OPINION: REGULATIONS
SUMMER OPPORTUNITY
The government published its proposals in July for an Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme for public consultation. Hywel Davies explains what this piece of summer holiday reading is all about
The Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS),
proposed as part of the UK’s implementation of the EU Energy Efficiency Directive, will enable companies to identify opportunities to save money on energy bills through improved energy efficiency. Under the scheme, which delivers
the energy audit requirements of the Directive, large private sector enterprises will be required to undertake ‘ESOS assessments’ to identify cost-effective ways to invest in energy efficiency, helping reduce energy bills and increase competitiveness. Article 8 of the Directive requires
all Member States to introduce a regime of regular energy audits for large enterprises to promote the uptake of cost-effective energy efficiency measures. These audits
must be undertaken by 5 December 2015, and then every four years thereafter. The scheme is intended to stimulate uptake of cost-effective ways to save energy. The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) believes that the proposed scheme will drive take up of energy efficiency improvements, and estimates that the additional energy savings could benefit the UK by £1.9bn. A consultation has now been launched seeking views on the proposed approach to delivering the energy audit requirements through the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme. The proposals seek to realise the potential benefits of better energy efficiency and energy management as part of ‘a proportionate and better regulation approach’. This seeks to implement the energy
audit requirements in a way that fits into the wider landscape of existing energy efficiency and climate change policy, minimise administrative
20 CIBSE Journal August 2013
burdens on business while avoiding competitive disadvantages to UK businesses relative to their EU competitors. The proposal to align the scheme
with existing policies is very welcome and is a response to the work done by CIBSE, in association with other industry bodies to demonstrate the potential to use existing tools to implement energy audits. As a result, those organisations
already collecting data under the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) will be able to use that data under the ESOS. Also, those organisations whose energy use is predominantly in buildings will be able to use information from Green Deal assessments or Display Energy Certificates within the scheme. Under the scheme, assessments will be required to: ● Identify energy efficiency improvement opportunities across the whole organisation being assessed
● Be carried out in an independent manner and satisfy minimum criteria
● Be transferable to any energy service provider (with the consent of the customer organisation) Assessments may be carried out by a range of individuals, including CIBSE Low Carbon Consultants and Energy Assessors. In-house assessors will be permitted, as long as they are not auditing activities in which they have direct involvement. DECC propose to work with the British Standards Institution (BSI) and industry to develop a Publicly Available Specification (PAS), setting out the minimum competence requirements for assessors. The consultation closes on
3 October 2013. The government states that it intends to introduce secondary legislation in spring 2014,
This is an entirely new departure for standards in the UK
which will set out the legal framework for operation of the scheme ahead of the 5 June 2014 deadline for transposition of the Directive. CIBSE will be responding. For more information please see
www.cibse.org/consultations To comment on the consultation,
please email
technical@cibse.org or see the discussion on the CIBSE LinkedIn Group.
l HYWEL DAVIES is technical director of CIBSE
www.cibse.org
What does the Directive require?
The consultation sets out the requirements of Article 8 for energy audits, which must: (a) be based on up-to-date, measured, traceable operational data on energy consumption and (for electricity) load profiles
(b) comprise a detailed review of the energy consumption profile of buildings or groups of buildings, industrial operations or installations, including transport
(c) build, whenever possible, on life-cycle cost analysis (LCCA) instead of Simple Payback Periods (SPP) to take account of long-term investments and discount rates
(d) be proportionate, and sufficiently representative to permit the drawing of a reliable picture of overall energy performance
(e) allow detailed and validated calculations for the proposed measures so as to provide clear information on potential savings
(f) ensure the data used as part of the energy audit is storable for historic analysis and tracking performance
Who does the Directive affect?
The following organisations, unless they are SMEs, may have to undertake ESOS assessments: ■Companies ■Partnerships ■Community interest companies ■Charitable incorporated organisations ■Corporations sole ■Unincorporated associations ■Certain universities
For copies of EU Energy Efficiency Directive (2012/27/EU), the full consultation document (80 pages) and the impact assessment (91 pages), and for details of CIBSE’s plans to respond to the consultation, visit
www.cibse.org/consultations
August 2013 CIBSE Journal
www.cibsejournal.com
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