The Implications of ISO 50001 for Your Business

To help businesses understand the implications of the new energy oriented ISO series, GreenBiz.com gathered a panel of energy and sustainability executives for a webinar titled, “ISO 50001: Preparing for the New Energy Management Standard.”

The business community is increasingly adopting sustainable practices to decrease costs, reduce environmental impacts and add value. Energy management is central to these efforts. According to panelists Bill Allemon, vice president of Energy Management Services at ARCADIS U.S. what distinguishes the new ISO standard is its reach and range.

Other panelists include Don Macdonald, director of Sustainability Business Development of UL DQS Inc., and Kelly Smith, Global Energy and Sustainability program manager for Johnson Controls Inc.. The discussion was moderated by GreenBiz Executive Editor Joel Makower.

Allemon said, “the standard gives you the tools and basics, and if you want to, you can go all the way to certification.” Smith of Johnson Controls noted that the standard can be applied to a single facility or building within a company and be used across an organization.ISO 50001 provides a systematic comprehensive approach for continuous improvement and an emphasis on performance management which are essential for development of sustainable organizations, Macdonald said.”Energy is a corporation’s ‘currency,’ ” said Macdonald, pointing to a failure to value energy as organizational currency as a key barrier to improving energy management. Other barriers he cited include:

-Absence of continuous monitoring, metrics and performance management.
-Initial costs more important than recurring costs.
-Disconnect between capital and operating budgets.
-Immature sustainability culture.
-Shareholder focus on production rather than efficient use of resources.
-Failure to embed deep process quality management systems in an organization.

The panelists’ presentations and their discussion are available in a GreenBiz webinar which can be downloaded free with registration.