1. What is ESOS?
You may have heard about ESOS and are wondering what it’s all about and if it will affect you.
The first things to know are:
• ESOS stands for‘Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme’.
• As the name suggests, it’s a new form of energy assessment and the scheme is designed to identify
meaningful energy savings.
• For large undertakings and their corporate groups, throughout the UK, it is mandatory.
• You’re probably hearing more and more about ESOS since the qualification date for Phase One, 31st Dec
2014, has now passed.
• The submission date for evidence of compliance is 5th December 2015. Future phases are scheduled
and each will cover 4 years.
• Minimise Solutions is on hand to expertly guide you through the process and ensure you benefit from
verified savings through the most cost-effective energy conservation measures.
Am I affected?
The legislation is the UK Government’s adaptation of Article 8 of the EU Energy Efficiency Directive (EED), which requires energy
management systems be put in place for larger organisations. As with any scheme the first thing to decide is if your organisation
meets the criteria for eligibility.
Can your organisation be considered as an‘undertaking’? This is defined as a‘body corporate or partnership, or an
unincorporated association carrying on a trade or business, with or without a view to profit’. Only undertakings are required to
participate in ESOS.
Making ESOS Easy for Business
A Guide to the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme
Industry Update: ESOS
Once your status of an undertaking is established, consider if you would answer yes to either of the following:
1) Am I an undertaking with 250 or more employees?
2) Am I an undertaking with less than 250 employees, but have: • Annual turnover exceeding 50 million euros and
• Balance sheet exceeding 43 million euros?
*Turnover and Balance Sheet equivalents in pound sterling, as at 31st December 2014: £38,937,777 and £33,486,489 respectively
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2. Industry Update: ESOS
If you meet the criteria from 1) or 2) you are considered to be a‘large undertaking’and will be required to comply with the ESOS
scheme. Note that Corporate Groups qualify if at least one UK group member meets the ESOS definition of a large undertaking.
Therefore even if you are a small undertaking, you may still need to participate in ESOS as part of the Corporate Group.
Of course, even if your organisation is not required to participate in the scheme - for example if you are a public body that
adheres to the UK Public Contracting Regulations or are an SME - having a professional ESOS assessment will nevertheless
greatly help your business to increase overall profit through the identification of savings.
What Next?
So you realise you need to get on board with ESOS – and quickly, since evidence of compliance must be submitted by 5th
December 2015. But what does this actually involve?
1) Measure your Total Energy Consumption
Energy Use is measured across buildings, transport and industrial activities that take place within the UK.
Energy use can be measured either in units of consumption (e.g. kWh) or financial expenditure (£).
All forms of energy usage are captured under the scheme including electricity, combustible fuels, heat and renewable energy.
The exception is measurable‘unconsumed energy’, meaning that which is provided to a third party (e.g. landlord provision to
tenant).
The measurement of energy use must cover a full 12 month period including the qualification date of 31st December 2014.
If you already measure consumption for compliance with other schemes, e.g. CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme, you will not need
to duplicate the work already carried out.
2) Conduct energy audits to identify cost-effective energy efficiency recommendations
During each phase of the scheme you must ensure at least 90% of your energy consumption (known as‘Significant Energy
Consumption’) is subject to one of the following:
• An ESOS compliant energy report
• A Display Energy Certificate
• A Green Deal Assessment
• A Certified ISO 50001 energy management system
The 10% de minimis exclusion is intended to prevent organisations incurring high expenditure through auditing areas of low
energy consumption, thereby avoiding wasted time and money. You can decide on what to allocate to the de minimis, whether
it be at group level (exclusion of a particular undertaking); at organisational level (exclusion of an activity or asset); or at fuel level
or supply level (exclusion of consumption of a particular fuel or supply point).
The good news is that if you’ve already undertaken energy auditing work since December 2011 that complies with the ESOS
audit specifications (e.g. the Carbon Trust Standard), it can be used to support your ESOS compliance during phase one.
The scheme will identify ways in which your company can save money and energy. Although it is not mandatory to implement
the recommended energy-saving measures, the exercise will be most beneficial if the costs of auditing are offset by identified
savings.
An ESOS assessment will help you to better understand the full scope of energy consumption by your activities and assets.
Any energy conservation measure can be considered, including behavioural change initiatives, improvements to equipment
maintenance, equipment upgrades and installation of new technology.
For example, changing building management system controls, lighting upgrades and improvements to the fabric of the
building may be recommended.
ESOS assessments must be conducted or reviewed by an accredited Lead Assessor.
1
Measure total energy consumption
2
Conduct energy audits and identify
opportunities for saving energy
3
Report compliance to the scheme
administrator, the Environment Agency
There are 3 main steps to ESOS:
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3. Optional Implementation of Energy Conservation Measures
ESOS
Compliance
Strategy
Development
Data
Gathering
Energy
Audits
Identification
of Energy
Conservation
Measures
Review
Sign-Off
by Lead
Assessor
Client
Sign-Off
Submission to
Environment
Agency
Industry Update: ESOS
Minimise Solutions, 6 Stirling Park, Laker Road, Rochester Airport Estate, Rochester, Kent ME1 3QR
+44 (0) 330 313 3220 • info@minimisesolutions.com
www.minimisegroup.com
3) Report Compliance to the Environment Agency
The last part of the ESOS process is to give notification to scheme administrator - the Environment Agency - that your
organisation has achieved compliance. This should be completed by the‘Compliance Date’, which is the last day of each 4-year
compliance phase. The following table illustrates the dates involved in the first 3 phases of the ESOS scheme.
As well as the ESOS Assessment being conducted or approved by a qualified Lead Assessor, it must also be reviewed and
signed-off by a Board-level Director before submission to the Environment Agency.
How can Minimise Solutions help?
Minimise can take you through your ESOS journey from start to finish, under the guidance of our accredited Lead Assessor. We
have a wealth of experience in building consumption profiles for organisations, breaking down overall consumption data to
illustrate what is being used; when, where and by whom.
Let Minimise guide you through your ESOS journey:
Why Choose Minimise Solutions?
Using our remote energy management system, Realtime Online, we are able to accurately measure and analyse energy usage
at a granular level, as well as many other variables, including ambient temperature and lux levels. The analysis of this data can
highlight unusual patterns of usage and identify clear areas for simple and cost-effective energy efficiency measures.
Data captured in Realtime Online is viewable instantly via an online platform, meaning that your staff benefit from being able to
visually appreciate the effects of the implemented conservation measures. This is particularly beneficial when measures affect
them directly; for example if a building’s heating patterns are altered, an employee can see the saving this makes in a clear
and tangible way, making them far more likely to engage with the programme of changes. This will result in a more successful
behavioural change and energy reduction campaign.
In addition Minimise Solutions has the ability to offer IPMVP (the most commonly used energy measurement and verification
standard) to verify the energy savings arising from any measure you choose to implement.
Phase Qualification Date Compliance Date Four-Year Compliance Phase
Phase 1 31st December 2014 5th December 2015 6th December 2011 – 5th December 2015
Phase 2 31st December 2018 5th December 2019 6th December 2015 – 5th December 2019
Phase 3 31st December 2022 5th December 2023 6th December 2019 – 5th December 2023
For more information or to discuss how we can help your organisation meet ESOS
requirements please call us on +44 (0) 330 313 3248 or email info@minimisesolutions.com
Part of APC Technology Group plc