- The BESS Energy Management Implementation Project Plan, an introduction -

One of the main objectives of the BESS project is to help companies to implement energy management in their organization.

The BESS energy management implementation model (EMIM) informs you about the different aspects of implementing energy management.

When implementing energy management for the first time or you want to substantially improve your energy management system it is strongly advised to compile your own Energy management Implementation Project Plan.

This activity is initiated during the START phase and therefore this introduction text for this plan is part of the BESS “Getting started” package.

You can start with elaborating this project plan after you have made the business case of your company and have done the self-assessment check to give you an indication of the quality of your current energy management system.

The ultimate goal of the implementation project is that energy management is integrated in your organization to such an extend that the PDCA cycle for continuous improvement of your energy situation is secured.

Since your choice of the requirements you want to fulfill determine the desired quality of the energy management system within your company, you need to have knowledge of a good framework like the BESS Energy Management Specification (ISO 14001 oriented) and of relevant “terms & definitions”.

The Energy management Implementation Project Plan documents your own implementation activities which is in fact a separate project during the steps taken to implement the energy management system in the company. It documents the planning and the consequences of all activities mentioned in the Energy Management Implementation Model.

In the BESS approach the different aspects of the EMIM are facilitated by various tools and step by step learning modules which can be found on the BESS E-learning dartboard. It is to be advised that you look at the guidance of the Energy management handbook when you gradually elaborate your own Implementation Project Plan.

There is no ideal outline of an energy management implementation project plan. It depends on your own situation and should fit to the common and accepted procedures within your company to set up a project which involves several parts of the organization and has impacts to various company activities. Therefore in an early stage approval by the management of the project plan is needed: a project which will normally last for more than half a year.

The energy management implementation project plan includes following topics:

- The objective of the implementation project e.g. the desired quality level of the system;

- The activities required in order to achieve the objective. The actual outcome of such activities like an energy audit, the energy consumption analysis and the planning of energy efficiency measures and feasibility studies are not part of the implementation plan as such but are to be documented in a separate “energy action plan”;

- The project organization within the company including the personnel needed;

- The necessary budget;

- The manner in which the quality and planning will be monitored

Organisational

Management Commitment,

Resources, Planning, PM

Technical People

Understanding your Developing an energy

energy usage and to efficient culture

control it

Balance all 3 for succesful Energy management

When you are compiling the energy management implementation plan it is advisable to make use of all other tools available and of consultancy by an energy agency and/or a specialized consultant if needed. Regular feed back from those experts, colleagues or of you industrial association others between steps of elaboration of the project plan can be of big help.

Within the BESS approach guidance and tools are provided by the national-sector support and the web based BESS E-learning system.

The key elements which are part of the implementation of a

good energy management system are:

- have an energy policy statement with clear objectives;

- have properly determined and assigned tasks and responsibilities;

- have made sufficient resources available for maintaining

- the management system;

- regularly communicate the progress achieved in the energy management.

Other important elements include:

- Monitoring to determine whether the energy consumption of the relevant operational units is in keeping with the expectations.

- A system for corrective and preventative actions.

- Regularly performing (internal) energy management audits in order to verify the functioning of the energy management system and to ensure

continual improvement.

There is also a BESS Energy Management Checklist which is based on the BESS Energy Management Specification. This gives you the possibility to check the quality of your energy management system in your organization after you have finalized the energy management implementation project.