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M_KEY – Management as a key driver of energy performance

Titre du projet
M_KEY – Management as a key driver of energy performance
Description
In many companies there are still considerable potentials to reduce energy consumption. Measures to be taken to tap these potentials generally require investing in new equipment. Yet, energy-efficiency (EE) investments - even when highly profitable - remain often undecided. Many studies have identified and discussed the various market and organizational barriers, that hamper decisions, and hence investments, in EE. The proposed research project bases on a new model of decision-making that leads to re-designing the organizational barriers model and to proposing a new explanation of the energy-efficiency gap. According to this new approach, two “meta-barriers” encompass symptom barriers and actually explain the energy-efficiency gap: The perceived non-strategic character of energy-efficiency investments and the various cultural influences which drive organizations and their decision makers to consider energy-efficiency investments as weakly strategic, beyond possible objective reasons. The main research hypothesis is that energy management (e.g. established in the form of an energy management system based on ISO 50001) significantly raises the companies’ ability to perceive the strategic relevance of energy-efficiency investments. Thus energy management induces positive decisions regarding these investments and, ultimately, increases the energy performance of a firm. The project aims at analysing the impacts of energy management as a driving factor in this process through a mix of survey, interviews and case studies among Swiss large-scale energy consumers. The results of the research work should help to better understand the determinants of energy-efficiency investments. This, in turn, will allow conceiving and proposing adequate policy measures and regulations able to improve the energy performance of firms.
Chercheur principal
Cooremans, Catherine
Statut
Completed
Date de début
1 Octobre 2014
Date de fin
30 Septembre 2017
Chercheurs
Iten, Rolf
Organisations
Identifiant interne
31398
identifiant
https://libra.unine.ch/handle/123456789/1747
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  • Publication
    Accès libre
    Gestion de l’énergie : les entreprises suisses peuvent faire mieux
    (2019-9-23)
    Zarin-Nejadan, Milad 
    ;
    Schönenberger, Alain 
    Une enquête menée auprès des grands consommateurs d’énergie a permis de décrire le système de gestion énergétique en place au sein des entreprises suisses. Ses principaux déterminants ainsi que son impact sur les investissements et la performance énergétiques ont pu être mis en évidence. Globalement, les résultats montrent que le niveau de la gestion énergétique est (encore) insuffisant et ne semble pas être corrélé avec les coûts énergétiques. Une politique publique soutenant la mise en œuvre d’une stratégie énergétique au sein des entreprises a toutefois un impact favorable sur les investissements en efficacité énergétique.
  • Publication
    Accès libre
    Energy management: A key driver of energy-efficiency investment?
    (2019-5-6)
    Cooremans, Catherine
    ;
    Schönenberger, Alain 
    Investments in energy efficiency often remain undecided upon and there is a large potential for enhancing energy efficiency in the industrial and commercial sectors. Within this context, the aim of the research project M_Key “Management as a key driver of energy performance” is to better understand how large-scale energy consumer (LSEC) companies make energy-efficiency investment decisions. With about 35% of the total Swiss electricity consumption, LSECs are an important target group for energy-efficiency programmes in Switzerland. The goal of this paper is to present and describe the main findings of M_Key (Management as Key for Energy Performance) research project. For the first time, these findings extensively depict large-scale energy consumers in Switzerland. They highlight the low level of energy management in Swiss LSECs and of the resources allocated to tackle energy issues. Due to a lack of monitoring and control tools, companies have difficulty assessing their energy-efficiency investments. Energy issues are not generally a priority for companies, with a few exceptions, mainly in large firms. Requirements from national or cantonal energy policies have a significant role (and in the case of SMEs a key role) in inciting companies to action. When energy efficiency is perceived as strategic, companies tend to have a high level of energy management. The better the energy management system is, the more likely the chances are for a positive decision on energy-efficiency investment. Another important conclusion is that the more strategic a project or investment is considered to be, the less restrictive are the financial criteria applied.