Part 5 of Developing a Successful ISO 50001 Compliant Energy Management Process

Part 5 of 6: Energy Management Process

Wow, where did the last part of 2011 go? Time passes by so fast when you’re busy and having fun! I have received many emails and comments related to this topic as many of you are highly interested in this topic and our approach to Energy Management. I apologize for not updating this blog sooner and will do my very best to wrap up this 6 part series over the next couple of weeks.

For those of you that may not have been following, I am attempting to share details behind the R5 Rapid Improvement Process model that we use to help companies identify, achieve, and sustain improvement gains in energy management. ISO 50001 has gained much traction and attention from those looking to be responsible and gain competitive advantage by lowering their energy related costs.

In this part of the series, I want to discuss and highlight some of the main steps within the “Resolve” phase of the process. The Resolve phase is used to implement the strategic design and approach that is designed and developed in the previous phases. Basically, it is the portion of the process where the “rubber meets the road”.

As mentioned in Part 4, we have tailored this approach to either focus on a specific area or system within your plant (smaller implementation for controlled deployment), or it can be implemented site wide for a much wider implementation. Either way, our goal is to identify real opportunities both quick wins and long-term project based improvements to reduce energy consumption and lower operation expenses.

High level steps in this phase are shown below:

Let’s take a look at these two high level steps in the “Resolve” phase.

• Perform Energy Analysis  - Once a system or area has been selected, Allied will assemble a team of experts to conduct an onsite energy analysis. An energy analysis consists of a detailed examination of how a facility uses energy, what the facility pays for that energy, and finally, a recommended program for changes in operating practices or energy consuming equipment that will cost effectively save money on energy bills.The analysis will assist in quantifying energy uses and losses through detailed review and analysis of equipment, systems, and operational characteristics. Onsite testing and measurements are required during this step to ensure and quantify opportunities. Multiple tools and PdM technologies will be integrated to evaluate and capture significant energy savings and simplify ROI calculations.

Tools and PdM technologies include, but are not limited to, some of the following:

• Power Quality Meter
• Infrared Thermography
• Airborne Ultrasonic
• Data Logger
• Airflow Measurement Devices
• Motor Circuit Analysis
• Vibration Analysis
• Light Meter

The many steps in this analysis including data gathering, observations, onsite interviews, data analysis, developing the energy improvement plan, help increase awareness throughout the organization of the impact energy can have on the business. Participation in the process facilitates organizational alignment as the future state becomes clearer and the stake each department/individual holds in the improvement process. This alignment is critical to the effective implementation of cultural and behavioral change associated with adopting energy management best practices.

I’ll make note that while we advocate utilizing many of the available tools and technologies to identify opportunities; I also firmly believe that if you currently don’t have permanently installed meters to quantify and measure your energy consumption…doing so is a must. Measurement is the first step that leads to control and improvement. If you can’t measure something, you can’t understand it. If you can’t understand it, you can’t control it. And finally, if you can’t control it, you can’t improve it.

• Develop Energy Improvement Plan  - Once the analysis has been completed, energy saving measures can be identified. The measures identified vary from one facility or plant to another due to differences in equipment, system design, and operations. The energy improvement plan will provide clear, straight forward and to the point explanation of the current situation, recommended improvements, and advantages of taking recommended actions. This energy improvement plan becomes the roadmap or strategy to address the opportunities identified from the analysis.The energy improvement plan will prioritize tasks addressing both criticality and maximum ROI. It is highly possible that when utilizing PdM technologies during the analysis that defects of the equipment will be found. These results will be reported and may lead to non-energy related benefits (i.e., scheduled repair prior to emergency breakdown repair).

As noted in my previous blogs, companies must take logical controlled steps to successfully implement such initiatives or programs across their organization. To do so, I believe a prioritized effort based upon ROI is required to fully rollout.

Similar to how I closed each of the previous parts of this series, I want to point out where these steps align with the ISO 50001 standard.

• Energy Planning (Section 4.4)
• Energy Performance Indicators (Section 4.4.5)
• Implementation and Operation (Section 4.5)
• Operational Control (Section 4.5.5)
• Design (Section 4.5.6)
• Procurement of Energy Services, Products, Equipment and Energy (Section 4.5.7)
• Checking (Section 4.6)
• Monitoring, Measurement and Analysis (Section 4.6.1)

I hope this has been informative and will you continue to follow this blog as next time I plan to discuss the final phase, “Realize”, of the Energy Management R5 process. As always, I appreciate the feedback so feel free to drop me a line at colsonc@alliedreliability.com.

Interested in more great blogs to follow? Check out some from my colleague’s here: GPAllied’s Coach’s Corner