Step 2 Plan for Energy Management
Developing an effective and resilient energy management system requires some basic planning. The planning step of the process begins with gaining a better understanding of the different types of energy your organization uses and how these energy types are used. Once you better understand these key issues, you’ll be able to more effectively identify and prioritize possible energy performance improvement opportunities, and then develop project action plans to implement prioritized opportunities. The planning step is where you will gather your organization’s data, examine the results of any energy assessments that may have been performed, and contact your energy provider(s) for any additional data or assistance.
eGuide Level 1, Step 2 Plan for Energy Management involves the following:
- Step 2.2 Identify energy sources and uses
- Step 2.3 Collect energy bills and other data
- Step 2.4 Analyze energy consumption and costs
- Step 2.5 Determine significant energy uses
- Step 2.6 Identify and prioritize energy opportunities
- Step 2.7 Determine performance metrics
- Step 2.8 Establish baseline(s)
- Step 2.9 Establish energy performance improvement objectives and targets
- Step 2.10 Select energy opportunities
- Step 2.11 Prepare action plan(s)
Advancing from Foundational Level 1 to ISO 50001 Level 2 for Step 2
For foundational energy management (Level 1), you developed an energy management program focused on a continuous approach to implementing energy projects and sustaining the energy savings achieved. Planning for energy management revolved around collecting data for identifying, conducting and evaluating the results of energy projects. For ISO 50001 (Level 2), you are transitioning your energy management program to an energy management system (EnMS) and your focus is collecting and using data for overall energy performance improvement. Energy performance is defined as measurable results related to energy efficiency, energy use and energy consumption.
ISO 50001 requires that you collect data identified in the energy review and use it to develop significant energy uses (SEUs), energy performance indicators, baselines, energy objectives and targets and identify energy performance improvement opportunities. While you use some of this data in Level 1 for evaluating projects, ISO 50001 is concerned with ongoing management of the SEUs, continuous energy opportunity identification, maintaining energy performance levels, compliance with energy related legal and other requirements, and ensuring energy management becomes part of the organizational culture. This involves a much more robust process of data collection and analysis to satisfy the requirements of the ISO 50001 standard.
In “Step 2 Plan for Energy Management,” the steps for ISO 50001 are very similar to the steps in Level 1 foundational energy management, but typically they identify specifics not required in Level 1. ISO 50001 also relies on more of a process approach to data collection and analysis using documented methods and criteria and records retention. ISO 50001 also addresses energy related legal and other requirements which are not a component of the Level 1 project focus.
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