Fingal County Council awarded ISO 50001 certification for Energy Management

The award was made after a thorough assessment of the Council’s Energy Management System found that it complies with the extensive requirements of ISO 50001:2018 which is the international standard for energy management.

The initial certification is valid for three years and the Council Energy Management System will be subject to an on-going surveillance programme by Certification Europe to ensure that it continues to adequately meet the requirements of the standard.

All energy use under the control of the Council is covered by the certificate and the Mayor of Fingal, Cllr Eoghan O’Brien, said it was significant achievement for the organisation. 

“Because of climate change, energy management has become very important and achieving the international standard is an indication of how seriously Fingal County Council is taking its responsibilities in this area,” said Mayor O’Brien.

In 2018, Fingal County Council set up an Energy Management Team, under the leadership of the Council’s Energy Performance Officer, John Quinlivan, to bring the different energy users within the organisation together to work alongside Codema, Dublin’s Energy Agency, on a co-ordinated plan to reduce energy consumption.

Working within the framework of policies of the elected Council, particularly the Climate Change Action Plan, and the ISO Certification criteria,  the Energy Team produced an Energy Policy and Management Plan for the operation and management of energy usage in Council Facilities.

The Chief Executive of Fingal County Council, AnnMarie Farrelly, said: “Energy management is an all-encompassing process that should include every aspect of an organisation from finance, human resources and public relations to maintenance, purchasing and planning. Our Energy Management Team have done excellent work over the last two years to identify and co-ordinate all our energy users by bringing them into a single energy management system.”

John Quinlivan, Director of Service and Energy Performance Officer for Fingal County Council, said: “Our objective is to drive a culture of continuous improvement in energy performance each year so that we can continue to meet and surpass the energy saving targets set for us by Government. The ISO50001 international standard for energy management is the framework within which we can do this and the Team have worked hard over the past two years to achieve this certification. Our next objective is to retain it and to continue the improvement in energy performance that we have already achieved.”