US CEEM is Represented at ISO 50001 Launch

•   Ken Hamilton represents U.S. CEEM at the launch of ISO 50001

On June 17, 2011, the International Standards Organization (ISO) held a launch ceremony for the ISO 50001 Energy Management Standard at the Geneva International Conference Centre in Geneva, Switzerland. Ken Hamilton, the director of Global Energy and Sustainability Services at Hewlett Packard represented U.S. CEEM at the conference. Additionally, Hamilton was a featured presenter about how ISO 50001 can contribute to improving energy efficiency in various economic sectors. 

ISO Secretary-General Rob Steele kicked off the ceremony by officially launching the standard. “Energy is no longer a technical issue, but a management issue with an impact on the bottom line and the time to address the issue is now,” said Steele.

The Value of ISO 50001

Hamilton described ISO 50001 as a “very pragmatic standard” that will help companies integrate energy management with their business practices. He further explained that the standard will enable large multinational companies like HP to improve energy efficiency through their global supply chains.

The presentation focused on the experience of two industrial plants in the U.S. that piloted the Superior Energy Performance (SEP), which required conformance with America’s energy management standard. (In the future, plants that achieve certification under SEP will need to conform with ISO 50001.)

Hamilton cited the experience of one large plant belonging to U.S. CEEM member, the Dow Chemical Company, which improved its energy performance by 17.9% over two years by applying the energy management principles represented in ISO 50001. Cook Composites and Polymers (CCP) in Houston, Texas — a small and medium enterprise (SME) with just 36 employees — is another example of a plant that successfully implemented the principles contained in ISO 50001. CCP participated in the two-year pilot and reduced its energy intensity by 14.9%, yielding annual energy cost savings of $250,000 with no capital costs.

US CEEM Members’ Involvement

U.S. CEEM and its individual members are strong supporters of the ISO 50001 standard, reiterated Hamilton. Several members of U.S. CEEM participated in the U.S. Technical Advisory Group (TAG) that provided input to Technical Committee (TC) 242 during the standard’s development. Plus, U.S. CEEM was instrumental in ensuring that conformance with ISO 50001 became a foundational element for achieving certification under SEP.

Moving forward, U.S. CEEM members intend to participate in future U.S. TAG meetings and efforts contributing to TC 242.