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Overcoming internal barriers to industrial energy efficiency through energy audit: a case study of a large manufacturing company in the home appliances industry

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Abstract

Energy efficiency plays a key role in reducing global energy consumption, especially in the industrial sector, with an indirect positive impact on the competitiveness of industrial firms. Although a cultural shift toward recognizing the strategic importance of energy efficient and environmental friendly solutions is diffusing among industrial companies, also pushed by the evolution of local and international regulatory frameworks, strong barriers hampering the adoption of energy efficiency measures (EEMs) still exist. These barriers, and in particular those linked to behavioral issues, may be overcome by the use of a well-designed energy audit methodology. However, how energy audit can help overcome behavioral barriers to industrial energy efficiency remains an under-researched topic in literature. This paper presents and discusses a novel methodology for energy audit developed and implemented by a large manufacturing company. The methodology is built around four phases, and it pays special emphasis to the initial step of the audit, where the strongest resistance to the implementation of EEMs is typically found due to a lack of awareness and commitment which hampers the identification of needs and opportunities associated with the adoption of EEMs. The proposed methodology has been able to overcome in practice the typical behavioral barriers that affect the implementation of EEMs in the manufacturing sector and has strong applicability in other firms and industries.

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Notes

  1. The following are the ISO standards relevant to the present paper: The Energy Management standards (ISO 50001; ISO50003; ISO 50004; ISO 50006; 50015), the Energy Audits standard (ISO 50002), the activities relating to Energy Services standard (ISO 50007), and the Commercial Building Energy Data Management for Energy Performance standard (ISO 50008).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Ingegneria Gestionale, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133, Milan, Italy

    Davide Chiaroni, Vittorio Chiesa, Simone Franzò, Federico Frattini & Vito Manfredi Latilla

Authors
  1. Davide Chiaroni
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  2. Vittorio Chiesa
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  3. Simone Franzò
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  4. Federico Frattini
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  5. Vito Manfredi Latilla
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Correspondence to Simone Franzò.

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Chiaroni, D., Chiesa, V., Franzò, S. et al. Overcoming internal barriers to industrial energy efficiency through energy audit: a case study of a large manufacturing company in the home appliances industry. Clean Techn Environ Policy 19, 1031–1046 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-016-1298-5

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