Eric A.Woodroof, Ph.D., is the Chairman of the Board for the Certified Carbon Reduction Manager 12/06/2011 Should You Implement ISO 50001? By Eric Woodroof I recently attended a three-day seminar about ISO 5000 and I am also ser!ing on committees of some organi"ations that #lan to train #eo#le$com#anies on ho% to a##ly this ne% standard& 'his article e(#lains the ne% standard as %ell as im#lementation$a##lication barriers that I can see at this time& For the record, I do think that it is important for companies to have a written energy management policy, and for the US government to estalish a more ro!st energy/environmental plan" #owever, the state of the economy is a ig infl!ence on the implementation of any new programs, re$!iring management commitment, money and a long%term foc!s" Unfort!nately, many companies are constrained y a very short%term planning hori&on, which retards the implementation of long%term strategic policies/programs" What i ISO 50001? 5000 is a blue#rint for an energy management #olicy %ithin an organi"ation& Basically) it is a uni!ersal #rocess that can be a##lied to many facilities to ensure that they are follo%ing the fundamental #rinci#les of an energy management #olicy& It is !ery similar to other standards that ISO has de!elo#ed regarding *uality +ISO ,00- and En!ironmental Management Systems +ISO .00-& !arrier and "oncern a#out ISO 50001 Application Will ISO 5000 be %idely ado#ted/ I am not sure& 5000 is not a results-oriented #rogram) %hich means that im#lementing it does not mean that a com#any has sa!ed any energy although sa!ings %ould be li0ely& 'here are at least t%o conse1uences of not being results-oriented2 & Com#anies that im#lement 5000 %ill %ant a return on their in!estment +either in sa!ings or mar0eting ad!antage !ia im#ro!ed image-3 4& Consumers$Clients %ant sim#le e!idence that a com#any is 5doing the right thing6 %ith res#ect to the en!ironment$energy$sustainability) etc& E!eryone understands the benefits %hen a com#any says that it is 5carbon neutral6 or 5net energy "ero6 or 5contributes "ero %aste to landfills&6 'hese benefits can be measured and !alidated as results to%ard a sustainability goal +as o##osed to 5efforts6-& E!en the E7ER89 S':R #rogram allo%s com#anies to earn a label if their buildings achie!e #erformance in the to# 45; against a grou# of similar buildings& I am not sure consumers %ill care if a com#any is follo%ing an efforts-based standard) as consumers are already o!er%helmed %ith information& Consumers$clients 0no% that com#anies %ill naturally res#ond to mar0et forces and +%ith or %ithout a standard- %ill attem#t to reduce energy costs to remain cost-com#etiti!e& So the 1uestion becomes %hether the mar0eting !alue of being ISO 5000 certified is im#ortant to an organi"ation<s clients& :dditional influence to im#lement 5000 can come from a !ariety of sources& =or e(am#le) if Wal-Mart or a similar big com#any demands that all su##liers ha!e ISO 5000) then su##liers %ill follo%& :lternati!ely) if a utility offers funding to hel# com#anies im#lement the 5000 standard) then more com#anies %ill do it& Some utilities are considering this a##roach as it is similar to the in!estments they ma0e in demand side management #rograms& Com#anies that ha!e already im#lemented ISO .00 may find it relati!ely easy to incrementally add the #rocesses needed to satisfy 5000 re1uirements& :lso) com#anies that ha!e im#lemented Si( Sigma) >ai"en or other formal 1uality-im#ro!ement #rocesses %ill find 5000 relati!ely easy& Implementin$ ISO 50001 Beyond #ublishing an official energy #olicy and committing #ersonnel to im#lement it) 5000 is mostly about determining %hich of a com#any<s #rocesses are the largest contributors to energy consum#tion) and then documenting a #rocess to o#timi"e those !ariables& S#ecific im#lementation ste#s are summari"ed belo%2 & ?ocumenting an energy management #olicy %ith res#onsibilities delegated to indi!iduals& 4& =inding the Significant Energy @sers +SE@s- %ithin your com#any) and %hat !ariables +organi"ed by #rocess$#roduct or by e1ui#ment- your com#any %ants to manage %ith res#ect to energy consum#tion& Page 1 of 2 21/12/2011 http://www.buildings.com/DesktopModules/BB_!ticleMa"/!ticleDetail/BB!ticle... +CRM- #rogram and he has been a board member of the Certified Energy Manager +CEM- Arogram since ,,,& Bis clients include go!ernment agencies) air#orts) utilities) cities) uni!ersities and foreign go!ernments& Ari!ate clients include IBM) Ae#si) 8M) Ceri"on) Bert") Cisteon) DA Morgan-Chase) and Eoc0heed Martin& F& Establishing a baseline of the energy consum#tion for s#ecific !ariables as %ell as ho% in#uts affect the #erformance& .& ?e!elo#ing an o#timi"ation #lan and #ut it into action& 5& Aeriodically measuring #rogress on your o#timi"ation #lan) and document any changes$im#ro!ements to the #lan& 6" Calidating or certifying the a##lication of ISO 5000 Standard %ithin your facility& 'his can be done !ia self-certification or accreditation !ia a F rd #arty certification& 'vio!sly, the ( rd party accreditation will e more respected, !t will also cost more to achieve" "ot%Effecti&e Implementation Im#lementing ISO 5000 in!ol!es far more ste#s than are mentioned abo!e& Bo%e!er if I %ere to ad!ise clients on ho% to achie!e the standard) it seems clear that the 0ey is to identify a fe% SE@s +%hat contributes most to energy consum#tion- and then de!elo# an action #lan$documentation #lan for those s#ecific SE@s& Many com#anies may already be doing this due to common sense or because it is already #art of another management #rogram$#rocess +.00 for e(am#le-& :s mentioned #re!iously) I do thin0 that ha!ing a %ritten energy #olicy is a good idea& ISO 5000 has a great blue#rint that re1uires that s#ecific actions must be measured #eriodically and re#orted& In other %ords) the com#any must actually follo% through on the #lan it de!elo#s and %al0 the tal0& I thin0 that #rinci#le of the #rogram is good because it means at least the #olicy is being de!elo#ed and action is occurring& Page 2 of 2 21/12/2011 http://www.buildings.com/DesktopModules/BB_!ticleMa"/!ticleDetail/BB!ticle...