Energy Manual Guidelines

Consider the development and implementation of an energy manual

In an ISO 50001-2011 continual improvement-based energy management system (EnMS), the

organization must:

 determine how it will meet the requirements of the EnMS so as to achieve continual
improvement in both energy performance and the EnMS; and
 maintain information that describes the core elements of the EnMS and their interaction.

This is usually accomplished through the development and implementation of an energy manual.
However, an energy manual is not required, although it is recommended.

The benefits of an energy manual

An energy manual can provide several benefits:

 As a documented overview or summary of the EnMS that is approved by top management, the
energy manual serves as a tool to establish and communicate the energy management
commitments of the organization.

 The energy manual is useful to management, employees and potentially other stakeholders as a
“roadmap” to the EnMS, including information on the components of the system, how those
components interact, and direction to the associated processes, procedures, and roles and
responsibilities.

 The energy manual is a convenient mechanism for documenting some of the information about
the EnMS that must be documented, such as the scope and boundaries of the EnMS and the
energy policy. This can enable the organization to avoid the creation of additional documents
that then would have to be managed

 For smaller organizations, the energy manual can be useful as a “one-stop shop” document that
contains present-day information about the EnMS.

 For organizations that are implementing an ISO 50001 EnMS, the energy manual can be a
document that serves to translate the requirements of the ISO 50001 standard into the
organization’s own terminology.

Tip: Although the terms used in the ISO 50001 standard can be changed into the
organization’s own terminology, the meaning of those terms (i.e. the definitions) cannot
be changed. For example, an organization may refer to the “energy review” required by
ISO 50001 as an “energy profile;” however, the definition of what is an energy profile is
the same as the definition of an energy review.

Energy Manual Guidelines

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Organizations which have already implemented continual improvement based management systems
(e.g., ISO 14001, ISO 9001, OHSAS 18001, etc.) may choose to integrate their energy manual into an
existing environmental, quality or other management system manual. This option allows an
organization to avoid having to manage and train on multiple management system manuals and can
facilitate the integration of management systems for sustainability or other business purposes.

The format, detail and length of an energy manual

There is no required format for an energy manual. It can be in any media. The energy manual may be:

– a stand-alone document, maintained separately from energy management system

procedures;
– a single document that includes the organization’s EnMS procedures;
– incorporated into another management system manual or other documents;
– an electronic-based hierarchical index or other electronic format, typically with hyperlinks to
EnMS documents (such as plans, procedures, blank forms, etc.); or
– any combination of the above.

The energy manual’s format and level of detail will vary according to the size and complexity of the
organization and the needs and expectations of the organization and its interested parties.

Tip: Although less detail may be needed in some sections of the manual if details are provided in
other EnMS documents such as documented procedures. On the other hand, additional detail in
some sections of the manual can help avoid development of additional and potentially
unnecessary EnMS documents.

As a general rule of thumb, a stand-alone energy manual is 5-15 pages in length. The language and
terminology used in the energy manual should be understandable to users, not designed for auditors.

Tip: Less detail may be needed in some sections of the manual if details are provided in other
EnMS documents such as documented procedures. On the other hand, additional detail in some
sections of the manual can help avoid development of additional and potentially unnecessary
EnMS documents.

Like other EnMS documents , the energy manual must be controlled. (See Step 3.3 for information on
control of EnMS documents.) Top management is usually the designated approver(s) of the energy
manual.

Energy Manual Guidelines

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 Tip: The energy manual may be a means to demonstrate approval of the energy policy by top
management.

Items to be included in an energy manual

The following items can be included in the energy manual:

 The scope and boundaries of the organization’s energy management system

The scope of the system is the operations, activities, and facilities that are included in the EnMS. The
organization must define the boundaries or physical, site, or organizational limits of its EnMS. The scope
and boundaries statement would address both the operational and the geographic boundaries of the
system. For example: The scope and boundaries of XYZ Company’s energy management system are the
manufacturing, warehousing and distribution operations and activities of the Rockmart Georgia site
located at 333 Railroad Drive, Rockmart, Georgia.

 A description of the core elements of the energy management system and their interaction

A common approach to describing the core elements of the EnMS involves brief descriptions of each of
the processes involved in the Plan-do-Check-Act continual improvement cycle. More detailed
information on those processes would be available in other documents (such as plans, programs,
procedures, work instructions, forms and others) or embedded within the organization’s training and
communications.

Organizations implementing an ISO 5001 EnMS for third-party certification should avoid preparing an
energy manual that copies the clauses of the ISO 50001 standard as the description of the core elements
of the EnMS. Such an approach is typically frowned on by third-party certification bodies.

The description of the interaction of thecore elements of the EnMS is often represented graphically,
rather than by text. Most frequently, a graphic representation of the Plan-Do-Check-Act continual
improvement cycle is used that identifies the organization’s specific processes for energy planning,
implementation and operation, checking and management review. Graphics are also used to represent
how energy applies within the defined scope and boundaries of the organization’s EnMS. Such graphics
may be a process map or other visual representation of the energy sources.

 Key EnMS documents or reference to them

Smaller organization may decide to include their EnMS documents (such as procedures, plans, work
instructions, blank forms, and others) within the energy manual. This does provide a one-stop source
for all of the organization’s EnMS documents, although it can present some document control
challenges.*

*If the energy manual with all EnMS documents included is controlled as a single document,
then the addition, deletion or change of any one of those documents within the manual will need
Energy Manual Guidelines
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 approval/re-approval and a change in revision status for the entire energy manual. On the other
hand, if each section of the manual with all procedures included is controlled separately, then
the revision status of each section may vary and a master table of contents or a master list may
be needed to ensure that the current revision status of each section of the manual can be
determined. Also, if each section of the manual is controlled separately, there may be different
approvers for each section. The document control system must ensure that there is evidence of
approval by the appropriate designated approver.

Many organizations decide to maintain and control the energy manual as a single document and only
include within it references to related EnMS documents. These references may be embedded in each
section, listed at the end of each section or listed on a document reference table that appears as the last
page of the manual. One of the advantages of using a document reference table is that it is easily
updated when necessary and avoids the need to review and locate references to other EnMS documents
within each section of the manual.

For example:

EnMS Documents Reference Table

Topic Document Reference

Energy planning EnP-01 Energy Planning Procedure

EnD-02 Energy Legal and Other Requriements Table

EnD-03 Energy Objectives and Targets

EnD-03.x (series) Energy Management Action Plans

… …

Energy training and EnP-02 Energy Awareness and Training Plan

awareness

… …

Energy Manual Guidelines

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