ISO 50001 to control or reduce your energy bill

The ISO 50001 standard, based on the PDCA model, helps companies reduce their costs and energy consumption. It also offers an energy audit exemption for large companies.

Marie Faucon
Consultante HSE
Publication : 
07.09.2015
Table of Contents
Example H2
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The benefits of implementing an EnMS according to the ISO 50001 standard are numerous.

For example:

  • Lower energy costs
  • Improved profitability and competitiveness
  • Reduced vulnerability to energy market fluctuations and more secure energy supplies
  • Enhanced ability to anticipate future regulatory requirements related to energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
  • The opportunity for large companies and mid-sized enterprises to be exempt from anenergy audit every 4 years (This provision does not apply to SMEs with fewer than 250 employees and/or an annual turnover not exceeding €50 million or an annual balance sheet total not exceeding €43 million)
  • Contribution to environmental protection

Finally, and significantly from a financial perspective, energy-saving measures implemented within the scope of ISO 50001 certification qualify for bonus Energy Savings Certificates (CEE) for energy suppliers (distributors of electricity, gas, heat/cold, heating oil, or fuel), who are required to achieve or facilitate a minimum volume of energy savings for their customers to avoid financial penalties.

Consequently, by helping ISO 50001 certified companies implement energy-saving measures at their industrial sites or commercial buildings, energy suppliers receive a bonus on the amount of CEEs corresponding to the kWh saved. As a result, their contribution to the financing and implementation of the project is naturally increased.

ISO 50001 at a glance

ISO 50001 defines a framework and guidelines for implementing an energy management system based on the PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) continuous improvement model. The PDCA cycle is already applied within quality management (ISO 9001), environmental management (ISO 14001), and occupational health and safety (OHSAS 18001 and the future ISO 45001) systems.

In summary, based on an initial energy review and applicable legal requirements, a company must define its baseline consumption and significant energy uses, establish objectives and targets broken down into action plans, and then monitor performance trends using indicators and an energy measurement plan.

ISO 50001 can be implemented on its own or integrated into other management systems already in place within the company.

ISO 50001: Specifics

The structure of ISO 50001 is comparable to that of ISO 14001 or OHSAS 18001. However, the ISO 50001 standard includes a few notable specificities:

  • Management commitment to implementing the EnMS is more clearly defined in a dedicated section (4.2.1).
  • Design activities for facilities, equipment, or processes that may have a significant impact on energy performance must be included in the EnMS (Section 4.5.6), which is not a requirement of ISO 14001.
  • A specific section (4.5.7) is provided to govern energy-related purchasing operations. It requires, among other things, the definition of energy purchasing specifications and the establishment of energy evaluation criteria when purchasing certain energy-consuming products, equipment, or services.
  • The ISO 50001 standard is results-oriented, not just process-oriented. It requires comparing energy performance trends against baseline consumption established during the initial energy review (Sections 4.4.4 and 4.4.5). Furthermore, the methods used to verify the results of action plans and their impact on energy performance improvement must be documented (Section 4.4.6).

What about energy regulatory monitoring?

Just like ISO 14001 or OHSAS 18001, ISO 50001 requires the implementation of specific regulatory monitoring to:

  • identify and implement legal requirements related to the EnMS (§ 4.4.2)
  • evaluate compliance with these legal requirements (§ 4.6.2).

Energy regulatory monitoring conducted under ISO 50001 must enable the company to identify and track changes in any regulations related to its "energy uses" (e.g., ventilation, lighting, heating, cooling, production processes, etc.), its "energy consumption" (the amount of energy used), or its "energy efficiency" (the ratio of output to energy input).

Companies already conducting environmental regulatory monitoring as part of an ISO 14001 EMS are already performing a portion of their energy regulatory monitoring due to the overlapping scopes (regulations concerning greenhouse gas emission reports, boilers and air conditioning systems, light pollution sources, or ICPE categories related to energy production/consumption activities).

To a lesser extent, the same applies to safety regulatory monitoring conducted under OHSAS 18001. Examples include Labor Code articles imposing lighting or ventilation requirements for workspaces, decrees and orders relating to compressed air and steam, and, more broadly, regulations concerning pressure equipment.

In summary, from a methodological standpoint, organizing regulatory monitoring forISO 50001 is no different from the process used for ISO 14001 or OHSAS 18001.

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