Thoughts

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ISO 50001 2018 revision

Thoughts

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    EVORA

Earlier this week, the International Standard for Energy Management Systems (EnMS), ISO 50001 was given its official reboot through the launch of the 2018 revision; updating the 2011 issue. Organisations with existing ISO 50001 certifications have up to three years to transfer to the new standard. Whereas, businesses seeking energy management accreditation for the first time can progress directly with the 2018 version.


The ISO 50001 standard is an internationally recognised framework for the supply, use and consumption of energy in all types of organisations. As well as the direct benefits of saving energy, if you have an ISO 50001 energy management system that’s certified by an approved certification body and covers all your energy use, this can count as your company’s compliance route to Article 8 of the EU Energy Efficiency Directive (Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme- ESOS – in the UK) .

The revision follows similar recent updates to other standards including ISO 9001:2015, and ISO 14001:2015, to include common terms, definitions and structures to provide a high level of compatibility across the ISO suite of standards.


The main changes in the 2018 revision include:

  • Adoption of “high level structure” and common terminology already reworked into ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015
  • Stronger focus of the role of top management and leadership engagement
  • More clarity on definitions, including “energy performance improvement”
  • Greater emphasis on risk-based approaches to improving energy performance
  • Clarification on exclusions of energy types
  • Clarification of energy performance indicator (EnPI) and energy baseline (EnB) text to provide a better understanding of these concepts.

The focus on continuous improvement remains active in the revised standard. Driving continual improvement is what EVORA specialises in and we can assist you in implementing and/or transitioning your energy management approach to the new ISO 50001 framework.


With our Plan, Do, Act approach, we can help you develop a tailored EnMS aligned to your business needs which takes account of practical measures in reducing your energy consumption. Contact our experts if you’d like to find out more.