Energy audit: do it with NF EN 16247 version 2022
For the past ten years, the European Union has required certain companies to undergo an energy audit every four years. The voluntary standards in the NF EN 16247 family, which provide the methodology for carrying out this exercise, have just been updated. A godsend at a time when the energy crisis is calling for everyone to tighten their belts! Here’s what’s new.
If you work for a company with over 250 employees, or a turnover of over €50 million and a balance sheet of over €43 million, you’re used to it: every four years, the law requires you to carry out an energy audit. Objective: to identify potential energy savings and the actions that can be taken to exploit them at the best possible cost. For those who have met the first deadline of December 5, 2015, set by the text transposing the 2012 European directive that imposes it, this will be the third time: 2015, 2019, and therefore 2023.
Each time, the audit must be carried out by a duly qualified auditor, following a standardized methodology. In this case, the one described in NF EN 16247, a set of standards published between 2012 and 2015 with sections dealing respectively with general requirements, buildings, processes, transport and auditor skills. This makes the energy audit the first building block in a successful energy-saving initiative, as we explain in this downloadable study.
NF EN 16247: from energy efficiency to energy performance
Today, AFNOR is publishing an updated version of these standards. The revision had three objectives: to incorporate feedback from ten years of auditing in Europe, to harmonize the various parts of the standard, and to bring auditing and management standards closer together,” explains Gaëtan Collin(photo), head of the Greenbirdie consultancy and one of the members of the group of experts who rewrote the standard on the French side, in conjunction with the European CEN group supervised by Italy.
To illustrate the lexical connection, he gives this example: “The NF EN 16247 standards talked about energy efficiency, a concept that evokes a ratio, while the ISO 50001 standard on energy management systems talks about energy performance, a concept that evokes objectives to be achieved. We have aligned ourselves with ‘performance’. This has implications for the calculation of significant energy use as defined in EN 16247. “Feedback from audits carried out in Europe on companies subject to the standard – other than those holding ISO 50001 certification, which are exempt – has led us, for example, to rework the notion of sampling. ” Only part 2 of the standard, which is specific to buildings, allowed for the use of samples to measure consumption. From now on, this will also be possible for processes, covered in Part 3 (NF EN 16247-3). This will be a huge advantage for companies with many identical sites, such as base stations, for example. “continues Gaëtan Collin.
A mandatory exercise for companies consuming 10 to 100 TJ per year
Another new feature of the standard is that it now defines three levels of audit depth: simple audits, audits for which significant energy use must be measured (and not estimated), and audits for which recommendations for action must be based on estimates. Encouraging audits based on actual consumption, the revised standard introduces the obligation to define a measurement plan for the purposes of the energy audit, and cites NF EN 17267 of August 2019 as a reference in this respect. The new version of the audit will recommend actions to reduce energy consumption, as is already the case, but also actions to increase the use of renewable energies or to produce energy from renewable sources.
In 2023, your next energy audit will therefore be carried out according to these new rules. Regulations will be updated to make this methodology the new benchmark. It will also be updated to reflect the new scope of taxable persons. Indeed, the draft revised European directive provides for the companies concerned to be selected not on the basis of size or financial standing, but on the basis of energy consumption. The energy audit should apply to all businesses with annual consumption of between 10 and 100 terajoules over a three-year period. Holding an ISO 50001 certificate will still allow exemption, but will become essential for companies exceeding 100 TJ/year.
