Certified energy management ISO 16001
Certification saves energy costs
Production companies whose activity consumes a lot of power can reduce their operating costs as per the renewable energy law (EEG) under certain pre-conditions. One condition for this is the certification of the company's energy management by an accredited centre such as TÜV NORD CERT.
Companies in the iron and steel industry (especially electric steel plants and rolling mills), the chemical industry, cement industry and companies producing non-ferrous metal can save considerable costs in this way. The initial check and certification as per the directives of the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme, EMAS or ISO 14001 must be successfully completed by June 2009.
The way to certification
The criteria for certification are specified by the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (BAFA):
1. Registration and analysis of all the energy sources used: comprehensive, systematic inventory-taking of the plant's energy fluxes together with documentation of the results and determination of the energy sources used by means of an energy use analysis
2. Registration and analysis of all energy-consuming systems and devices; determination of how the energy sources that are used are divided up among the consumers
3. Evaluation of the potential areas for saving: Identification of measures to reduce consumption based on the previous analyses and documents
In concrete terms, this means: The company that is to be certified starts by submitting an inventory-taking of all of the energy sources and of all of the devices and systems that consume energy and independently works out an analysis and evaluation of measures for saving energy.
During an on-site visit, the TÜV NORD CERT audit team will clarify the specific conditions in the company and will answer any questions.
Then the results of the company-internal inventory-taking are checked. If the results are positive, they are followed by a walk-through of the plant in order to ensure the inventory documents agree with the situation on-site.
Finally, the certificate is created.
One thing is peculiar to companies that are certified as per DIN EN ISO 14001: The certificate is integrated into the ISO 14001 certificate at this point.
