What is ESOS?

ESOS is a mandatory energy assessment scheme for organisations in the UK that meet the qualification criteria. The Environment Agency is the UK scheme administrator.

The UK regulators are:

• Environment Agency for organisations whose registered office is in England
• Natural Resources Wales for organisations whose registered office is in Wales
• Northern Ireland Environment Agency for organisations whose registered office is in Northern Ireland
• Scottish Environment Protection Agency for organisations whose registered office is in Scotland
• Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy for organisations whose activities consist wholly or mainly of offshore activities

Organisations that qualify for ESOS must carry out ESOS assessments every 4 years. These assessments are reviews of the energy used by organisations’; buildings, industrial processes and transport to identify cost-effective energy saving measures.

(Source – Gov.uk website)

Each ESOS phase lasts 4 years, in order to complete on-site audits on the organisations’ portfolio. The energy data used for each phase needs to pass through the qualification date of the 31st of December.

Phase 1 Deadline: 5th December 2015 (Qualification date – 31st December 2014)

Phase 2 Deadline: 5th December 2019 (Qualification date – 31st December 2018)

Phase 3 Deadline: 5th December 2023 (Qualification date – 31st December 2022)

Phase 4 Deadline: 5th December 2027 (Qualification date – 31st December 2026)

There will be financial penalties for any organisation in the UK that has not submitted their assessment pack to the environment agency by the above deadlines.

For your assessment, your organisation needs to:

1. Calculate your total energy consumption – Investigate the energy consumed by your organisations’; buildings, industrial processes and transport.

2. Identify your areas of significant energy consumption – This is the energy used by your organisation that accounts for the listed de-minimis set out in the ESOS guidelines (This was 90% in ESOS phases 1 & 2). Your organisation will need to identify whether ESOS compliant energy audits have been, or need to be, carried out for the areas of significant energy consumption.

3. Appoint a lead assessor – Your organisation will need to appoint an ESOS lead assessor to carry out or review your overall ESOS assessment. Lead assessors can be employees or external contractors as long as they are members of an approved professional body register.

4. Notify the Environment Agency – When you have finalised your ESOS assessment and believe you are compliant, you will need to submit your ESOS notification of compliance to the Environment Agency.

5. Keep records – If your organisation is selected for an ESOS audit by the environment agency, you will need to keep an evidence pack of the information gathered during your ESOS assessment.

Energy Impact is a leading energy management company that has completed over 80 ESOS assessments across Phases 1 and 2. Energy Impact also offers a structured and comprehensive range of corporate solutions using our pioneering and unique software Energy Doctor. Energy Doctor is proven to deliver the following:

• Significantly reduce building survey time, at least 50% quicker than conventional methods.
• No Expensive Consultants costing you time, resource and day rates.
• Client receives a real time Initial proposal and best practice information during the survey.
• Zero manual report writing or collection of data. You can receive a completed ESOS on-site audit report within 2-5 days.
• 100% consistency of reports and audits across a multiple site/user network.
• A cost effective ESOS solution that reduces your energy consumption and associated costs.