New draft of ISO 50001

ISO 50001 specifies requirements an organisation needs to establish, implement, maintain and improve an energy management system. That enables an organisation to take a systematic approach to achieve continual improvement of energy performance, energy efficiency, and energy conservation.

Like all international standards, ISO 50001 has come under review to ensure that it continues to meet the rapidly changing needs of the energy sector. This work is being carried out by the ISO technical committee responsible for energy management and energy savings (ISO/TC 301)

Prof. Desai explains the change, “Perhaps the most important change for the 2018 version is the incorporation of the high-level structure, which provides for improved compatibility with other management system standards” This is particularly useful for those organisations that choose to operate a single (sometimes called “integrated”) management system that can meet the requirements of two or more management system standards simultaneously.

“There are other improvements in the 2018 version to help ensure that the key concepts related to energy performance are clear for small and mid-sized businesses (SMEs).”

ISO 50001 is applicable to any organisation – whatever your size, industry or location to manage your energy, including procurement and use. ISO 50001 is based on the management system model of continual improvement also used for other well-known standards such as ISO 9001 or ISO 14001.

The draft international standard ISO/DIS 50001 was approved in November 2017, and the new version of ISO 50001 is expected to be published in 2018. You can find out more about ISO 50001 here.