There is slow and increasing interest in the ISO 50001 standard. What is that you may ask? ISO 50001 is the Energy Management Systems standard. Not too many people or companies are familiar with this standard yet. It is modelled against the ISO 14001 standard for Environmental Management Systems.
There are two types of organizations that could benefit from this standard. The first is an organization with an established environmental management system aligned to the ISO 14001 standard. Because the ISO 50001 aligns very well with the ISO 14001 standard and can help an organization focus and develop a strategic approach to their energy improvements. The second is an organization that feels they have enough environmental impact to implement a full ISO 14001 environmental management system, but want to improve their energy costs. For example: office buildings and warehouses.
The bottom line is that all companies are slowly being impacted by rising energy costs, and a systemic approach to energy management is what will help drive energy reductions.
I presented the following to the Kitchener branch of the ASQ: Energy Management and ISO 50001 – presentation to ASQ