There are three tasks associated with identifying energy sources and energy uses:

• 2.2.1 Identify current energy sources
• 2.2.2 Identify energy uses
• 2.2.3 Identify data needs

2.2.1 Identify current energy sources

Identify and document your organization’s current energy sources. For ISO 50001, energy sources are the forms of energy that come across your organization’s boundaries. This includes both primary energy and secondary energy. Primary energy is energy in its natural state such as natural gas. Secondary energy is derived from primary energy and includes sources such as electricity, steam and compressed air. Some examples of energy sources are:

• Electricity
• Natural Gas
• Fuel oil
• Diesel
• Gasoline
• Propane
• Coal
• Wind
• Geothermal
• Biomass
• Steam
• Compressed air
• Chilled water

For each energy source, identify the associated facilities, equipment, systems and processes. This helps ensure all energy sources are identified and none are overlooked. Use one or more of the following to help identify energy using facilities, equipment, systems and processes and account for all energy sources:

• Floor plans
• Process flow charts
• Facility plan with equipment locations
• Building schematics
• Wiring diagrams
• Utility diagrams
• Equipment lists

2.2.2 Identify energy uses

In ISO 50001 terminology, energy use is not the same as energy consumption. Energy use is defined as “manner or kind of application of energy.” Examples include ventilation, heating, cooling, lighting and transportation. Energy uses are associated with the facilities, equipment, systems and processes that use the energy. Some examples of these energy uses are:

• Indoor lighting
• Outdoor lighting
• Space heating
• Space cooling/air conditioning
• Commercial/industrial hot water or steam boilers
• Domestic type hot water heaters
• Office equipment
• Maintenance building
• Boiler house
• Main production building
• Accounting office
• Air compressors
• Pumps
• Ovens or process heating
• Refrigeration systems
• Conveyors/conveying systems
• Fans and ventilation (not associated with space heating/cooling)
• Cooling towers
• Motors
• Water chillers
• Paint line
• Assembly
• Purchasing
• Information technology

Energy uses can be identified in any way that suits your organization. In Step 2.2.1 you associated energy sources with their appropriate facilities, equipment, systems and processes to ensure all relevant sources were identified. Organize equipment, systems and processes into logical groupings or categories (i.e. uses) that would best allow for evaluating and improving energy performance. Some categories to consider (with examples in parenthesis) are:

• Processes (all the equipment associated with a printing process or a drying process)
• Similar equipment (all air conditioners or all compressors)
• Departments (computer lab or painting department)
• Systems (lighting or compressed air)
• Utility distribution (panel A or all 50 amp circuit breakers)
• Specific Equipment (a specific main frame computer or boiler)
• Facilities (administration building or production shop)

Energy uses do not have to be collected into one specific category. Some combination of the categories listed above may be used for categorizing uses. An example is:

The computer lab, the printing process, the boiler and the electricity used by the remainder of the facility could each be identified as separate energy uses.

2.2.3 Identify data needs

A successful energy management system (EnMS) relies on accurate and appropriate data. The energy review is intended to profile your organization’s energy situation and serve as a guide for collecting and analyzing the data needed to determine energy performance and identify improvement opportunities.

ISO 50001 requires that the following data and information be included in the energy review:

• Energy sources – Ensure all energy sources are identified as discussed in Step 2.2.1. Data for energy sources is generally available from utility bills or source energy provider (see Example Types of Energy Management Data).
• Analysis of past energy use and energy consumption – The manner and detail in which this data is collected will depend on the metering installed or available in your organization. Metering may have only been available at a utility level and analysis capability may be limited. Collect data over the last several years to establish the history of the organization’s energy performance (See Step 2.4.2).
• Analysis of present energy use and consumption – Collection of this data will also depend on the meters installed (or that you will install) in your facility. If utility meters are the only meters installed, you may need to consider additional metering if your organization desires more granularity in the evaluation of energy use and consumption. Use this data to establish current energy performance (see Step 2.4.2).
• Significant energy uses (SEUs) and their current performance – Significant energy uses are the facilities, systems, equipment, processes and personnel that consume a significant amount of energy and/or have a good opportunity for energy performance improvement. Use the information in the data collection and analysis of opportunities part of the energy review to determine your SEUs (see Step 2.5). Focusing on SEUs allows your organization to concentrate resources in the areas that consume the greatest amount of energy and/or that have the greatest potential for energy performance improvement.
• Relevant variables affecting the significant energy uses – Relevant variables are the factors that can have an impact on the energy performance of your significant energy uses. Determine the relevant variables using the data from the energy review (see Step 2.5.4).
• Estimates of future energy use and energy consumption – Prepare estimates of future energy use and energy consumption for your significant energy uses (see Step 2.5.6). These estimates can help with managing your significant energy uses, establishing energy objectives and targets, and provides a level of expectation you can use for comparison with actual results (see Step 4.1.7).
• Prioritized opportunities for improving energy performance – Identify improvement opportunities using the energy review data and analysis, as well as data from energy assessments and other methods (see Step 2.6).

In addition to collecting and analyzing data to determine your organization’s energy performance, the energy review provides the basis for establishing the metrics for energy performance measurement and opportunity identification. Use this data for:

• Selecting energy performance indicators (EnPIs) – EnPIs are the metrics used to quantify your organization’s energy performance. It can be a simple metric or a more complicated measure (see Step 2.7).
• Establishing the energy baseline – The baseline is the benchmark against which current energy performance is compared to determine if your energy performance has improved. The baseline can be a simple metric (e.g. consumption) or can be a more complicated measure (see Step 2.8).
• Setting energy objectives and energy targets – Once your organization has determined the status of its energy performance and identified opportunities, it can establish objectives and set targets for achieving improved energy performance (see Step 2.9).

Data requirements may include more than consumption data. Data may be related to efficiency, loading, operating time, etc. Your energy team must determine the appropriate data necessary for the identified metric.

In considering energy management data needs, your energy team also needs to consider potential data needs related to requirements other than the energy review and performance metrics, such as:

• Energy policy
• Legal and other requirements
• Operations data
• Production data
• Energy costs
• Organizational financial information

The energy policy addresses what is important to the organization in terms of energy and provides strategic direction with respect to energy data (see Step 1.7). Energy management can impact or be impacted by energy-related legal and other requirements and specific data could be mandated by these requirements (see Step 2.1). Operation and production data could be important for determining energy performance and energy performance indicators for building operations and industrial operations (see Step 2.7.1). Information related to energy cost considerations cannot be neglected since, for most organizations, top management will usually want to know the impact on the organization’s bottom line.

The management representative is responsible for ensuring that the required data and information for energy planning is identified, but additional staff can be appointed to support this effort as appropriate. The resources needed to identify data requirements are provided by top management. Information useful in data identification is contained in Example Types of Energy Management Data.

This resource describes various examples of energy management data:

• Example Types of Energy Management Data

Single license electronic copies of the ISO 50001 standard can be purchased from GTESS.

Site licenses (for posting on internal networks) can be purchased from ANSI.

The following resources provide information needed to understand EnMS documentation and decide what documents and records are needed for your EnMS.

• Understanding EnMS Documentation
• EnMS Documentation Guidance Table
• Energy Manual Guidelines