Energy management: self assessment

Further reading

• Application Note: Energy Management - Self Assessment (3322)
• About the author (1751)

Energy management: self assessment

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By Pieter-Jan Stockmans, Laborelec

The first step towards an energy management system is to gain an understanding of how much energy is used, and how, where and for what purposes it is used within the organisational unit.  The quantity of energy used is easily derived from energy bills. Three types of energy use are found in manufacturing facilities: direct production of goods, space climate conditioning and general facility support such as lighting.  Although most energy reduction opportunities in industrial facilities are identified after observation and analysis of the facility, much can be done before a site visit to identify possible energy-reduction opportunities.

In this Application Note, basic techniques are introduced, such as:

•   Gathering information about production, space conditioning and non-production related energy use;
• Identifying energy savings opportunities;
• Assessing the savings available and developing a financial analysis;
• Progressively implementing, assessing and monitoring improvements.