Irish University is World’s First to Achieve ISO 50001 Standard (Energy Management Systems)

University College Cork (UCC) in Ireland has become the first third level institution worldwide to achieve the ISO 50001 standard. The Irish University was the first of its kind to implement this internationally recognised standard since it was launched just over four months ago. UCC is also the first public sector body in Ireland to be certified to ISO 50001.   

UCC is committed to continuous energy performance improvement to enhance the environment of the university community in which they work, teach and carry out research. UCC is home to a number of leading research institutes (Environmental Research Institute, HMRC, Tyndall , etc).

 The University is committed to responsible energy management as part of their overall environmental strategy.   UCC has a long track record in energy management and has been particularly successful in winning grant support from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) to support energy saving initiatives.  UCC currently has projects involving lighting, metering, heat recovery, ventilation, photovoltaics  and wind energy etc. under way across the campus.

UCC recognise that their activities impact upon the environment through their education, research,  infrastructural development and their influence on the wider community of which they are a part. The University is particularly mindful of their environmental responsibilities in local, national and global terms.

The decision to seek ISO accreditation was made to enhance the University’s existing reputation over many years in energy management  by embracing an internationally recognised system.  This reinforces the overall sustainability drive in the University which was awarded the world’s first Green Campus Flag fore third level institutions by An Taisce and the FEE (Foundation for Environmental Education) in 2010.

Director of Buildings and Estates Mark Poland said “we are delighted to have reached this milestone and congratulated Paul Prendergast, Maurice Ahern and their teams for all the preparatory work”. 

The energy management consultant behind UCC’s successful certification to ISO 50001 was Liam McLaughlin of eNMS. Liam used Enerit software to allow rapid implementation of ISO 50001.

Buildings Officer Paul Prendergast said “we have a varied building stock which will require significant upgrading in future years to meet our national targets under the NEEAP legislation and ISO 50001 will greatly assist in this effort”.

UCC chose Enerit ISO 50001 software to implement its energy management program, and was certified to the standard within five months, a great achievement.  The Enerit software covers all aspects of the ISO 50001 standard including: significant energy users, energy saving opportunities, energy actions and planning, corrective actions and audit management.

The software significantly improves and simplifies the everyday management of a system which operates in a very busy environment.

It  leads to the automation and implementation of the ISO 50001 standard, and goes beyond completing the standard to allow users to save energy on an on-going basis.

Maurice Ahern energy manager for UCC said he used Enerit ISO 50001 software because “its integration into our existing energy management activities was very straightforward. We now have a very clear and systematic view of our energy management activities and the progress we are making”.

What is ISO 50001?

ISO 50001 is an International Standard that enables organisations to establish the systems and processes necessary to improve energy performance, including energy efficiency, use, and consumption.

Implementation of this standard is intended to lead to reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, energy cost, and other related environmental impacts, through systematic management of energy.

The ISO 50001 standard became internationally recognised in June 2011 and promises to reach over 500,000 organisations worldwide.

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Welcome to UCC's Energy Page

Introduction

UCC is committed to reducing its Carbon Footprint.  It has an active Energy Committee within the Buildings & Estates office, which monitors and targets its consumption of electricity, gas and water on an ongoing basis.

Current energy consumption graphs (updated hourly)

Electricity (Kwh)	Gas (m³)	Water (ℓ)
Click for full-size graphs

It is running an Energy Awareness Programme at present, targeted at the College Community and the focus of this campaign is to encourage staff and students to reduce its electrical consumption wherever possible.

Suggestions and comments are welcome to energy@ucc.ie