With an increased awareness of increasing costs of energy, the depletion of fossil fuels and the need to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases there are many web sites and publications which provide resources to help inform energy users of means to increase efficiency. This section lists some of these resources and recommends those which are likely to be of most use to energy managers.

This section focuses on Best Practice Guides (BPG) published by various organisations. Details and links are given.

The resources below are only a small sample of the information and guidelines. We have selected documents from three sources; Sustainability Victoria in Australia, the Carbon Trust in UK and our own EECA. All these organisations have considerable other resources available any many more are mentioned in this toolbox.

It is highly recommended that you read these guidelines and use them as resources to educate your clients and colleagues.

If you are aware of other quality resources please let EMANZ know.

Compressed air systems

EMANZ has developed specific training and accreditation for compressed air system specialists but this guide provides background guidance for those of us who do not yet have that level of expertise.

• Energy Efficiency Best Practice Guide Compressed Air Systems (Sustainability Victoria)

CT Focus

This is a collection of checklists that focus on proven opportunities for energy saving.

• A practical introduction to reducing energy bills

Creating an awareness campaign

This management guide gives specific advice and has materials for companies wanting to promote an energy saving programme within the business.

• Creating an awareness campaign

Data centres and IT facilities

Data centre facilities typically consume 35-50 times the amount of energy that a comparably sized office space uses and contributes large amounts of CO₂ into our environment.  

The Energy Efficiency Best Practice Guide for Data Centre and IT facilities is a step-by-step guide to improving energy efficiency in small to medium sized data centres and information technology server facilities, up to 100m².  

This guide provides basic information on system operation and outlines opportunities for improving system performance and efficiency, delivering cost savings to business and reducing carbon emissions. 

• Energy Efficiency Best Practice Guide Data centres and IT facilities (Sustainability Victoria)

Energy Management Information Systems – Achieving improved energy efficiency

• Energy Management Information Systems

Energy Management Overview

Introduces energy management at a strategic level, and puts it in a business context.

This publication introduces energy management at a strategic level, and puts it in a business context. All organisations from the private and public sectors can benefit from addressing energy management as a business priority.

• Energy Management Overview

Energy management priorities - a self assessment tool

The purpose of this Guide is to provide a set of simple tools to help technical and non-technical staff set priorities for energy management.
Energy Management Information Systems – Achieving improved energy efficiency.

The Canadian Industry program for Energy Conservation (CIPEC) has developed a useful handbook for achieving improved energy efficiency and focusing on developing Energy Management Information Systems.  This is a very detailed document and will be of use once you make a decision to introduce a full energy management programme.

• Energy management priorities - a self assessment tool

Energy Performance Contracting

This guide helps businesses through the process of Energy Performance Contracts, including:

• An overview of Energy Performance Contracting
• A tool to determine whether  Energy Performance Contracting is the best way for your organisation to improve its energy efficiency
• A step-by-step process for setting your goals, hiring an Energy Service Company, scoping your project and setting up a contract
• A plain English guide to understanding and using:
• The Standard Detailed Facility Study Agreement
• The National Standard Energy Performance Contract

• Energy performance contracting

Fan Systems

A standard has been created for the auditing of the energy efficiency of electric motor-powered fan systems.

• Fan systems audit standard

Industrial Refrigeration

Refrigeration can be responsible for up to 85 per cent of energy costs. The Energy Efficiency Best Practice Guide to Industrial Refrigeration is a step-by-step guide to improving energy efficiency in industrial refrigeration systems. It provides basic information on system operation and outlines opportunities for improving system performance and efficiency, delivering cost savings for business and reducing carbon emissions.

• Energy Efficiency Best Practice Guide Industrial Refrigeration (Sustainability Victoria)

Lighting

Best practice in lighting depends highly upon the application. When assessing the opportunities for improvement presented by an existing lighting system, the first step is to measure how effectively the existing light levels and characteristics serve their function.

There are many opportunities for cost-effective retrofits to an existing lighting system and it is possible to simultaneously increase lighting levels and use less energy if the most efficient technology and practices are used. The business benefits of an appropriate lighting system should also be considered.

Every task has different lighting requirements: light level, colour and time required. The most appropriate lighting technology for each task varies; lighting an area effectively and efficiently not only requires a lamp but other technical and human-interface instruments.

• Energy Efficiency Best Practice Guide Lighting (Sustainability Victoria)

Process Heat

This is a guide to best practice in improving energy efficiency in boilers, steam systems, hotwater systems and process heating.

Topics covered by this guide include:

• What are the basic components of industrial steam, hot water and process heating systems?
• How can I tell if the system is functioning efficiently?
• What are the areas where systems can be improved to operate more efficiently?
• What energy source should I use?

• Energy Efficiency Best Practice Guide Steam Systems, Hot Water Systems and Process Heating Systems

Pumping Systems

Existing pumping systems can provide an excellent opportunity for efficiency improvements, because pump system designs are sometimes difficult to optimize before installation. In addition, design efforts are sometimes focused on minimising capital costs or the chances of system failure. As a result, energy and maintenance costs may not be fully considered.

According to some sources, energy and maintenance costs will account for over 50–95% of pump ownership costs with initial costs less than 15% of pump life cycle costs.

Furthermore, industrial pumping systems that have been in operation for a long time may have experienced changes to pumping requirements over their lifetime, as systems move away from their design conditions. Pumping system efficiency improvements of this sort may have simple payback periods of several weeks to a few years.

• Energy Efficiency Best Practice Guide pumping systems (Sustainability Victoria)

A standard has been created for the auditing of the energy efficiency of electric motor-powered pumping systems used for liquid transport.

• NZ pumping systems audit standard

Practical energy management

Gives details of specific measures an organisation can implement as part of the overall strategy.

• Practical energy management

A strategic approach to energy and environmental management

This guide describes a five-step approach to introducing energy and environmental management. The five-step approach fits in well with other management programmes.

The guide is written for those who are new to this type of strategic approach, but if you have already begun to save energy, the guide and case studies will give you some ideas of how to enhance your programme so that you can achieve even greater savings.

• A strategic approach to energy and environmental management