IS 393 Energy Management Standard - any good?

matsil

Hi All,

I am a senior mechanical building services engineer, working as an M&E consultant, with a strong professional interest in Energy Management. It has been suggested to me that doing the SEI IS393 course is a waste of time....... can anyone out there confirm or deny this?

It seems to me like a worthwhile course to do on the basis that it is a methodology for energy management - and whilst I may never actually go down the route of proessionally acting as an IS393 asessor, it is good to know the requirements for same so that buildings can be designed, or refurbished, with IS393 in mind - or clients can be advised, further to energy audits, what they need to be looking at to bring them in line with IS393.

Thoughts, suggestions, comments etc. would be appreciated.

Regards,

Matt

Nukem

IS393 is due to replaced in the coming months by EN16001 which was developed on the 393 framework. Worked with companies who have the standard and companies going for it and it is a very good system but needs to be managed and integrated into a companies operations as a norm.

The actual standard methodology is ideal and covers all facets of running a dedicated and all incumbent EMS. Each company system is different and there is no one EMS solution, only the framework and guidance as each company requirement is different (whether they have 14001,18001 or what there corporate requirements and how the EMS fits into it). See the attached for companies involved in the Energy Agreements 393 at the moment http://www.sei.ie/Your_Business/Energy_Agreements/Energy_Agreements_Members/

The 393 standard is not a stapled guide on how to design or operate a singular building but to provide a guidance on how to manage the energy system for a complete site or premises (SOPs, Procurement Policy, Training, Asset Register.etc) It is best suited to companies with a comprehensive energy bill but that is not to say that you can use some of the standard to implement an adhoc EMS and utilize the 393 as a guide.

If you wish to get more info on how to best do energy audits and what to look for when designing and so on, I would perhaps recommend getting involved in Energy MAPS training

http://www.sei.ie/energymap/

c1979

Is it worth it?

Answer: Some of my clients who have implemented an EnMS and got certiifed to 393 or 16001 have made six figure savings on their energy costs

matsil

c1979 wrote: »

Is it worth it?

Answer: Some of my clients who have implemented an EnMS and got certiifed to 393 or 16001 have made six figure savings on their energy costs

But that wasn't the question...... not really..... not in that context.....

The question was, as an M&E consultant, would the course(s) be worth while in providing a deeper insight into energy management techniques such that technical mechanisms could be put in place to help clients manage their energy.

Now that I have done the course(s), I can answer my own question - primarily for the reference of anyone who might be reading this, considering doing IS393 or EN16001. In short, Yes, if you have an interest in Energy, it is well worth doing. I already had a good graps on many of the concepts, but the course has better equiped me on how to communicate those concepts, and how to package those concepts in a format that "non engineers" shall we say would understand, and appreciate. For any engineer that is not directly responsible for energy management but is in a position to influence either energy systems (such as an M&E consultant) or energy consumption (such as a line manager) but does not already have a basic understanding or appreciation of energy, and energy mangement principles or concepts, it would also be very beneficial.

For a "free" course, it really is of very high quality, and the guys presenting it really know their stuff - they are industry professionals that implement the standard on a daily basis.

"Intel, Diageo, Pfizer, Glanbia and Tesco are amongst the 122 members of SEI's Large Energy Network (LIEN) who collectively reduced their energy costs by €60 million in 2008. These savings are the latest in a strong trend that has seen some of Ireland's leading companies improve their energy efficiency by 30% on average over the last decade." ~ SEI Website....... IS393 / EN16001 has played a key role in this....... If you're interested in energy management, which you obviosuly are if you are reading this or if you know what 393 / 16001 is, then its worth attending - even if it is just to give yourself a contextual background in the topic..... half the problem with "energy management" is that most people don't really even know what it is, let alone how to do it..... the course would certainly lay a good foundation in getting anyone interetsed and informed.