THE ISO 50001 AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF BUILDING ENERGY MANAGER PROFESSION IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

With the Energy Conservation Act in Singapore pending to be introduced in year 2013 (Ibrahim, 2010), Building Energy Managers will soon become a recognized profession. In addition, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) International Standard 50001 (ISO 50001) on energy management is expected to be released in year 2011 if both of its draft and final draft are being approved (ISO, 2010a). Hence, the dissertation aims to develop a detailed scope of work for local Energy Managers which integrates the ISO 50001 and the upcoming Act. This would be followed with the development of a template for local energy management process, integrated with the ISO 50001 requirements. The objectives of the dissertation include studying and understanding the international requirements and practices on energy management; examining the ISO 50001 and analyzing its impact on the energy management process; studying the possibility of integrating ISO 50001 into the energy management process and develop an energy management template as a toolkit for local Energy Managers and organizations to adopt the ISO 50001. The research methodology adopted for this report will be a review on the energy management legislations and practices carried out in various countries. The literature is analyzed and information on key aspects of energy management would be obtained. Following this, a detailed examination and analysis of the ISO 50001 will be carried out to study its impact and the possibility of integrating it into the energy management process. The draft ISO 50001 is used for this part of the study as the ISO 50001 has not been officially introduced during the time of study. Nonetheless, it would be sufficient for the study in this dissertation as its main content would most probably be close to that of the ISO 50001 since the draft ISO 50001 has undergone many discussions. From the analysis in the dissertation, it is concluded that it is possible to implement the ISO 50001 approach on energy management in Singapore. Together with the necessary workshops in place, energy management process could be internationally standardized and become more organized. As this study is being carried out when the ISO 50001 is in the DIS status, no field study could be conducted. There may be some problems with regards to adoption of the ISO 50001 that could only be identified after the actual adoption of the standard by the organizations.