Contribution to Energy Management of the Main Standards for Environmental Management Systems: The Case of ISO 14001 and EMAS

Iker Laskurain, Ander Ibarloza, Ainara Larrea and Erlantz Allur
Additional contact information
Iker Laskurain: Department of Management, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, 20018 San Sebastian, Spain
Ander Ibarloza: Department of Management, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, 20018 San Sebastian, Spain
Ainara Larrea: Department of Management, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, 20018 San Sebastian, Spain
Erlantz Allur: Department of Management, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, 20018 San Sebastian, Spain

Energies, 2017, vol. 10, issue 11, 1-21

Abstract: The adoption of Energy Management Systems (EnMSs) based on international standards has gained momentum since the ISO 50001 standard was launched in 2011. Before that, the potential to improve the energy management with Environmental Management Systems (EMSs) based on ISO 14001 and EMAS was identified in the literature. However, no in-depth analysis reported in the literature has explored this claim. The need for research is now even more evident with the development of new versions of the standards for environmental management―ISO 14001:2015 and EMAS III. Since many companies that already have a certified EMSs might be uncertain whether to adopt an ISO 50001 based EnMSs, the present work aims to shed light on the contribution of ISO 14001:2015 and EMAS III to energy management. Furthermore, the work summarizes the results of an empirical exploratory study carried out in eight Spanish organizations, four with an EMS implemented and certified based on ISO 14001:2015 and four more with an EMS registered to EMAS III. The findings show that both ISO14001 and EMAS certified organizations carry out energy management practices, even though they have no formal EnMSs implemented. Implications for managers and policy makers are discussed, together with avenues for further research.

Keywords: energy saving and efficiency; energy management; energy management systems; environmental management systems; ISO 14001; Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS); ISO 50001 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (14)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/10/11/1758/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/10/11/1758/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:10:y:2017:i:11:p:1758-:d:117204

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().