New UK standard on energy efficiency to benefit all sized businesses

The BSI said it has introduced the BS EN 16001 standard following research that showed that the interest among companies and organisations to manage energy was driven primarily by potential cost savings and a desire to protect the global climate.

“This standard offers these benefits and will help organisations streamline their compliance with legislation,” said Mike Low, director, Standards, BSI. “As well as being good for business it will also play a part in tackling climate change and establishing the UK as a low carbon economy. I encourage businesses and public sector bodies to embrace the standard.”

A recent BSI survey gave a clear signal on how much organisations need the new standard – of 800 public and private sector UK organisations surveyed, only half rated their energy management practices as good or very good. This is despite 78 per cent saying that energy management is either important or very important to their senior management team. This, says the BSI, demonstrates a willingness to engage with energy management issues but a shortfall in actual delivery.

The BS EN 16001 energy management system is based on the established 'Plan-Do-Check-Act' methodology. Any organisation undertaking the standard will have to develop an energy policy, identify energy consumption and monitor energy output. The analysis of actual versus expected energy consumption will allow businesses to put plans in place to help improve efficiency.

The new standard provides a framework that will enable effective energy management by incorporating both behavioural changes along with technical solutions. It will also help in the implementation of planned actions cited in the EU Energy Services Directive (2006) and requires organisations to take into account relevant legal and legislative obligations, such as UK trading emissions scheme, the Carbon Reduction Commitment, which comes into effect next April.