The ISO 50001 standard, created in 2011 and revised in 2018, aims to help companies and communities improve their energy efficiency. It offers a reference standard for reducing energy consumption through the implementation of an energy management system (EMS). But then why and how to get it? Focus on ISO 50001 certification.
ISO 50001 certification: what is it?
ISO 50001: the definition
The ISO 50001 standard is a tool that helps companies manage their energy consumption and reduce their environmental impact. It is aimed at companies wishing to reduce their carbon footprint and which are committed to a policy of corporate social responsibility (CSR).
The ISO 50001 standard provides guidelines for organizations to:
- Establish a more efficient energy policy.
- Set objectives to implement this policy.
- Use hard data to understand energy consumption issues within the organization.
- Measure the results of the policy put in place and adjust it according to its effectiveness.
- Continuously improve the company's energy policy.
Who is affected by ISO 50001 certification?
ISO 50001 certification is open to all organisations, whether private or public, regardless of their size, composition or location. This means that any company or entity wishing to establish effective energy management can put the recommendations of this standard into practice. This applies to various sectors such as industry, SMEs, local authorities and the tertiary sector, without exception.
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Good to know ISO 50001 certification is particularly useful for establishments employing more than 500 people. Indeed, these companies are required to provide a Declaration of Extra-Financial Performance (DPEF) as well as a report on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) policy. . |
What are the benefits of ISO 50001?
ISO 50001 certification offers many advantages:
- Energy savings and cost control: By optimizing energy consumption, you can identify savings opportunities and reduce your bills. The monitoring of energy performance makes it possible to measure the savings made.
- Improving energy efficiency: ISO 50001 helps you implement actions to better control and optimize your energy consumption, helping to improve energy efficiency and obtain certification.
- Control of the activities of the organization: the standard helps you to better control the activities having an impact on the energy consumption and the energy performance of your organization.
- Mobilization and improvement of employee skills: by involving stakeholders and setting measurable objectives, you mobilize your employees and improve their skills.
- Improvement of the image of the organization and competitiveness: the energy performance approach strengthens your internal and external image, making you more competitive on the market.
- Reduction of the carbon footprint: by following the directives of ISO 50001, you put in place actions to better control your energy consumption and reduce your CO emissions2.
- Compliance with energy consumption rules and laws.
- Exemption from the energy audit: ISO 50001 certification exempts large companies from carrying out an energy audit every 4 years, under certain conditions.
- Access to potential grants: If you make energy investments, you may be eligible for grants.
How to obtain the ISO 50001 standard?
Although ISO 50001 certification is not mandatory, obtaining it is a sign of confidence in corporate social responsibility (CSR).
Refer to the rules of other standards
The most important ISO standards for businesses focus on improving their energy and environmental practices. For example, the ISO 14001 (environmental management system) and ISO 9001 (quality management system) standards share many similarities with the ISO 50001 standard. Thus, they can be considered as a preliminary step to the adoption of this last.
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Good to know The ISO 26000 standard (it defines the scope of CSR around seven central themes: the governance of the organization, human rights, working relationships and conditions), which is more general than the previous standards, also covers some requirements of ISO 50001. Therefore, it can serve as a solid starting point for work in this area. |
Receive approval from an accredited body
To obtain ISO 50001 certification, you must submit an application to one of the accredited bodies, such as Afnor, Véritas, CNPP CERT, Ecocert, Socotec, AB, SGS, UTAC, BCS, LRQA, DNV GL, SQS or DEKRA.
The process of obtaining certification takes place in 4 stages:
- Assessment: this is an optional visit which aims to define the details of the upcoming audit and to raise awareness of the issues of the standard.
- Audit: the organization carries out an analysis of your company's data and practices.
- Restitution: following the audit, you will receive a report with the conclusions and recommendations.
- Maintenance audit: annual monitoring is carried out to ensure that you continue to meet the requirements of the standard. The certification must be renewed every 3 years.
The issuance of the certificate generally takes between 6 and 18 months from the start of the process. The exact duration depends on the number and size of the sites concerned by the request.
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