SPOKANE, WA — (Marketwire) — 08/30/11 — Ecos, a leading provider of utility energy efficiency programs and a wholly-owned subsidiary of , announced today that it is implementing the newly released International Organization for Standardization–s standard, the world–s first global management system standard for energy. The first application will be in a California pilot program implemented at , a California carpet manufacturer. ISO 50001 provides commercial and industrial organizations with the first internationally recognized framework of management strategies — including methods for planning, managing, measuring and continually improving energy utilization — that can be voluntarily implemented to improve energy performance and reduce energy costs. The program concurrently pilots the use of ISO 50001 and (SEP), a related national voluntary certification program used to verify energy performance improvements in participating facilities.
As a member of the U.S. Technical Advisory Group to the ISO 50001 international committee, Ecos played an active role in the . The development of the standard, led by the United States, Brazil, China, and the United Kingdom, included participation from more than 44 countries and was released on June 15, 2011.
Conformance to the ISO 50001 standard is a foundational element of the SEP program, a U.S. certification that provides a transparent, uniform system for measuring and verifying actual energy performance improvements — normalized for production levels, weather and other significant factors — resulting from the implementation of ISO 50001. Early pilots implementing SEP in industrial facilities have achieved improvements in energy performance ranging from 6.25% to 17% in the first two to three years.
Ecos was selected to implement ISO 50001 and SEP at Bentley Prince Street in a project jointly funded by the Department of Energy through its initiative, as well as by and partnership for Continuous Energy Improvement. Bentley Prince Street, California–s largest commercial carpet manufacturer and a company recognized for its industry leading sustainability and waste-reduction practices, saw the value of the pilot to help reach its aggressive energy intensity reduction target of 25 percent over 10 years. Making this commitment qualifies Bentley Prince Street as a Department of Energy .
“As a California company, we are proud that the state and Bentley Prince Street have been selected to pilot ISO 50001, the world–s first global standard for energy management,” says Anthony Minite, President of Bentley Prince Street. “We look forward to working in partnership with Ecos on using ISO 50001 and SEP to help us reach our sustainability goals in hopes that it will inspire all manufacturers in all industries to adopt programs like these and remain transparent in their efforts to reduce negative environmental impact.”
Ecos will guide Bentley Prince Street through the requirements for certification in the new ISO 50001 and SEP standards through several activities including:
Assessing opportunities to integrate ISO 50001 with existing management standards
Developing an energy policy to guide and communicate the organization–s efforts
Conducting a comprehensive energy review
Setting energy performance targets
Developing an energy action plan
Establishing regular reviews to support continuous improvement
Documenting activities that support certification requirements
Applying the SEP Measurement and Verification Protocol to track and verify energy performance improvements
“We are excited to add ISO 50001 and SEP to the list of consulting services we offer our clients,” said Jon Thomsen, CEO of Ecos. “These new standards not only offer businesses a proven methodology to reduce their energy intensity and costs, but they can also be leveraged in utility energy efficiency programs.”
Ecos has been implementing strategic energy management programs since 2005 on behalf of a variety of utilities and clients, including the , , , and the .
“As a pioneer in energy and sustainability management, Advantage IQ is looking forward to offering our commercial and industrial clients the resources of Ecos Certified Practitioners,” says Paige Kindell, Vice President of Resource Management Solutions at Advantage IQ. “Certified Practitioners will be able to assist organizations in implementing ISO 50001, conduct system assessments, and verify conformance to the standards for certification. This offering is a natural extension of the work we are doing to help clients manage resources, including portfolio benchmarking, energy assessments and energy management consulting services.”
Advantage IQ partners with Fortune 1000 organizations to maximize business results by reducing energy and other facility expenses, managing risk, and improving environmental performance. These outcomes are achieved through performance reporting, energy supply management, ENERGY STAR benchmarking, energy audits, carbon tracking, expense management and strategic energy planning. Advantage IQ–s patented systems provide online access to critical cost and consumption data, enabling informed strategic management. Advantage IQ collaborates with clients to process, measure, analyze, and improve resource administration in the key expense categories of energy, telecom, waste, and leasing.
A subsidiary of Advantage IQ, Ecos conducts research and policy and designs and delivers award-winning resource acquisition and market transformation programs on behalf of utility clients nationally. Advantage IQ is the primary non-regulated subsidiary of Avista Corp (NYSE: AVA). For more information about Advantage IQ, visit or call 800-791-7564.
Advantage IQ:
Wendy Carhart
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