How To Implement An Energy Management System to ISO 50001

This twenty step process is obviously simplistic in approach but give a sequential process for developing an energy management system along the lines of ISO 50001. There are of course other things to consider and these will depend on your business type but in essence this is the thought process you should go through when planning how to develop a system and where to start. Not all clauses of ISO 50001 have been included as this is more of a “where do we start” thought process as opposed to definitive checklist.

1. Ensure you have accurately defined the scope and boundaries of your energy management system to include what facilities and assets and energy uses are be included
2. Develop an energy review procedure to document how you identify which energy uses are significant to you. Include clear significance criteria and and energy data both past present and expected
3. Identify your legal obligations and produce a legal register, make it a useful tool and use it as an audit checklist
4. Complete the review as documented above(2)
5. Identify where opportunities for energy efficiency/savings will come from and list these as company objectives
6. Produce action plans to achieve the above detailing who is going to do what and when
7. Develop energy performance indicators (EnPI’s) so that consistent monitoring can be made of certain assets e.g. kWh/£100k turnover over time
8. Establish an energy baseline (year) against which the EnPI’s will measure future performance
9. Identify training needs for all of those involved in the above and ensure a clear understanding of the system’s requirements
10. Produce a monitoring & measurement plan to identify what is measured by whom and when. If this includes meters, fuel measures and other equipment, include the asset tags and numbers
11. Write an energy policy to reflect your outcomes from the above (don’t write the policy first)
12. Document how you will include energy considerations in purchasing and design, ensure those implementing these are aware of the documented procedures (see 8)
13. Document all other operational controls such as how contractors should behave towards energy management on-site or how project managers should document energy assessment evaluation during refurb or rebuild of plant and equipment and make sure those implementing them aware of their requirements
14. Document an audit schedule to review all of the system elements above and energy uses
15. Produce a signposting document to make all of the above accessible to an external auditor (if you are going for external certification)
16. Conduct regular energy reviews and track performance of the system outputs e.g. progress of objectives and targets, audit outputs, training, etc.
17. Ensure corrective actions and documented and responded to to improve the system
18. Complete a management review on a longer term basis to review all of the above in the light of past performance
19. Allow time for implementation of the system and for records to develop
20. Invite an external third party certification body in to audit you to ISO 50001