The Evolution of Energy Management Maturity in Organizations Subject to Mandatory Energy Audits: Findings from Italy

Annalisa Santolamazza (), Vito Introna, Vittorio Cesarotti and Fabrizio Martini
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Annalisa Santolamazza: Department of Enterprise Engineering, “Tor Vergata” University of Rome, 00133 Rome, Italy
Vito Introna: Department of Enterprise Engineering, “Tor Vergata” University of Rome, 00133 Rome, Italy
Vittorio Cesarotti: Department of Enterprise Engineering, “Tor Vergata” University of Rome, 00133 Rome, Italy
Fabrizio Martini: DUEE-SPS-ESE Laboratory, Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA), Lungotevere Thaon di Revel, 76, 00196 Rome, Italy

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 9, 1-27

Abstract: Promoting energy efficiency is a key element of the strategic commitment of the European Community. Prominent among the binding measures established by the 2012 Energy Efficiency Directive to further this vision is the requirement for large companies to conduct energy audits every four years. After receiving the second cycle of energy audit reports in December 2019, a new description of the energy situation of Italian companies was made available. This presented the previously inaccessible possibility of comparing the two situations reported in 2015 and 2019 to assess the development of energy efficiency practices in organizations subject to the legislative obligation of energy audits in the country. To this end, in collaboration with the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA), a project was initiated with the aim of developing the tools and methodologies necessary to assess in more detail the evolution that has occurred in the four years since 2015. In this paper, the findings of the analysis conducted on a significant sample of companies in Italy are presented. Through the design of a maturity model to assess the degree of progress achieved in a company’s energy management, the results of the two situations were analyzed. The analysis was deepened by assessing the progress achieved in different aspects of Energy Management: “Strategic Approach”, “Awareness, Competence, and Knowledge”, “Methodological Approach”, “Organizational Structure”, “Energy Performance Management and Information System”, and “Best Practices”. Furthermore, the observed variations were statistically tested using a pairwise t -test to make statistical inferences about the maturity of the total population of Italian enterprises under legislative obligation. The results have shown an increase in overall energy management maturity in each maturity dimension.

Keywords: energy efficiency; energy audit; energy management; maturity model; energy efficiency directive (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: 2023
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