Management standards : alternative approaches to energy management

Abstract

Due to the interrelationship between the energy and carbon standards, the large overlap in energy data and increasing pressure on organisations to reduce their environmental impacts, this dissertation focuses on energy and carbon management standards, relative to Ireland, in order to assess the different approaches outlined for managing energy in an organisation. The research methods consisted of a review of literature to compare energy and carbon standards, coupled with the collection and analysis of empirical energy and carbon data from a service organisation case study. This provided a meaningful comparison between research and practice. It is evident from the research that there is a large energy data overlap between both standards and these standards, at an organisation level, have different approaches to the assessment and management of energy use and carbon emissions. These individual approaches have their own advantages and disadvantages. The energy standard ‘process’ driven approach ensures the organisation identifies and manages energy reduction opportunities. While the carbon standard, through is ‘scientific’ driven approach, ensures that the carbon emission assessment is clear, transparent and accurate, as far as practical. The main conclusion drawn from this study is that an Irish organisation, when deciding to establish and implement an energy or carbon standard, should design a system that will comply with both standards, to maximise the benefit to the organisation through energy and carbon savings, financial savings and promote the corporate ‘green’ image of the organisation. This study recommends a move towards integrating the Government’s White Paper on Energy and the National Climate Change Strategy to reinforce the interrelationship between energy and carbon management and lead to combined objectives and targets to tackle Irelands’ key environmental challenges. The integration of national and international energy and carbon standards, at an organisation level, is also recommended. This will maximise the benefits to an organisation, energy resources and climate change without entailing the duplication of an organisation’s time and financial resources.