by Shane Henson — November 5, 2012—An energy audit is an important step for a company, whatever its size or type, wanting to improve its energy efficiency, reduce energy consumption and costs, and bring related environmental benefits. Facilities managers planning to carry out an energy audit can find best practice strategies in a new standard available in the online store of the British Standards Institution (BSI).
According to BSI, the standard, BS EN 16247-1:2012—Energy Audits, was developed with input from influential energy experts. The standard was created in response to the 2006 European Union directive on energy end-use efficiency and energy services, which is to be replaced in 2014 by the European Commission’s (currently proposed) Energy Efficiency Directive that mandates member countries to create regular energy audits for large organizations.
BS EN 16247-1 defines the attributes of a good quality energy audit, from clarifying the best approach in terms of scope, aims and thoroughness to ensuring clarity and transparency. The standard applies to commercial, industrial, residential and public-sector organizations, excluding individual private dwellings, and complements the internationally recognized energy management system standard, ISO 50001:2011, which identifies the need for clear energy auditing.
