ept is committed to energy efficiency and environmental protection
The energy management system based on DIN EN ISO 50001 is showing initial success
. The connector manufacturer ept has been implementing energy-saving measures for years and is also increasingly turning to renewable energy sources. Examples of this include the use of geothermal and solar energy at ept’s founding plant in Buching. In addition, an environmental management system certified to DIN EN ISO 14001 was introduced as early as 2008. To date, this has already led to a reduction in CO2 emissions of over 40% at ept’s German plants. The newly introduced energy management system, compliant with DIN EN ISO 50001, integrates seamlessly into the environmental management system and places further emphasis on saving primary energy.
Why an energy management system?
Germany and the European Union have set ambitious goals for increasing energy efficiency. To achieve the European energy-saving target, the Energy Efficiency Directive 2012/27/EU was enacted.
Within this framework, Germany has set a goal of reducing its primary energy consumption by 20% by 2020 and by 50% by 2050 compared to 2008 levels. Companies with more than 250 employees must therefore either conduct an energy audit in accordance with DIN EN 16247-1 every four years or implement an energy management system in accordance with DIN EN ISO 50001. ept already operates an environmental management system in accordance with DIN EN ISO 14001, so it made sense for the company to supplement this with an energy management system.
To achieve the 20% savings target set for 2020, ept would need to reduce primary energy consumption by 1.84% annually. When defining its own targets, the company rounded this figure up to 2% per year.
Requirements for Implementing an Energy Management System
Implementing an energy management system requires an energy management representative and an associated team. At ept, Facility Manager Heinz Pichler was appointed as the representative. Facility management is an important component of energy management, as the energy costs of buildings and their technical systems and equipment account for a significant portion—an average of 25%—of total operating costs. At ept, the energy management team consists of the energy management officer himself, Managing Director Thomas Guglhör, Head of Operations Marcus Trillof, Environmental Officer Detlef Kruse, and Electrical Workshop Manager Peter Lenk. The team monitors the continuous improvement of energy-related performance and decides on measures within a so-called PDCA cycle (Plan-Do-Check-Act).
To measure a company’s energy efficiency and changes therein, key performance indicators—known as “Energy Performance Indicators”—are required to relate the company’s energy consumption to other operational metrics. For ept, the overarching performance indicator, for example, is calculated by dividing energy consumption by value added. Individual divisions or departments, in turn, have their own department-specific indicators. For instance, the stamping shop determines the average energy consumed per stamped part. The consumption of compressed air, heat, gas, or electricity is measured on-site using data loggers. These are attached either at the interface to individual departments or even to individual machines and send their results to energy management software, through which the metrics can be clearly assigned, read, and displayed in intuitive diagrams. One example of this is the so-called Sankey diagram, which clearly breaks down a plant’s total energy consumption by percentage all the way down to individual consumers.
How can a company actively reduce its energy consumption?
To not only measure energy consumption but also actively reduce it, ept has already implemented comprehensive measures. These range from the introduction or adaptation of work instructions and maintenance schedules to centralized control software for heating and ventilation. Work instructions encourage employees to actively conserve energy, such as by keeping doors closed or turning off equipment when not in use. Maintenance schedules have been adjusted to ensure that machines and systems operate at optimal efficiency at all times. Compressed air leaks, for example—which would result in high additional energy consumption—are detected and repaired early on.
Heating and ventilation for buildings and facilities at ept’s sites in Peiting and Buching are now controlled centrally via specialized software. Changes and adjustments can thus be made extremely quickly, and their impact on energy consumption is immediately evident. At the Peiting plant, the combination of heat recovery from the compressors, a combined heat and power (CHP) unit, and a gas-fired low-combustion-value boiler has made it possible to eliminate the need for additional oil heating. The CHP unit supplies the necessary heat for the electroplating process, generates 70 kW of electricity, and simultaneously serves as an emergency power generator for the servers.
As a further measure to reduce primary energy consumption, ept also relies on renewable energy. At the ept Buching plant, nearly all heating and cooling capacity is covered by geothermal energy. Thirty-six boreholes, drilled to a depth of 80 meters, generate an annual output of 297,000 kWh there. The Buching plant also already generates 8% of its electricity needs via a photovoltaic system with an annual output of 55,000 kWh.
Energy management is showing initial success
. ept established the year 2013 as the baseline for measuring primary energy consumption. Using this year as a reference, the company set a goal to reduce primary energy consumption by 2% annually. However, as early as 2014, ept succeeded in reducing consumption by more than 10%, and by another 12% in 2015. The 20% energy savings target set for 2020 has thus not only been achieved already, but has been far exceeded. Nevertheless, ept remains ambitious: “We will continue to reduce primary energy consumption by at least 2% per year compared to the previous year,” explains Heinz Pichler, energy management officer at ept GmbH. “Our successes naturally spur us on,” says Pichler, “but we believe we can achieve much more if we stay on the ball.” Thomas Guglhör, managing director of ept GmbH, shares this view: “We invest heavily in environmental protection and energy-saving measures. It’s therefore gratifying to see results even in the short term. We’ve convinced not only our own employees but also our customers that environmental and energy management pays off in terms of reducing costs in the long run and protecting the environment.”
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