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Energy management on the global stage: BS EN 16001, ISO 50001
30 Nov 2010
Topics: Energy management, EN 16001, BS EN 16001, ISO 50001, Sustainability, Environment, ISO 14001, Low-carbon, PAS 2060, Carbon footprint, Carbon neutral, Climate change, Carbon reduction, CRC, ETS, Emissions trading, Kitemark®, ERV, Health & safety, OHSAS 18001
Governments the world over have stepped up their climate change rhetoric in recent years, but are international differences impeding the necessary action? Who is really driving the development of a low-carbon way of life? Are government initiatives on energy efficiency going far enough and are organizations honestly buying in to the advantages?
Hopes for achieving greater global consensus in the handling and mitigating of climate change shift to Central America at the end of 2010 (29 November - 10 December). After last year's UN summit in Copenhagen, delegates to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will this year descend on the Mexican city of Cancun to continue the debate.
Speaking at the end of a shorter gathering in the Chinese city of Tianjin in October, the country's foreign minister, Patricia Espinosa, summarized the aims of her country's moment in the spotlight. It should demonstrate governments' commitment "to the multilateral path as the only fair and effective route to resolve global problems", she said.1
Of course, this is easier said than done. And UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christina Figueres also made clear that this next end-of-year meeting would be about using "small climate keys to unlock very big doors" - hopefully spurring a new level of action in governments, businesses and citizens alike.
Among the most pressing issues confronting attendees will be achieving greater clarity on the continuation of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. A new international framework now needs to have been both negotiated and ratified in less than two years' time - before the end of Kyoto's first commitment period in 2012. This is critical, because unlike the Convention, the Kyoto Protocol fully commits signatory countries to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by a certain amount.
However, other areas to be discussed include operational elements in climate finance and capacity building, adapting to those effects of climate change that are already considered inevitable, and finding common ground through "a long-term shared vision".
Finding accord
But just how shared is that global vision?
Positively, the 2009 Copenhagen summit resulted in 55 countries submitting pledges to cut and limit their greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. Together these nations account for 78 per cent of total global energy emissions, according to the UNFCCC.2 The final "Copenhagen Accord", as it is known, includes both China and the US, and the developing countries involved had to report concrete plans for curbing emissions. Additional funding was also agreed for assisting poorer nations, including a "Copenhagen Green Climate Fund" for relevant low-carbon projects in developing countries. An annual sum of around US$100bn is envisaged by 2020.
On the other hand, it is impossible to escape the fact that the Copenhagen Accord does not constitute any legally binding commitments to action, and national opinions still differ about precisely how to proceed.
As for consumers, international bank HSBC's global "Climate Confidence Monitor" in 2010 suggests people living in the world's emerging economies - such as the "BRIC" bloc3 - are the most optimistic. They report both the most concern and the greatest confidence that mitigation action can be effective.4 Over a third (38 per cent) of the 15,000 people polled globally said climate change was among their biggest worries, but this rises to 57 per cent in China and drops to 16 per cent for the UK. Brazil and India emerged as the countries most optimistic about long-term, low-carbon economic opportunities, and Asian countries seem most confident that stakeholders are taking appropriate action.
For example, over half (58 per cent) of Chinese citizens feel this way, compared to just one in five across international borders. Almost two-thirds (64 per cent) of Chinese consumers also say they make a significant effort to be environmentally responsible themselves, compared to 20 per cent and 23 per cent in the US and UK respectively.
While some countries (such as Germany and France) clearly felt that business should be investing more, however, the bank reported a "clear understanding" in all regions that government policy and industry must also play a major part. "Emissions trading, carbon taxes and other government-funded carbon-reduction initiatives are all seen as important steps where government should take a lead," it noted.
"Governments are pushing ahead with decarbonizing their economies and businesses are responding by producing more low-carbon goods and services," said HSBC chief executive designate, Stuart Gulliver.
Indeed, the bank's "Climate Change Centre of Excellence" suggests the value of that market could triple to US$2.2tr as soon as 2020, with emerging markets potentially attracting as much as 70 per cent of all investment.
Time to trade
Effective pricing of fossil fuels through emissions-trading schemes - one of three key market-based emissions-reduction mechanisms set out in the Kyoto Protocol - is a policy area particularly in the spotlight at present.
The European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) is the largest such scheme in operation, and one with which BSI is extremely familiar. Most recently, in 2010 BSI was selected as a provider of verification services against the EU ETS directive for Monarch Airlines, which flies to over 50 destinations, including Spain, Greece, Turkey, Canada, Mexico, India, Kenya, Egypt and the Caribbean.5 The aviation sector is included in the EU ETS for the first time from 2010, with airlines required to monitor their CO2 emissions and submit a verified annual report from 2011 onwards. From 2012 they will then also have to surrender and buy allowances for each tonne emitted or face a penalty.
Individual countries are increasingly exploring similar initiatives to drive efficient energy management and investment in low-carbon technology in a range of industries.
For example, Yoshio Izumi, head of sustainability business at BSI Japan, explains that the Japanese government is currently considering a national emissions trading scheme following a clear lead taken by Tokyo in April 2010.
"The Tokyo Metropolitan government has just started a local emissions trading scheme - a mandatory scheme for energy-intensive buildings and factories," he says.
"The reduction target for this is very challenging, and Japanese companies will have to do something to save energy. As with the EU ETS, the companies covered also have to be verified each year by a third-party verification body such as BSI."
Japan also has a "Rational Use of Energy law", which Izumi says is now "more strict than before". In 2009 the regulatory system switched from focusing on the energy footprint of a physical site to the consumption record of the complete business. It was also amended to establish separate benchmarking indicators for specific energy-intensive sectors such as iron and steel and power generation.
"The law requires energy-intensive companies to create an energy-saving plan, to implement the plan, and then to report the energy consumption rate as well as the plan," Izumi explains.
Measuring up
To help businesses demonstrate compliance with these legislative frameworks, BSI now provides a number of solutions to assist with managing and improving energy efficiency performance and reducing emissions.
For example, new standard BS EN 16001:2009 offers a framework for the systematic management of energy, ensuring that an organization adheres to its stated energy policy, is able to demonstrate that conformance to others, and attempts to improve its energy management.
One company to use this standard is global "mechatronics" (combined electronics and mechanical engineering) supplier SKF Group, which is active in over 100 countries and sought a more detailed approach to energy management that could be effectively integrated with ISO 14001 Environmental Management.
"As a global organization we consider ourselves to be world leaders," says environmental manager Brian Morgan. "We were the first in our sector to be certified to ISO 14001 and the first to be certified to BS OHSAS 18001 for health and safety management.6
"We felt that BS EN 16001 was the next step, to formalize and quantify energy management as a significant environmental aspect for the company, and to maintain our position as an organization that leads the way."
The company identifies clearer authority, cost savings and longer-term business development as distinct advantages to the business, and one change that it has already made since implementing BS EN 16001 implementation is the installation of data loggers that record electricity consumption at all times.
"As soon as you start putting in a standard and getting certified, and externally audited, then the commitment to get it done is there," Morgan concludes. "Not only in the UK, but from a global perspective as well."
Another business that has achieved certification to the standard is leading air filtration firm Camfil Farr - the first UK manufacturing company to do so.
Camfil Farr designed a corporate energy reduction employee engagement scheme, offering incentives to reward new energy-related business ideas. "Energy saving has since become an integral part of employees' jobs, with positive attitudes reaping financial benefits on both a company and personal level," says managing director Bill Wilkinson.
Building on earlier standard BS EN 14001, he explains that implementation was also easier than expected. Annual energy use has already been reduced by 14 per cent, leading to financial savings of some £200,000, and the company has also been certified to BSI's Kitemark® scheme for Energy Reduction Verification (ERV) - approved by the UK government as a metric for its own energy saving scheme known as the "Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme" (CRC).7
Meanwhile, another recent energy standard, PAS 2060 Specification for the demonstration of carbon neutrality, sets out steps for showing that claims about cutting a carbon footprint are credible. Launched in 2010, it provides guidance for quantifying and offsetting greenhouse gas emissions from specific subjects, ranging from major developments and entire towns and cities to individual buildings, products and services. Rowland Hill, sustainability manager at global retailer Marks & Spencer, described it as a "robust and transparent means of demonstrating carbon neutrality"8.
Next steps
Now Japan, the UK and others are preparing for the launch of new standard ISO 50001, which was approved to become a Final Draft International Standard in October 2010. In addition to measuring and documenting energy-efficiency improvements, this will emphasise and discuss issues such as evaluating and prioritizing the purchase of energy-efficient technologies and providing a framework for promoting sustainability through your supply chain.9
The development has involved input from 42 countries, and the standard is to be published in mid 2011 if voting on the draft proves positive. The International Organization for Standardization estimates that the standard could then influence up to 60 per cent of the world's combined energy use.
"The hope is that ISO 50001 will build on the foundation for improvements in energy efficiency that BS EN 16001 has provided," says BSI's committee manager Ian Richardson. "The experts involved in the development have worked hard to ensure as smooth a transition as possible from the European standard to the ISO standard."
"The use of ISO 50001 also provides financial as well as environmental benefits to those who implement the standard, as improved energy efficiency will almost certainly equate to a reduction in energy costs."
It is certainly a clear sign of the potential part standards can play in instigating improved energy management and awareness in business cultures the world over. If governments and businesses then match this level of ambition it should lead to energy efficiency becoming an ever-larger presence in all of our lives.
For more information on energy management certification.
For more information on Kitemark for Energy Reduction Verification.
For more information on energy management publications.
For more information on energy management training.
1 http://unfccc.int/press/press_releases_advisories/items/4712.php
2 http://unfccc.int/press/press_releases_advisories/items/4712.php
3 Brazil, Russia, India and China
4 http://www.hsbc.com/1/2/climateconfidencemonitor
5 http://www.bsigroup.co.uk/en/Assessment-and-Certification-services/Management-systems/Standards-and-Schemes/EU-Emissions-Trading-System/
6 http://shop.bsigroup.com/upload/Standards%20&%20Publications/Energy/16001%20case%20studies/WB10028_BSI%20SKF%20CaseStudy.pdf
7 http://www.bsigroup.com/en/ProductServices/About-BSI-Testing-Services/News-Directory/Government-Approval-for-Kitemark-Energy-Reduction-Verification/
8 http://www.bsigroup.com/en/About-BSI/News-Room/BSI-News-Content/Disciplines/Sustainability/PAS-2060-release/
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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