You will need to develop a list of all energy saving opportunities or ideas. It is important to realise that this list is a live database and will increase in size on an ongoing basis. It is the main continuous improvement tool in the EnMS. In this Guide the term Energy Savings Opportunities (ESO) List is used for this purpose.
In an effective EnMS new ideas will be generated routinely and processed to improve energy performance.
How to implement
The ESO list will include at least the following for each opportunity:
Identification number.
Short description of each opportunity. This should be as specific as possible and be an action term.
Which SEU: i.e. steam, electricity, management, compressed air, etc.
Potential savings in terms of energy, money, carbon emissions and other possible benefits.
Responsible person to implement the opportunity.
Status of the opportunity, i.e. idea, approved, cancelled, postponed, in progress, complete, closed.
Dates; there are a number of important dates in the life cycle of each opportunity including origination, target for completion, actual completion.
Method of verification of savings, i.e. how will you know that the opportunity has achieved its predicted savings.
Actual savings achieved in terms of energy, financial and CO2 emissions.
Toolkit – An ESO list template is provided in the EnMS Tools spreadsheet (please see worksheet ER8 ESO List) to help with this step.
There are many columns on ER8 ESO List worksheet which may or may not be used.
This list can become quite complex and its management is central to the continuous improvement of our EnMS. If the list is to be electronically maintained then care is needed to ensure that it is backed up and protected against inadvertent or unauthorised editing. This also applies to all the other electronic documents used in the EnMS. The sample template provided here is a guide and does not include protection against accidental editing or deletion as would be included in more complex database applications.
All ideas that might realistically help to improve energy performance should be added to the opportunities list once they have had an initial review by the energy manager. Ideas will come from a variety of sources:
a) Energy audits, Kaizen, assessments or diagnostics
b) Suggestions from employees
c) Review of successful ideas in other plants
d) Attendance at conferences, training, networking, etc.
e) Technical sales engineers (but beware that they are not usually impartial and independent)
f) Literature, journals, magazines, best practice guides
g) Internet web sites, searches, etc.
Low cost measures (good housekeeping):
Low cost energy saving measures or good housekeeping is about taking good care of the resources of your company. In principle good housekeeping measures are based on common sense and good technical ability, not on high-tech or large modifications. A high level of understanding of technical aspects of your energy use are necessary in many cases.
Low cost measures are easy to implement and usually (almost) free of cost! Pay back times are extremely short and savings are instant. The main barrier to their implementation is usually a resistance to question existing practices and to make the necessary changes.
Practice has shown that in many enterprises the amount of energy that can be saved by good housekeeping can be in the range of 25% to 50% of the total energy saving potential. The total energy saving potential typically also includes more expensive measures and modifications of energy-infrastructure or production processes.
To see if good housekeeping measures are possible, you can ask yourselves the following questions for each item that uses energy:
a) Do I have to use this device or system?
b) What can I do to make it use less energy?
c) Can I make it use a cheaper form of energy?
It may be beneficial to ask the help of an expert to answer these questions.
The results of good housekeeping are:
elimination of energy-users that are not needed,
minimisation of energy losses,
usually also improved operational procedures (also your production processes may benefit),
optimised production level (increased efficiency = less energy per product) and
reduced energy costs.
Improved control and comfort
The process of analysing data often provides clues to available low cost opportunities. Examples of this include:
High consumption of energy during periods of no or low production should be investigated.
If it is reasonable to expect a relationship between a relevant variable and energy consumption and if no relationship exists, then it is typically due to poor operational control and is usually improved by implementing low cost measures.
Similarly if there is a correlation between a relevant variable and energy consumption that is not expected, then investigation may lead to a saving opportunity.
The opportunities list will be a mixture of low cost ideas and ideas requiring capital investment.
Low cost measures needing good technical understanding:
There are typically many potential energy savings involving low or no cost interventions. Many require a high level of technical knowledge to identify and implement. These types of intervention include:
Challenging existing operating parameters and specifications. The existing parameters are often in place for many years and completely accepted as standard practice. It takes a high degree of openness to change, technical knowledge to understand what is possible and an ability to push change to achieve these savings.
In order to identify these savings, the first step is to establish the current values. For each SEU, develop a table of critical operating parameters (see ER6 Critical op Param in UNIDO eGuide Tools - EnMS template for guidance).
Once the current values are known, the next step is to understand why these are the current values and if any of them can be changed to reduce energy consumption without compromising critical operations.
The next step is to develop a proposal to change the values. In some cases you may need to assess the risks involved before making the change.
The principles of Plan, Do, Check, Act are very appropriate in this context. Develop a plan of what you intend to do and get approval for it. Then implement the change and check that it works and there are no unforeseen consequences. Lastly roll out the change to all other areas with the same technology and parameters.
Once the change is made and the new parameters established, ensure that they are documented and communicated to all relevant personnel who need to know about them.
Control of operations to ensure the parameters are maintained is covered in the next section under operational control.
Base load and lean energy analysis
Base load energy consumption is that energy consumed when there is no activity driving its use i.e. which is independent of any beneficial driver. For example if 25% of the organization’s energy is used when there are no production or weather related activity then this 25% should be a target for investigation and potential reduction. You need to investigate what is using this energy and why. It typically is not adding any value and should be reduced or eliminated, to the extent practically feasible. Many organisations are unaware of the large cost of base load energy use. The concept of lean energy analysis states that any energy which does not contribute to production output or is related to environmental conditions is waste and should be targeted for elimination or minimisation. This statement should be considered in your facility to decide on the extent that it may benefit your performance.
The causes of high base load are many and varied but might include air compressors left on when no air is being used, lights, PCs, fans, air handling systems, pumps, etc, etc. One often legitimate base load item is computer servers and possible associated cooling systems.
Terminology note:
The terms energy audit, energy review, energy profile, energy aspects review, energy diagnostic and others have similar, though not identical, meanings in this context. It is not important which term is used once the main activities are performed.
What is this?
You will need to develop a list of all energy saving opportunities or ideas. It is important to realise that this list is a live database and will increase in size on an ongoing basis. It is the main continuous improvement tool in the EnMS. In this Guide the term Energy Savings Opportunities (ESO) List is used for this purpose.
In an effective EnMS new ideas will be generated routinely and processed to improve energy performance.
How to implement
The ESO list will include at least the following for each opportunity:
Toolkit – An ESO list template is provided in the EnMS Tools spreadsheet (please see worksheet ER8 ESO List) to help with this step.
There are many columns on ER8 ESO List worksheet which may or may not be used.
This list can become quite complex and its management is central to the continuous improvement of our EnMS. If the list is to be electronically maintained then care is needed to ensure that it is backed up and protected against inadvertent or unauthorised editing. This also applies to all the other electronic documents used in the EnMS. The sample template provided here is a guide and does not include protection against accidental editing or deletion as would be included in more complex database applications.
All ideas that might realistically help to improve energy performance should be added to the opportunities list once they have had an initial review by the energy manager. Ideas will come from a variety of sources:
a) Energy audits, Kaizen, assessments or diagnostics
b) Suggestions from employees
c) Review of successful ideas in other plants
d) Attendance at conferences, training, networking, etc.
e) Technical sales engineers (but beware that they are not usually impartial and independent)
f) Literature, journals, magazines, best practice guides
g) Internet web sites, searches, etc.
Low cost measures (good housekeeping):
Low cost energy saving measures or good housekeeping is about taking good care of the resources of your company. In principle good housekeeping measures are based on common sense and good technical ability, not on high-tech or large modifications. A high level of understanding of technical aspects of your energy use are necessary in many cases.
Low cost measures are easy to implement and usually (almost) free of cost! Pay back times are extremely short and savings are instant. The main barrier to their implementation is usually a resistance to question existing practices and to make the necessary changes.
Practice has shown that in many enterprises the amount of energy that can be saved by good housekeeping can be in the range of 25% to 50% of the total energy saving potential. The total energy saving potential typically also includes more expensive measures and modifications of energy-infrastructure or production processes.
To see if good housekeeping measures are possible, you can ask yourselves the following questions for each item that uses energy:
a) Do I have to use this device or system?
b) What can I do to make it use less energy?
c) Can I make it use a cheaper form of energy?
It may be beneficial to ask the help of an expert to answer these questions.
The results of good housekeeping are:
The process of analysing data often provides clues to available low cost opportunities. Examples of this include:
The opportunities list will be a mixture of low cost ideas and ideas requiring capital investment.
Low cost measures needing good technical understanding:
There are typically many potential energy savings involving low or no cost interventions. Many require a high level of technical knowledge to identify and implement. These types of intervention include:
Base load and lean energy analysis
Base load energy consumption is that energy consumed when there is no activity driving its use i.e. which is independent of any beneficial driver. For example if 25% of the organization’s energy is used when there are no production or weather related activity then this 25% should be a target for investigation and potential reduction. You need to investigate what is using this energy and why. It typically is not adding any value and should be reduced or eliminated, to the extent practically feasible. Many organisations are unaware of the large cost of base load energy use. The concept of lean energy analysis states that any energy which does not contribute to production output or is related to environmental conditions is waste and should be targeted for elimination or minimisation. This statement should be considered in your facility to decide on the extent that it may benefit your performance.
The causes of high base load are many and varied but might include air compressors left on when no air is being used, lights, PCs, fans, air handling systems, pumps, etc, etc. One often legitimate base load item is computer servers and possible associated cooling systems.
Terminology note:
The terms energy audit, energy review, energy profile, energy aspects review, energy diagnostic and others have similar, though not identical, meanings in this context. It is not important which term is used once the main activities are performed.