Compressed Air Best Practices - March 2009 - (Page 18)

® | 03/09 Focus Industry ENERGY MANAGEMENT | AIR STANDARDS When and how did ISO become interested in an energy management standard? Rob Steele: For some time, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) had recognized industry’s need to mount an effective response to climate change and to the proliferation of national energy management standards. In March 2007, UNIDO hosted a meeting of experts, including representatives from the ISO Central Secretariat and nations that have adopted energy management standards. That meeting led to submission of a UNIDO communication to the ISO Central Secretariat requesting that ISO consider undertaking work on an international energy management standard. ISO’s US member, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) made a formal proposal for ISO to establish a committee on this subject. In February 2008, the ISO Technical Management Board (TMB) approved the establishment of a new project committee, ISO/PC 242, Energy Management, to develop the future ISO 50001 management system standard for energy. Mr. Rob Steele, ISO Secretary-General Rob Steele took up the post of ISO Secretary-General on January 1 2009. Rob Steele was the Chief Executive Officer of Standards New Zealand (SNZ) until 2007. He is a Chartered Accountant, a member of the New Zealand Institute of Directors and a Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Management. Since leaving SNZ, Rob Steele has provided advice to organizations both in New Zealand and overseas on strategic business and standards issues, assisted regulators and standards organizations in several countries to develop strategies in public policy and standardization and worked with a United Nations specialized agency in three countries on energy efficiency systems and an international standard for industry. Rob Steele was Secretary of the Pacific Area Standards Congress (PASC) from 2002 to April 2007. During his tenure as CEO of the New Zealand standards body, he represented SNZ on ISO’s governance bodies where he was involved in developing policies on the global relevance of International Standards and led an ad hoc group to develop recommendations on ISO’s strategy on management system standards. Prior to joining ISO, I actually worked with the UNIDO team as a standards expert. I was privileged to work with Bob Williams and Marco Matteini of UNIDO, Aimee McKane of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and of course Wayne Perry from Kaeser Compressors, and to participate in workshops in Thailand, China and Brazil. So I have more than a little interest in the development of this standard as well. Why is another standard needed? Can’t energy be managed with an existing standard such as ISO 14000 or other existing national standards? Rob Steele: ISO’s current portfolio of more than 17,800 International Standards includes over 100 related to specific energies. Benefit was seen in developing a new global approach to systematically addressing energy performance in organizations of all types — pragmatically addressing energy efficiency and related climate change impacts. This approach has been well proven in the environmental area. ISO has more than 350 standards addressing specific environmental issues, such as standardized sampling, testing and analytical methods for the monitoring of the quality of air, water and the soil. However, the development of the ISO 14001 standard for environmental management systems offers a holistic framework for controlling and reducing the environmental impact of any type of organization and for improving its environmental performance. ISO 50001 will follow the management system approach, which has proved so successful with ISO 14001 for environmental management and ISO 9001 for quality management. The benefit of developing an ISO International Standard is that it distills worldwide experience and expertise. In addition, based on international consensus, it will be developed for global relevance and will provide an internationally harmonized, understood and accepted approach to energy management. National standards may not benefit from such broad input and, with their differing requirements, may pose technical barriers to trade. How broad is the interest in this standard? Rob Steele: Currently, 34 ISO national members bodies from all regions of the world are participating in the development of ISO 50001, with another six as observers, while UNIDO and the World Energy Council have liaison status. 18 www.airbestpractices.com http://www.airbestpractices.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Compressed Air Best Practices - March 2009

Compressed Air Best Practices - March 2009 Contents From the Editor Utility-Air News Compressed Air Audit of the Month Air Standards Assessment Improves Electroplater Production and Saves Energy Demand-Side System Optimization Seven Sustainability Projects for Industrial Energy Savings Personal Productivity Resources for Energy Engineers Wall Street Watch Advertiser Index Classifieds

Compressed Air Best Practices - March 2009

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