SQT Blog

ATTENTION!

1. Does your organisation employ more than 250 people directly?
2. Does your organisation have an annual turnover of more than €50 million per year and/or an annual balance sheet in excess of €43 million?
3. Are you a public body with individual buildings having a total useful floor area of more than 500m² or an annual energy spend of more than €35,000?

If you have answered ‘No’ to the above questions, this legislation is voluntary for your organisation.

However, if you have answered ‘Yes’ to any of the above questions, you must complete a high quality energy audit by the 5^th December 2015, notify SEAI once complete, and repeat this every four years thereafter.  Alternatively, you can have a certified ISO 50001 Energy Management System in place, which requires you to conduct regular energy audits to maintain certification.

These are the rules established in the recently published (October 2014) European Union (Energy Efficiency) Regulations 2014, which transpose Article 8 of the Energy Efficiency Directive (2012/27/EU).

If your organisation meets the qualification criteria outlined, but is not fully covered by ISO 50001, you will need to conduct a high quality energy audit to comply with the Regulations.

These audits must include energy used by your buildings, industrial processes and transport to identify cost-effective energy saving measures.  The audits must sufficiently represent the overall energy performance of the organisation and the reliable identification of the most significant opportunities for improvement.

Audits are to be conducted with reference to the recently published ISO 50002:2014 or EN 16247 1-4.  Lead auditors conducting the audits must be members of the National Registration Scheme. For your audits, your organisation must:

1. Calculate its total consumption
2. Identify its areas of significant energy consumption
3. Appoint a registered energy auditor
4. Notify the SEAI
5. Keep records

In order to comply with the Regulations, the audits must:

1. Analyse the participant’s energy consumption and energy efficiency
2. Use life-cycle cost analysis (LCCA) instead of Simple Payback Periods (SPP)
3. Contain detailed and validated calculations for the proposed measures to determine potential savings
4. Be based on up-to-date, measured, traceable operational data on energy consumption and (for electricity) load profiles

The organisation should be aware that if it does not meet its auditing obligations, for instance by failing to do the required audits or notify SEAI of compliance, it may be prosecuted by the SEAI and is liable on summary conviction to a class A fine.

 

Find out more about comprehensive lead auditor training necessary for you to conduct your own energy audits here.

 

Submitted by Ronan O’Sullivan, Antaris Consulting
To read more blogs from Antaris, click here

Figures released from ISO show a large uptake over the previous twelve months.  There are over 19,573 standard developed by the ISO since its formation in 1947. The reach of the organisation has expanded with national members 164 countries, rising from 162 in 2011. Ireland’s representative body is the NSAI. The national members consist of 111 member bodies, 49 correspondent members and four subscriber members.

The number of active projects in 2012 has increased to 4056, from 4007 in 2011. Consequently, the number of standards published has also risen from 1208 in 2011, to 1280 in 2012.

A summary of the statistics is shown in the table below.

Table 1 Global Distribution of Certificates 2011 and 2012

Standard	No. of Certs Issued 2012	No. of Certs Issued 2011	Increase	Increase (%)
ISO 9001 (Quality)	1,101,272	1,079,647	21,625	2%
ISO 14001 (Environmental)	285,844	261,957	23,887	9%
ISO 50001 (Energy)	1,981	459	1,522	332%
ISO 27001 (Information Security)	19,577	17,355	2,222	13%
ISO 22000 (Food Safety)	23,231	19,351	3,880	20%
ISO/TS 16949 (Quality Automotive)	50,071	47,512	2,559	5%
ISO 13485 (Quality Medical Devices)	22,237	19,849	2,388	12%
Total	1,504,213	1,446,130	58,083	4%

Source (ISO, 2013)

From Table 1 above, it can be seen that the uptake for the seven most popular standards have all increased over the past year. The greatest increase in uptake has occurred with ISO 50001, with an increase of 332%.

This increase is due to the fact that ISO 50001 was released in June 2011, and therefore the 2011 figures represent six months of uptake. In addition this is the first internationally recognised energy management standard.  The large increase may be the result of companies with existing standards upgrading their systems to comply with the requirements of ISO 50001, as the standard is in its infancy.

Sustainable Energy Authority Ireland’s Large Industry Energy Network (LIEN) is a voluntary network comprising of 140 companies representing 60 percent of Ireland’s industrial energy usage. A staggering €60m in avoided energy costs has been achieved since 2008 with the Scheme. SEAI also have a scheme under the LIEN, called the Energy Agreements Programme (EAP), over which there are 80 members which requires organisations to implement an energy management system.

In addition to this Ireland is home to many of the world largest MNCs (e.g. Google, Pfizer) and these companies are paving the way for best practice energy management for their colleagues in other countries and this has been enforced further with the swift implementation of ISO 50001. Germany and the UK are the market leaders in the largest number of ISO 50001 certificates issued but Ireland is coming up behind these countries, and is driven by SEAI’s goal to ensure that all members of the EAP have achieved ISO 50001 certification by the end of 2013. (Brogan, 2012)

The global uptake of ISO 50001 over the first twelve months has exceeded that of ISO 14001 in its initial twelve month period, and is rivalling the number of uptakes of the ISO 9001 in the 1990’s.

ISO 9001 makes up the majority of the certificates issued with over 73% of the global total awarded in 2012.

Table 2 Distribution of Certificates 2011 and 2012 in Ireland

Standard	Intro Year	No. of Certs Issued 2012	No. of Certs Issued 2011	Change (%)	Total Certs Issued
ISO 9001 (Quality)	1993	2,331	1,875	+24%	43,462
ISO 14001 (Environmental)	1999	417	663	-37%	4,947
ISO 50001 (Energy)	2011	35	n/a	n/a	35
ISO 27001 (Information Security)	2006	48	30	+60%	146
ISO 22000 (Food Safety)	2007	49	49	0%	246
ISO/TS 16949 (Automotive Quality)	2004	23	21	+10%	187
ISO 13485 (Medical Devices Quality)	2004	193	159	+21%	975
Total		3,096	2,797	+11%	49,998

(Source: ISO, 2013)

From Table 2, it can be seen that the distribution of ISO 9001 makes up the majority (over 75%) of the total number of certificates distributed. The uptake of this standard has increased 24% on the previous year also. The large uptake for this standard has been driven by the introduction of EU directives on products which specify minimum standards

ISO 9001

 

 

 

 

Figure 1 ISO 9001 Annual Distribution of Certificates

The distribution of ISO 9001 conformance certificates peaked in 2000 and 2001 where 3700 certificates were being issued annually. The uptake of the standard has dropped off since then to more modest levels. Yet 2012 saw an increase of 24% in certificates issued versus 2011, as 2331 certificates were issued.  From all the certificates distributed in 2012 in Ireland, over 75% of them were for ISO 9001.

ISO 14001

 

 

Figure 2 ISO 14001 Annual Distribution of Certificates

417 certificates distributed in 2012. This is lowest distribution rate of ISO 14001 certification for the previous five years. This drop off may be due to maturity of standard and proposed introduction of the new ISO 14001 in 2015.

ISO 50001

The number of ISO 50001 certificates issued in 2012 was 35. This number quite big considering it is a voluntary standard. The standard was only introduced in June 2011 and many companies with existing EnMS standards in place, such as EN 16001, may be waiting for their existing certification to expire prior to acquiring the new standard. The next ISO survey will give a good indication as to whether the SEAI met their goal stated above.

 

ISO 27001

 

 

Figure 3 ISO 27001 Annual Distribution of Certificates

There has been significant growth in the uptake of ISO 27001 since its uptake in 2006, where only six certificates were distributed, to 48 certificates being distributed in 2012.

ISO 22000 (Food Safety)

 

 

Figure 4 ISO 22000 Annual Distribution of Certificates

Launched in 2007, 23 ISO 22000 certificates were issued, and annually since 2010, the number of certificates issues has risen to 49.

 

ISO/TS 16949 (Automotive Quality)

 

 

 

Figure 5 ISO/TS 16949 Annual Distribution of Certificates

The adoption of ISO /TS 16949 has grown from seven in 2004 and 2005, to over 20 annually for the previous 6 years.

 

ISO 13485 (Medical Device Quality)

 

 

 

Figure 6 ISO 13485 Annual Distribution of Certificates

Progressive growth has occurred in the uptake of ISO 13485 since 2004. The number of certificates has increased tenfold from its introduction in 2004, where 19 certificates were issued, to 2012 where 193 certificates were issued.

 

To read more blogs from Antaris, click here

ISO 50001:2011 is a standard created by ISO for an energy management system. This standard’s purpose is to enable organisations to follow a systematic approach in achieving continual improvement of energy performance. ISO 50001 aims to help organisations to continually reduce energy use, resulting in a reduction in energy costs and also their carbon footprint.

ISO 50001 provides a framework of requirements for organisations to:

• Develop a policy for efficient energy use
• Use data constructively to understand energy use
• Implement targets and objectives to meet policy
• Review results against policy, targets and objectives

Benefits

• Achieves energy savings of 10%-25% through close monitoring of energy management policy
• Builds energy management best practice into business practices
• Improves transparency and communication of energy resource management
• Helps to evaluate new energy-efficient technology
• Provides a framework to promote energy management throughout the supply chain
• Reduces administrative work

Drivers

• Corporate sustainability programmes
• Energy cost reduction initiatives
• Demand from vendors in every part of the supply chain
• Carbon and energy taxes
• Requirement to reduce carbon footprint

Certification is not obligatory. Some organisations implement the standard for its benefits alone, while others opt for ISO 50001 certification.

A company’s senior management must be engaged in order for ISO 50001 to be a success. To implement and sustain adoption of the standard requires behavioural change across the organisation.

Certificate	Year of first publication	Number of certified organisations
ISO 9001	1987	>1m
ISO 14001	1996	>250,000
ISO 50001	2011	>500

From the above chart it is clear that ISO 50001 is still at an early stage of adoption in comparison to ISO 14001 and ISO 9001. As with many new standards, companies may well want to wait until the benefits of ISO 50001 are proven or until customers demand that such energy policies are implemented.

One particular reason for lack of adoption may be a lack of education around the difference between ISO 50001 and ISO 14001. Many organisations will manage energy via ISO 14001, but where energy has a significant environmental impact, ISO 50001 provides a sharper focus on energy efficiency which may ultimately have more benefits for an organisation.

Adoption currently has been led by energy intensive industries such as smelting, mining, chemical, glass and cement. Whether or not adoption will go beyond these industries could be influenced by energy costs, customer demand and education in the benefits of the standard itself.

With Europe committing to a reduction in emissions of 20% by 2020, there is definitely growing support for energy efficiency to bolster emissions reduction efforts. The adoption of ISO 50001 as the European standard for energy management systems sets a precedent: the EU is actively pursuing a policy to implement energy management systems in order to drive more energy efficient industries. Now the real challenge will be to encourage the adoption of ISO 50001.

For more information on Energy Management and ISO 50001, check out our Energy Management training courses here.

Blog courtesy of http://www.pegasuslegalregister.com/resources/pegasus-blog