ISO 50001 energy management standard making headway

A new energy usage standard is one step closer to completion. ISO, the International Organization for Standardization, announces a third quarter 2011 target for publication of its ISO 50001 International Standard for energy management. The new standard is aimed at helping organizations improve energy performance, increase energy efficiency, and reduce climate change impacts. ISO 50001 will establish a framework for industrial plants, commercial facilities, and other organizations to manage energy. Targeting broad acceptance across many economic sectors, ISO officials estimate that the standard could influence up to 60% of the world’s energy use.

ISO 50001 is being developed by ISO project committee ISO/PC 242, Energy management. Leadership of this committee is provided via a partnership of ISO members for the U.S. (through ANSI) and Brazil (though ABNT). Forty-three ISO member countries are participating in the standard’s development, with another 12 classified as observers.

The working document is based on common elements found in all of ISO’s management system standards, and assures a high level of compatibility with ISO 9001 (quality management) and ISO 14001 (environmental management).

According to ISO, the new standard will provide the following benefits:

• A framework for integrating energy efficiency into management practices
• Making better use of existing energy-consuming assets
• Benchmarking, measuring, documenting, and reporting energy intensity improvements and their projected impact on reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
• Transparency and communication on the management of energy resources
• Energy management best practices and good energy management behaviors
• Evaluating and prioritizing the implementation of new energy-efficient technologies
• A framework for promoting energy efficiency throughout the supply chain
• Energy management improvements in the context of GHG emission reduction projects