Improving energy performance within the framework of the Energy Efficiency Directive

Abstract: It! is! necessary! for! large! companies! to! understand! and! be! able! to! adapt! to! the! industrial! transformation! towards! an! increasing! focus! on! energy! efficiency,! which! takes! place! today.! The!Energy!Efficiency!Directive!(EED)!issued!by!the!European!Union!has!enlarged!the!focus! on! working! with! energy! efficiency! within! large! companies.! Further,! the! Swedish! government! has! introduced! the! law! about! energy! auditing! in! large! companies,! which! is! based! on! the! EED.! These! regulations! encourage! companies! to! develop! a! management! system!that!includes!requirements!on!conducting!energy!audits!and!propose!costDeffective! measures.! ! Energy! efficiency! is! already! an! important! aspect! within! many! companies! environmental! work,! however! a! more! developed! and! systematic! approach! to! energy! efficiency! than! most! companies! already! have! is! needed! in! order! to! fulfill! the! legal! requirements.! The! Company! investigated! in! this! study! is! one! the! worlds! leading! technology! companies! with! more! than! 9000! employees! in! Sweden.! Currently,! they! have! energy! as! a! significant! aspect! in! their! environmental! work! according! to! the! international! management! system! standard! ISO! 14001.! Today! they! are! also! developing! their! energy! work! by! conducting! energy! audits! in! order!to!comply!with!the!new!legislation.!This!gives!a!more!detailed!view!of!the!energy!use! and! potential! improvements! that! can! be! done,! but! in! order! to! ensure! continual! improvements!over!a!long!period!of!time!further!measures!are!needed.!! ! Within! this! study! it! was! investigated! what! measures! a! large! company! needs! to! implement! in! order! to! increase! their! energy! performance! and! comply! with! the! legislation.! By! a! literature! review! focusing! on! management! systems! as! well! as! interviews! within! the! Company,! a! complementary! study! with! two! companies! covered! by! the! EED! and! three! expert! interviews,! five! key! factors! were! identified.! These! factors! are;! top! management! commitment,! awareness,! goals,! measurements! and! evaluation.! A! model! was! then! developed! aligning! these! factors.! Further,! concrete! proposals! for! action! to! manage! these! factors! were! presented.! By! increasing! focus! on! these! key! factors! and! implement! proposed! measures! companies! will! increase! their! energy! performance! and! also! make! the! organization!aware!of!how!actions!affect!a!company’s!energy!performance.!