Issue 19 – August 2010
The future ISO 50001 Standard for energy management was recently approved as a Draft International Standard (DIS).
ISO 50001 will establish a framework for industrial plants, commercial facilities, or entire organisations to manage energy. Targeting broad applicability across national economic sectors, it is estimated that the Standard could influence up to 60% of the world's energy use.
The document is based on the common elements found in all of ISO's management system Standards, assuring a high level of compatibility with AS/NZS ISO 9001:2008 Quality management systems – Requirements and AS/NZS ISO 14001:2004 Environmental management systems – Requirements with guidance for use.
ISO 50001 will provide the following benefits:
- a framework for integrating energy efficiency into management practices
- making better use of existing energy-consuming assets
- benchmarking, measuring, documenting, and reporting energy intensity improvements and their projected impact on reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
- transparency and communication on the management of energy resources
- energy management best practices and good energy management behaviours
- evaluating and prioritising the implementation of new energy-efficient technologies
- a framework for promoting energy efficiency throughout the supply chain
- energy management improvements in the context of GHG emission reduction projects.
Now that ISO 50001 has advanced to the DIS stage, national member bodies of ISO have been invited to vote and comment on the text of the Standard during the 5-month balloting period.
If the outcome of the DIS voting is positive, the modified document will then be circulated to the ISO members as a Final Draft International Standard (FDIS). If that vote is positive, ISO 50001 is expected to be published as an international Standard by early 2011.
Related Standards