To clarify how you need to measure and report your total energy consumption for ESOS compliance we have answered some FAQs. If you have more questions please don’t hesitate to contact us, email info@wordpress-1115181-4362448.cloudwaysapps.com or give us a call on 0844 875 1600.
WHAT DO I NEED TO MEASURE?
You must calculate your total energy consumption and cover at least 90% of your total energy consumption for ESOS. This includes input energy used by assets and activities carried out by your organisation covering; buildings, industrial processes and transport.
HOW SHOULD I CALCULATE ENERGY CONSUMPTION?
•Your calculations must use a common unit, which can either be an energy unit (such as kWh) or energy spend in pounds sterling. Please note that CO2 is not an energy unit. Our energy management software, Plato can work with a number of different energy units and convert them into a common one.
•Use the Government conversion factors to help you measure energy consumption in common units. Click here to go to the DEFRA conversion tool
oIf a fuel you use isn’t listed, you can contact your fuel provider to get information about its properties.
oThe purpose of this calculation is to help you identify what energy your assets/activities use and which assets/activities you will subsequently need to ensure are covered by a route to compliance.
oAny further questions regarding this contact the Enistic team on 0844 875 1600.
WHERE DO I FIND ENERGY CONSUMPTION DATA?
When calculating your total energy consumption, you must use verifiable data whenever possible. For example:
•An invoice or delivery note
•Meter reading records and schedules for electricity or natural gas
•Stock records and readings for stored liquid, solid fuels and waste
•Automatic meter reading or smart and half hourly meter data outputs, for electricity and natural gas
WHAT HAPPENS IF I CAN’T FIND OR OBTAIN THIS DATA?
If you can’t obtain verifiable data of energy use or spend you should:
•Explain why in your evidence pack – with our Plato software you can easily enter notes to explain energy data shortfalls and what you’ve done if this is the case.
•Use a reasonable estimate derived through calculation (see below) that your ESOS assessor agrees with. You can speak to our ESOS assessor to discuss an approach to compliance, simply call 0844 875 1600.
•Keep records in your evidence pack
HOW DO I ESTIMATE ENERGY CONSUMPTION DATA?
If you can’t get all the verifiable data you need, it is acceptable to fill in the gaps by making an estimate along with your ESOS assessor. To do this, you could use:
•Direct comparison. This means using figures from another comparable time period to fill the gap, (for example the same day/week/month in another year).
•Pro-rata extrapolation. This means using figures you have for one period of time to get average consumption figures for a shorter period. For example, you could use the average day rate of energy use for 1 March 2015 to 25 March 2015 to estimate the energy used between 26 and 30 March 2015.
•Benchmarking. This is using the energy consumption of one asset or activity as a proxy to estimate the consumption of another asset. For example, you could use the annual energy use of one retail outlet to estimate how much energy another retail outlet uses, particularly if they were similar size, age, or build.
CAN I USE ISO 50001 FOR ESOS COMPLIANCE?
Yes. You can use ISO 50001 for ESOS compliance, however, please note the following conditions must be satisfied:
•ISO 50001 must be certified by an approved certification body and cover all your energy use (for the whole corporate group in the UK).
•Certification must remain valid at the compliance date.
•The Energy Management System must cover all of the assets held and activities carried on by your organisation as at the qualification date.
It is now likely to be too late to gain ISO 50001 certification before December if you’re yet to start, however if this is something you’d like to later achieve the Enistic ESOS compliance approach is perfect for you. Our Plato software works to form an energy management system which is a requirement for ISO 50001. Contact the team on 0844 875 1600 to discuss how you can achieve ESOS compliance and work towards ISO 50001 after Phase 1.
THE FOLLOWING ARE FAQS WE TYPICALLY RECEIVE AND ALL HAVE THE SAME ANSWER DETAILED BELOW:
Questions:
The business has a Climate Change Agreement (CCA), are we covered for ESOS compliance?
My company participates in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS), do we still need to comply with ESOS?
We undertake mandatory greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting, will this satisfy our ESOS compliance?
Are Display Energy Certificates (DECs) or Green Deal Assessments (GDAs) enough for ESOS compliance?
Answer:
•Simply being part of these other schemes does not automatically count as ESOS compliance for the energy covered by those regimes.
•The scope of energy you must include in your total energy consumption under ESOS is broader than what’s covered by these mandatory and voluntary schemes. This means that it’s likely that you will have to do additional work to ensure you are also compliant with ESOS.
•However, as long as 90% of your total energy consumption is covered, then a mix of approaches with some of your energy consumption covered by ISO 50001; some by DECS or GDAs and some by ESOS energy audits is acceptable.
If you have further questions or are yet to determine the scope and approach of the ESOS auditing process, call us today on 0844 875 1600 to arrange a free scoping meeting where you can talk with our ESOS assessor to determine an approach, time frame and price for full compliance.