ISO Energy management implementation in industry

In the pursuit of an ever more efficient use of energy, industrial energy users implement ISO energy management systems and aim to achieve ISO 50001 certification. As energy monitoring plays a crucial role in this process, it is worthwhile exploring the challenges companies face when monitoring is not straightforward.

ISO energy management and the energy monitoring challenge

The end goal of implementing the ISO 50001 energy management standard is to achieve continuous improvement of a companies’ energy efficiency. In a nutshell, the standard requires you to draft energy efficiency plans (PLAN), execute these (DO), monitor energy consumption before and after implementation (CHECK) and adjust your plans based on the results of the monitoring campaign (ACT).

The monitoring aspect of this cycle can be particularly complex in situations where many assets are managed, such as on integrated industrial sites or at railroad companies. The challenge here is to match the available monitoring equipment with the level at which the key performance indicators are evaluated.

• In case your monitoring equipment is on a lower level than the KPIs, the values need to be aggregated to the right level. For example, KPIs can be evaluated per machine, per plant, per site or per legal entity. In this case a data structure helps tremendously in making sure the right data is used for evaluation of the KPIs.
• In case your monitoring equipment is on a higher level than the KPIs, the measured values need to be allocated to the various underlying energy consumers. A consistent allocation methodology will  have to be defined, for example based on the energy market allocation process. Again, a meter data management system is crucial in making sure the KPIs are evaluated consistently.

How automated reporting helps ISO energy management

Collecting measurement data on the right level is the first step towards a consistent monitoring campaign. Next, the measurement data and KPIs should be combined in easily interpretable reports. This enables you to check the effectiveness of the energy efficiency measures and define follow-up actions. Just as handling measurement data is best taken care of by an automated system to ensure consistency over time, reporting is typically something to be handled by a meter data management system. By pre-defining report templates and linking the right data sources, you only have to set up reports once. You can subsequently publish reports automatically at every desired interval (monthly, quarterly, etc.). Compared to the common practice of manually extracting data and copying this to a spreadsheet template, the automated method is more efficient as well as more accurate.

We can help you overcome your monitoring challenges!

Contact Thomas Crabtree via +31 6 3085 2747 to discuss your challenges. Also, reach out to us to learn more about how we can deliver, manage and optimise your monitoring and other energy management processes using our software solution EBASE. Or  contact us to take a deeper dive into other energy optimisation strategies for industrial energy users.