What is energy management?
ISO 50001 is an international standard for an energy management system. ISO 50001 is applicable to both large and small organizations and is independent of the sector.
Purpose of the energy management system
The purpose of the energy management system is to control and, where possible, reduce the organization’s energy consumption. To this end, energy consumption is inventoried (energy balance). After this, the organization can take measures to control and, where possible, reduce energy consumption. Improvement of energy performance can be based on detailed insight into energy consumption and its use. This involves requirements for the depth of monitoring of energy consumption, the identification of possible improvements, and objectives to achieve them. ISO 50001 focuses only on the organization’s own energy consumption and not on energy consumption in the chain.
By following the plan-do-check-act cycle, continuous improvement is achieved. Compliance with compliance obligations is the basis for this.
Uniform structure
The ISO 50001 standard is based on the so-called Harmonized Structure (HS). The HS consists of a chapter structure and a basic text that recurs in all ISO management system standards. This means that it is easy for organizations to integrate management systems for, for example, quality, environment, and energy.
Energy as part of the environmental management system
Energy is also part of an environmental management system based on ISO 14001. ISO 50001 sets more specific requirements with regard to energy management and is especially valuable for organizations with high energy consumption.
To make the performance of ISO 14001-certified organizations with regard to CO2 reduction visible and demonstrable, SCCM has developed the certification scheme “CO2 reduction management with ISO 14001.” This scheme sets additional requirements regarding energy management, but linked to the existing ISO 14001 management system. The differences with ISO 50001 are described on the page ISO 50001 versus CO2 reduction management with ISO 14001.