Ireland has been able to benefit from European Social Fund (ESF) funding and has put in place a unique support program specifically developed for the public sector to drive best practice in energy management. It has been instrumental in helping public bodies work towards the Irish government’s ambitious 33 % energy efficiency target for the public sector for 2020.
The main objective of the programme is to deliver on the national public sector EE targets to the territory through an energy management system in public sector organizations.
It is managed in partnership with private consultants, the energy agencies and the SEAI (Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland), which administers public sector energy management programs in Ireland. SEAI supports professionals wishing to acquire the skills needed to lead an organization towards international best practice in energy management systems through ISO 50001 Certification. The support programme helps organizations to develop an effective certification framework, avoiding organisational and cultural blocks and costly investmentmistakes.
The support includes a combination of interactive training sessions and exercises to facilitate understanding, delivered by experienced energy management auditors. Ultimately, organizations will have in-depth practical knowledge of the application of energy management systems across a wide range of significant energy users.
NEEDS ADDRESSED:
• no EE policy public sector strategic goals with defined targets at national level (Art. 3)
• there is no programme for monitoring energy efficiency levels at national level (Art. 5)
• the central government in your country doesn't purchase energy efficient buildings, products and services (Art. 6)
• there is no programme for conducting energy audits in the public sector at national, regional or local level (Art. 8)
• energy audits do not include technical and financial feasibility assessments (Art. 8)
• there is no quality assurance scheme in place for energy audits (Art. 8)
• the recommended actions from the energy audits completed are not implemented (Art. 8)
• business cases for the recommended energy actions arising from energy audits are
not prepared and presented for financial approval (Art. 8)
