Energy Benchmarking For Success

It can be difficult to assess exactly how much energy your company should be using or how much more efficient it could become without having comparative data. The idea of benchmarking is to develop meaningful indicators, allowing firms to compare their energy performance with industry norms and best practice standards. Some industries and commercial bodies already carry out this process and are aware of the sense of motivation that can be got from benchmarking with other sites in the corporate group. For top-of-the-league plants, it can inspire a healthy sense of competitiveness and pride about being the best at what they do. And for those some way down the list, it can encourage management and staff to try harder.

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland believes that even greater gains can be achieved if the idea of benchmarking is extended across a whole sector. This could be done, for instance, in the dairy industry by comparing performance indicators such as energy use per tonne of raw milk processed or per tonne of product output. Benchmarking in this way gives an indication of the average performance in different sectors as well as what can be achieved with best practice. Moreover, it highlights the companies that are leading the field, so that the techniques these firms are using to get the most from their energy inputs can be examined and lessons can be learned.

A pilot industrial benchmarking programme is described at: www.eva.wsr.ac.at/english/ideen2.htm