard covering the nuclear energy and all sorts of energies?
Answer:
YES, ANY TYPE OF ENERGY THE ORGANIZATION WISHES TO INCLUDE CAN BE ADDRESSED IN THE ENERGY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.


Question:
Is this procedure covers Safety as well?
Answer:

NO, THE ENERGY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM STANDARD IS FOCUSED ON ENERGY.  IT IS HOWEVER MODELED AFTER OTHER TYPES OF MANAGEMENT SYSTEM STANDARDS, SUCH AS THOSE FOR SAFETY, ENVIRONMENT, AND QUALITY.  AN ORGANIZATION CAN OPT TO INTEGRATE  THEIR SYSTEMS.

Question:
Are there any spots open on committees to draft energy management system auditing documents?
Answer:

TC 242 WILL BE UNDERTAKING SEVERAL NEW PROJECTS, INCLUDING DEVELOPING GUIDANCE ON AUDITING AN ENERGY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.

5 comments:

  1. It seems that ISO 14001 already addresses energy, as well as other environmental concerns. Would you say that ISO 50001 is a specialized subset of 14001?
    Thanks,
    Scott Brady
    Missouri Enterprise

    ReplyDelete
  2. Energy availability and costs are one of the greatest challenges facing global corporations in the 21st Century. As defined by the international standard ISO 9004:2009, "the availability of natural resources is one of the factors that can influence an organization's sustained success. The organization should consider the risks and opportunities related to the availability and use of energy and natural resources in the short and long term". Having said that, energy challenges go well beyond environmental concerns and this is why a company needs to have an energy system in place to understand and mitigate risks related to the global energy market trends and to create a well balanced and cost effective model of energy supply and consumption.

    ReplyDelete
  3. EnMSs are only viable for large users of energy, approx 3000+ MWh/year.

    Don't be conned, most SMEs would not benefit from an externally certified EnMS.

    ReplyDelete
  4. SMEs can benefit from the deployment of an energy management system (EnMS). Among some of today’s skyrocketing costs most small and mid-size firms see energy rising the quickest. Nearly one out of two SMEs interviewed by IBM said that energy represents one of their largest cost increases over the past two years. The most effective way to address these energy challenges is through the deployment of the ISO 50001 EnMS which provides a systematic framework to monitor and optimize energy supply as well as to select and deploy the most relevant energy saving solutions. An external certification of the ISO 50001 EnMS provides SMEs with an independent expert assessment which most small companies are not well-resourced to do.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks for the sharing information about ISO 50001:2011 but I will be happy if you write more about Energy management system. What do you think about newly released ISO 50001 training.

    ReplyDelete