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Turning on to energy management
28 Jan 2008
Topics: Energy management, Environment
While the media focuses on what individuals should be doing to minimize their impact on climate change - turn off lights, insulate, use public transport - the business case has a more complicated proposal. Typically, change doesn't happen quickly in business without a significant economic driver. However, increasingly unpredictable fuel prices mean that reducing energy use makes economic sense, while research about climate change means that it makes social and environmental sense as well.
Energy-reducing activities that companies can undertake range from switching off lights and computers at night to installing metering equipment to ensure that heating and cooling systems run efficiently. Indeed, many utilities and IT service providers are already developing a wide range of products and services designed to help businesses reduce their carbon footprint - and their energy bills.
In November 2007, CBI director general Richard Lambert declared energy efficiency a top priority for business: "To manage their costs and to maintain the trust of their customers, they will need to build carbon management into their corporate DNA," he said. If business acts now to reduce energy and cut emissions, Britain can stay on track to meet the government's targeted 60 per cent emissions cut by 2050, Lambert added.
Supermarket giant Tesco is one of the UK's energy-reducing trailblazers. In 2008, it will have reduced the energy use of its stores to 50 per cent of 2000 levels. It is doing this through a wide range of innovations, from timers and motion detectors that switch off lights when they are not needed, to more efficient ovens and fridges. As well as slashing energy bills, this is also making Tesco more appealing to increasingly environmentally conscious consumers.
BSkyB is another pioneer in this area. As early as 2005, it managed to reduce operational carbon emissions by 47 per cent by becoming more energy efficient and switching to renewable energy sources. Now these precedents have been set, pressure is growing on all companies to follow suit.
Where next?
In response to these trends, a suite of European energy management (EM) standards is being developed to provide organizations with a roadmap for ensuring that their energy use is as efficient as possible.
"Over the next three or four years, there could be half a dozen new energy-related standards, applying to different aspects of business," says Professor Martin Fry, chairman of the UK committee that is helping to develop all of the new European-level standards.
The first of these new EM standards will apply to EM systems. A draft standard is due to appear for consultation in February 2008. Its objective is to help businesses shrink their carbon footprint through energy efficiency, as well as reduce costs, says Fry.
"It will require organizations to measure their consumption; conduct an audit and investigate exactly where energy is being consumed; draw up a list of opportunities for making savings; and incorporate them into energy policies," he says. "Organizations will also be required to periodically review progress and measure the benefits reaped over time."
Ian Richardson, BSI British Standards' programme manager for EM, says that the EM systems standard will focus on processes rather than products and is based around the principle of "continual improvement" of EM.
The new EM systems standard will draw upon a number of existing national standards in Ireland, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands and the US.
It will also draw on ISO 14001, which takes into account legal requirements and information about significant environmental aspects of a business, including their products and services. The new EM systems standard will follow a similar principle and will be voluntary in application.
Ireland's experience with its EM Systems Standard, IS 393 (2005), gives reason to be positive about the future of an EU-wide standard, says Fry: "Irish delegates in Brussels have said that it was initially challenging to persuade companies to adopt the standard, but they are now doing so." This fresh resolve among Irish companies to become more energy efficient is indicative of changing business attitudes towards climate change across Europe. Indeed, many of Ireland's most energy-intensive companies have now achieved IS 393 certification, including Diageo Ireland, Glanbia Ingredients, HJ Heinz Ireland and Pfizer Ireland.
In the UK, pioneering companies are already following many aspects of EM practice that will fall under the new European Standard, says Fry: "I am involved with running the Energy Efficiency Accreditation Scheme with the Carbon Trust. This encourages companies to take energy efficiency measures and demonstrate their results through savings, which are independently verified. Many companies are already doing well at this."
>CASE STUDY: Creating energy management standards - in brief
The proposed suite of European energy management (EM) standards is being led by the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) and the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC) in Europe and BSI British Standards in the UK. It is being developed by the "Sector Forum Energy Management" group, set up by CEN/CENELEC. This group covers the production, conversion, distribution and consumption of energy. The forum will have an advisory role and provide guidance to introduce EM in the standardization work. The group will be able to make recommendations and/or provide advice on issues affecting EM.
Its main roles are co-ordination, communication, establishment of liaisons with professional/technical associations and analysis of the initiatives, examples of best practices and technologies at national and European levels. All of this is intended to work out how standardization can help extend the reach of energy-efficient products, systems and services. For more information, visit:www.bsigroup.com/jan08energyman
Business Standards © 2010. Editorial produced by Caspian Publishing in association with The British Standards Institution. Editorial opinions expressed on are not necessarily those of BSI Group or Caspian Publishing. Neither Caspian Publishing nor BSI Group accept responsibility for advertising or editorial content, nor for that appearing on linked third-party websites. Reproduction in whole or in part is forbidden without written permission from BSI Group or Caspian Publishing.
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