Author: Dr John Ryan, founding director, Certification Europe Ltd Late April saw Ireland host the very first and highly successful ISO 50001 Ireland conference. Over 100 delegates from industries such as telecoms, energy, pharmaceutical, food and drink, and construction grouped together to discuss their experiences with ISO 50001 certification in the Aviva stadium. Many of the engineers from these business sectors were in attendance due to their strong interest in energy management. Here we take a look at how ISO 50001 certification can help with both professional development and to help develop your position with your employer. With growing pressure on businesses to reduce their overheads, energy is seen as one of the three biggest costs in many industries – with ‘pay, power and plant’ being the alliterated watch-words for those looking to control costs. Without a framework to control these costs they can, and very often do, spiral out of control. Accountants and senior managers are very aware of the cost of wages and without alternatives, salaries have often been the first cost to be cut in industries affected by economic downturn. With ISO 50001 energy management training recognised as part of Engineers Ireland’s continual professional development scheme, now could be the time to develop both personally and professionally in the engineering sector. [login type="readmore"] MAKING AN IMPACT IN WORK Bringing business-changing ideas to management is something that engineers may have been slow to do in the past, some seeing this as beyond their remit. To progress and gain recognition in the workplace, heading up an energy management solution that will help reduce businesses costs can prove your worth to your employer. At the recent ISO 50001 Ireland event, hosted by Environment and Energy Magazine, John O’Sullivan, programme manager at Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), showed empirical evidence that organisations that deployed an ISO 50001 energy management system saved more energy than those that did not – even those that focused on running multiple energy projects. SEAI has also previously stated that over €160 million has been saved from energy bills of Irish businesses every year, thanks to ISO 50001 energy management systems. Ciaran O’Malley from Certification Europe briefed the attendees at ISO 50001 Ireland about the average savings his clients make. Savings of 5% to 37%, depending on the industry and power use levels, are impressive but these figures did not come as a shock to any of the engineers attending the event. It is widely known and accepted that significant energy savings can be made with an ISO 50001 energy management system and payback on the investment in an energy management system can take as little as nine months. [caption id="attachment_5987" align="alignright" width="1024"] The CO2 saved from Irish businesses adopting ISO 50001 is estimated to be over 300,000 tonnes per year[/caption] The CO₂ saved from Irish businesses adopting ISO 50001 is estimated to be over 300,000 tonnes per year. This can significantly contribute to companies’ corporate and social responsibility programmes and can be a game changer for business and, as noted by Shireman, “a business that aims to reduce its impact on the environment is blessed with more motivated staff” (W. Shireman, 2003. A Measurement Guide to Productivity: 50 Powerful Tools to Grow Your Triple Bottom Line. Asian Productivity Organization). Engineers are increasingly becoming skilled in energy management, which is a highly valued skill around the world. Many in Ireland have developed this skill due to the island’s high energy prices and concomitant drive to reduce energy use. At the time of writing, there are almost 10,000 energy management positions, with some of the biggest and best employers, advertised around the world on LinkedIn. Energy management professionals are prized the world over and their skills travel quite easily from country to country. CERTIFICATION AIDS PROFESSIONAL PROGRESS Ireland leads the way with ISO 50001 certification and development, punching well above its weight. For such a small country, we have a massive number of businesses who are undertaking certification right now. With ISO 50001 training courses becoming recognised as part of continuous professional development, there has never been a better time to help develop these sought-after skills and broaden your appeal to current as well as prospective employers. If you intend to head up an energy management project capable of saving a business millions of euro over the course of its lifetime, then you will need training. This is inescapable. The good news is that if your employer is considering adopting ISO 50001 and you are going to spearhead this,they should be prepared to facilitate your attendance at energy management implementation or energy management lead-auditor training courses. [caption id="attachment_5989" align="alignright" width="1024"] ISO 50001 training can help engineers in their own career development[/caption] Training makes it easy to translate engineering skills into energy management, thus making you more desirable to prospective employers worldwide. A good course should aim to provide you with a thorough understanding of best practice in the subject and be delivered by those who have practical experience of actually doing it, as opposed to theorising about it. Learning how to prepare, lead and report on the findings of an energy management system audit is also vitally important. Identifying energy and cost-saving opportunities can only be done when baselines have been set and energy performance is monitored correctly. Gaining first-hand insight into best practice in energy management should be every attendee’s main aim. Participating in case studies and workshops will allow you to gain vital learning and it should be another important aspect of any training, as it will be vital to help you adapt to your new role. TRAINING COURSES During a recent ISO 50001 training course with Certification Europe, over 73% of attendees felt that this training course would help them in their own career development. Some 45% of these course attendees were implementing an energy-management system with career development in mind. These energy management professionals and engineers chose the ISO 50001 energy management standard because “(the) standard encourages a systematic approach to energy reduction which ensures a continuous improvement process” whilst also “giving them an opportunity for career development”. As one recent engineer attendee stated, “I feel that ISO 50001 training has provided me with a skill-set to develop and implement the standard. This will help develop the energy department within the company and develop my career as an energy manager.” If you are in a business or organisation that finds itself facing mounting energy costs or if you are looking to add another string to your professional bow, ISO 50001 training and certification could be for you. Certification Europe is an accredited certification body that provides International Organization for Standardisation (ISO) management system certification and inspection services to organisations globally. Certification Europe was the first accredited ISO 50001 auditors in the UK and Ireland and has over 25 years of auditing and training experience in auditing energy-management systems on behalf of clients. Dr John Ryan is a founding director of Certification Europe Ltd. Since 2005, he has led Certification Europe’s certification scheme for energy management, initially auditing and certifying companies to the Irish Energy Management Standard (IS 393) and subsequently EN 16001:2009 and latterly ISO 50001. In parallel, Ryan was appointed by the Irish Government to the development committee for energy management standards and has acted as a contributor to the development of ISO 50001.