ISO50001 Archives - Gebs Energy Management

Writing An Energy Policy

Your Energy Policy

A documented and published Energy Policy will show to your stakeholders that Energy Management is an organisational core value. It will allow you to commit the business to an energy efficiency strategy which will lead to increased profitability and a reduced environmental impact.

How Do I Start?

So you have your policies in place, HR, Finance, Purchasing, IT, Fleet, Security but what about Energy?

An effective energy policy can be as little as a few sentences, or as much as a number of paragraphs, but, it should be documented and publicised.

What Should It Include?

The Energy Policy should establish top management commitment to energy performance improvement and state the company’s energy priorities. Key though, is that the policy is documented and all staff, suppliers and customers are able to understand it.

who has accountability
what the organsational overall energy targets are
how progress will be monitored and reviewed.
human resources and training commitments
how energy management will be integrated into wider business processes
economic investment criteria
integrating energy efficiency into existing capital investments
reporting procedures
links to other energy/carbon reduction programmes

SAMPLE ENERGY MANAGEMENT POLICY

EXAMPLE Company Ltd Energy Policy

Date:

EXAMPLE Company’s corporate mission is to provide:

The best possible productsand highest level of customer service our customers
Maximum value to our shareholders
A rewarding work environment to our employees

In pursuit of this mission, EXAMPLE Company will strive to achieve a world-class reputation for energy management. We are committed to using energy in the most efficient, cost-effective, and environmentally responsible manner possible.

Energy management will play a key role in our organisation, across all business functions. It will support our plan to maximize profitability, strengthen our competitive position, and provide customers with the highest quality of services. Our efforts to reduce energy use and reduce our carbon footpring will also support our commitment to our employees, the environment, and the communities in which we are a part.

Toward this end, EXAMPLE Company shall work towards continuously improving energy performance. We will establish specific implementation plans by [date/timeframe], and will have made significant achievements in this area within [X] years’ time.

EXAMPLE Company’s objectives as related to this policy are the following:

Provide the best possible environment for occupants of our facilities, while simultaneously maximising energy performance
Reduce operating expenses and increase profit by actively and responsibly managing energy consumption
Make available staff, funding and , tools and equipment for projects with a proven energy efficiency value.
Demonstrate commitment to our community and leadership in the [insert industry] by reducing our carbon output associated with energy use

EXAMPLE Company will endeavor to meet or exceed the following energy management targets in service to these objectives: [Select or modify an appropriate, realistic set of targets]

Reduce energy consumption in existing buildings by [insert %] over a 5-year period
Reduce energy intensity [insert kWh target] by [insert %] in existing buildings over a 5-year period
Achieve and maintain ISO5001 certification within our organisation by [insert date].
Ensure all capital purchases consider energy efficiency and achieve [insert %] energy savings.
Reduce carbon emissions associated with energy consumption by [x%] by [year]
Continually measure and improve our energy performance against our baseline of [insert baseline consumption] [insert date]
Reinvest savings from our energy efficiency programmes into additional energy efficiency projects.

This policy shall apply to all of EXAMPLE Company Ltd’s, sites, business units, employees, and contractors in service to our organisation.

Approved by:

Name CEO/COO/Chairman of the Board_____ Date ______________________________

What is ESOS? What’s it all about then?

ESOS Why?

Energy Saving Opportunities Scheme, or ESOS, is the vehicle that the UK is using to comply with the European Union 2012 Energy Efficiency Directive, Article 8. It is designed to improve business profits, enhance competitiveness, whilst reducing impact on the Environment and Climate Change.

It is estimated that there are energy efficiency savings of around £2bn still to be made by UK business. Most organisations can save 20 to 25% through simple energy efficiency measures alone.

Does ESOS Apply to my Business?

If your business has a physical presence in the UK and that entity meets the ESOS criteria, you will have to take steps to account for your energy consumption and identify savings opportunities.

Does My Business Fit the ESOS Criteria?

Large businesses must make an ESOS return to the Environment Agency. Organisation’s are designated as ‘Large’ if they:

Employ more than 250 people

Or,

Have a turnover of in excess of 50 million Euro’s or a balance sheet of in excess of 43 million Euro’s.

Or,

Has a presence in the UK and the above tests apply.

Public Sector organisation’s will not normally be subject to ESOS. Although some Universities, if they fit the criteria above and are not subject to the Public Sector Contract Regulations 2012, in England Scotland and Wales, or Public Sector Contract Regulations 2005 in Scotland.

Key ESOS Dates

6 December 2011 – 5 December 2015: First compliance phase
31 December 2014: Qualification date for first compliance phase
5 December 2015: Last date to submit formal notification for first compliance phase through the online notification system

The ESOS Criteria Applies To My Business, what should I do?

To comply with the regulations, a ‘Lead Energy Assessor’ will need to conduct an ESOS Assessment to:

Measure your total energy consumption for buildings, industrial processes and transport
Identify areas of significant energy consumption, accounting for at least 90% of your total energy consumption
Identify cost-effective energy efficiency recommendations for areas of significant energy consumption;
Report compliance to the Environment Agency by December 2015

ESOS Audits must be repeated out every 4 years

What does an ESOS Assessment Look Like?

The assessment period must include 31^st December 2013 and end by December 2015. Energy Savings identified and managed continuously up to and including this period is acceptable, but the deadline is December 2015,

The ESOS Assessment has no prescribed format but the Lead Assessor must confirm that it meets all the parameters and reports in all data as required by ESOS.

At least one site visit is required to ensure assessments are not theoretical Organisation’s with a number of similar sites or assets can take a proportionate approach, applying recommendations from one audit across the wider portfolio. If all cost saving energy improvements have been made in smaller sites, using the Assessment criteria from authorised agencies and no significant changes by way of output, refitting or upgrading have been made then New Assessments do not have to be made (although advice in this instance should be taken).

Exemptions from ESOS

Organisation’s which are fully covered by ISO50001 have an exemption from ESOS. In addition, businesses which have had Green Deal Assessments (GDA) or have Display Energy Certificates (DEC) in place may be excluded from this process. However GDA or DEC may not be sufficient so guidance should be sort from the Department of the Environment.

Are We Prepared For Our Energy Winter?

Winter 2012 -2013

The harvest this year has been a late one around our offices. After an unexpectedly long, wet and cold winter, which started in late August 2012 and ran through relentlessly until June 2013, the farmers locally have just finished combining and bringing in their bailed straw and wheat. I think last year’s protracted Winter-conditions took them by surprise, just like the rest of us.

Every scrap of stored hay and straw in the barns adjacent to us was used for animal feed and bedding, even the old and very poor quality stuff that had laid there for years to plug holes in the barn sides. Towards the end of the winter, the farmhands were even sweeping up the loose bits on the floor of the barn. There was also a marked increase in the cost of hay and straw, due to the gradually reducing supply and inevitable increased demand.

Be Prepared

This year, it looks like the livestock holders are prepared for the worst. More fields have been bailed, rather than ploughed-under, and our barns are now stuffed to the edges with bedding and feed stores.

Taken Our Energy Supply for Granted?

By comparison have we, in our businesses, been complacent and taken for granted our energy supply? For many years we have used our gas, electricity and oil with little thought to the on-going cost or the fact that it is a finite resource. But have we made enough hay whilst the sun shone?

Energy Winter

Our businesses have, metaphorically at least, also presumed upon a short winter and adequate supplies of hay. Increasingly though, Experts and Authorities believe that we are now at the beginning of our ‘Energy Winter’ and its going to be a long one.

Dwindling Resources, Increased Demand

The global demands on already dwindling resources are being increased as the standard of living and industrialisation rises elsewhere in the world. That’s where the analogy fails us. The energy barn is big, but it is not infinite and there is no foreseeable “new harvest” coming through, no chance to correct the failed assumptions of the previous year.

Too Late To Take Control?

With this in mind, are we too late to take control and mitigate those increasing kWh costs? The answer has to be a resounding No! Rather than a desperate floundering scatter-gun approach to managing consumption though, we need to be considered and plan our energy management strategy, make realistic changes to our working practices, understand how, when and why we use our energy, monitor and create energy targets and objectives, start forecasting and planning consumption, steering clear of knee jerk spending but making sure energy usage is relevant and applicable to all.

Understand, Plan Forecast & Prioritise

Understanding the business’ consumption patterns, measuring and monitoring your usage, allows the business to forecast and plan energy requirements based on variables such as the outside temperatures or degree days, your workflow, to name but a few, all relevant to the organisation. This will allow the organisation to prioritise and minimise usage and consumption at times of unexpected need and unplanned necessity.

Energy Management – Why are those first steps so hard?

Procrastination – Fear of Failing?

The hardest part of every report I write is the beginning. It is the first paragraph which causes me the most difficulty. Although many of our findings are common across our client’s businesses, that first paragraph has to be relevant and cause the reader to want to read on. Starting it is also the time when I tend to procrastinate or delay, I might decide that moment is a good time to catch up with my filing, check the web-feeds for Energy Efficiency news, do the office washing up and dare I say it I even log into Facebook, anything rather than sit down and make a start on that report.

I do sit down though and I do force myself to write those sentences; as one of my MBA Lecturers said, once you’ve made a start on that first paragraph the words will flow.

It is easy to do the same with any problem or challenge but the solution tends to be the same. If we look at Energy Management. We all acknowledge that rising prices are a problem and that there’s things our business really needs to do about it. We also, if we think about our consumption, probably have a pretty good idea where and how in the organisation it is being wasted. So why are we procrastinating and leaving things as they are?

Why Don’t We Manage Our Energy?

Some of the reason’s we’ve been given for not tackling energy efficiency are

‘surely my PC/lights/phonecharger being left on won’t make a difference’

‘you don’t understand our business, it’s not that progressive’

‘the board aren’t interested’

‘we have so many other initiatives and processes, we don’t have time for Energy Management’

‘but I’m too hot / cold normally’ (dependent on the weather)

‘we might upset the ladies upstairs’

‘the ladies get cold’

‘the ladies are of a certain age’ (ladies seem to get the blame an awful lot when it comes down to office temperature)

‘we don’t have the time’

‘we started it but no-one was interested so we don’t do it any more’

Energy Management, Not Extra, Just DIfferent

Often the simplest explanation is that businesses don’t know where to start the task of managing their energy consumption. Like getting the first words down in the paragraph it is easier to focus on something else rather than grasp the nettle and get on with it. Energy Management does not have to be ‘extra’ work, but it does mean doing things differently and smarter. It doesn’t mean your office has to be too warm/cold or uncomfortable for ‘ladies of a certain age’ – it just gives you control.

Gain Control, Make Savings

Once you have control and energy consumption transparency you will start to make savings; which the Board should be interested in because it reduces overheads and tax liabilities and, given that the phone charger left on is probably one of many within the organisation, the new routines will show clearly that switching of unnecessary equipment will make a difference.

Get Started, See Results

Finally once you get started, the results of your endeavours will drive the programme forward and the fear of failing will be replaced with the satisfaction that you are making a difference.

Energy Teams a crucial part of ISO50001

Keeping Cool

Today the temperatures in the UK are soaring again. Currently, outside our Gebs Energy Offices, it is 82 degrees C – although I’m not going to complain about the weather. Our workspace is an old barn conversion but we don’t have air-conditioning. However we still have the benefit of comfortable temperatures, as our walls are massively well insulated on top of solid stone-wall construction, and that combination doesn’t let the heat through.

Gebs Energy to the Rescue

But this blog is not about our insulation levels. Today I was carrying out some ½ hourly data analysis when a dog barking disrupted my concentration. Every time I tried to put my mind back to the work in hand, the dog interrupted my efforts; and this went on for a good 45minutes. Given the fact that we love our own dogs, and 2:30pm is not a good time to walk your pet on such a hot day, I decided I’d better go and check that the dog wasn’t lost or with an owner who had collapsed with heat exhaustion. So I set off in this sweltering heat and headed out over the fields and into the woods a good mile and a half away, while the dog kept barking.

When I arrived at the wooded glade close to where the noise was coming I met an elderly couple sitting on a log, the dog was playing at their feet. Feeling a little self-conscious I explained what I was doing up in the woods (dressed in work clothes, carrying a dog lead, a ball but no dog). I explained to them that I just wanted to check they, and their dog, were all okay. Luckily, they appreciated my concern and explained that their dog just likes to bark when it plays and, after a bit of a chat, off I went back across the dusty fields and into the office.

Motivation

Once in the cool with an iced water, it got me thinking about my motivation for this adventure. I went out there for good reason. Some people may call it nosiness, but I’m simply not one of those people who can sit back and wait for someone else to take responsibility.

Building your energy team

In any workplace, department, section or team you can find similar types of people. They’re always looking to see what might be on the horizon, anticipating problems and willing to help find solutions. Once they have been given the reasons and justifications, such people tend to embrace the new approach to Energy Management and efficiency. They are the ones you need to incorporate and harness into your Energy Teams.

Teams built from all stakeholders

Your Energy Team should help the Energy Management System to be embraced by all within the business. Our tip for your Energy Team is that it should have cross-functional representation, not just the normal health and safety reps, which we commonly find. A broader cross-section allows for all opinions and ideas to be considered and evaluated. Other key stakeholders to include are your Trades Union, if applicable, and their traditional adversaries from your own HR Department. This helps smooth the integration of any new procedures or working practices and shows that the Energy Policy and Strategy has been properly considered. Input from the former grouping adds weight to what you are proposing to the staff, shows it is reasonable and fair and this in turn makes it simpler to get the shop floor onside.

Energy Teams a crucial part of ISO50001

Energy Teams are a crucial part of ISO50001 implementation. Getting the mix right can be challenging but, if done well, can speed implementation and make Energy Management more successful and proactive. The Energy Team can be a channel for new ideas and engagement as well as making the process more relevant to all stakeholders.

Writing An Energy Policy

Your Energy Policy

How Do I Start?

What Should It Include?

SAMPLE ENERGY MANAGEMENT POLICY

What is ESOS? What’s it all about then?

Are We Prepared For Our Energy Winter?

Energy Management – Why are those first steps so hard?

Energy Teams a crucial part of ISO50001

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