TITLE:
ISO 50001: Are the Auditors Equipped Enough?
AUTHORS:
Avijit Choudhury
KEYWORDS:
ISO-50001; Energy Performance Indicators; Measurement & Verification Protocol; Certification Audit; Normalization of Energy Baseline; Specific Energy Consumption
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Energy Efficiency,
Vol.1 No.3,
December
31,
2012
ABSTRACT: This paper tries to address the issue of expertise and awareness level of ISO-50001 [1] certification auditors in judging the efficacy of existing energy management (EnMS) and suggest the methodology to ensure continual improvement in EnMS. This article also tells about the need of thorough understanding of legal & other mandatory requirements which need to be addressed properly before framing the energy policy and setting up objectives & targets for the organization. Particularly SMEs, while implementing any standard or adopting any new system, largely depend on the consultant/ system auditor because of their limited knowledge and resources. In such cases the auditors need to play a larger role by making appropriate ENCON recommendations and guide them how to achieve the compliance. Further in India, most of the companies have got poor metering system. Even crucial energy data like flow rate of LPG, natural gas, FO, steam etc are quoted from judgment or past experience. Meters are not there to measure motor power, liquid temp or gas prss. In such cases auditors need to guide the clients how to establish the energy monitoring & targeting system and how to establish proper M&V (Measurement & Verification) protocol. In nut shell the ISO-50001 auditor needs to play the role of a friend, philosopher & guide to ensure that at the end of the day his client has complied with all the energy regulations and at the same time achieved some significant reduction in energy consumption.