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Superior Energy Performance

  • Bosch Rexroth Facility Achieves Superior Energy Performance Platinum Certification
    Bosch Rexroth Facility Achieves Superior Energy Performance Platinum Certification

    Bosch Rexroth’s Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, facility used a rigorous energy management system to meet the ISO 50001 standard and save $2.7M over three years.

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  • 3M, Schneider Electric Escalate Energy Savings with SEP and ISO 50001
    3M, Schneider Electric Escalate Energy Savings with SEP and ISO 50001

    Initial rollout provided the opportunity to compare traditional approaches with ISO and SEP frameworks: energy performance improvements at the certified facilities were significantly greater—up to 65%—compared to the non-certified facilities.

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  • SEP Success Story: Detroit Diesel
    SEP Success Story: Detroit Diesel

    Check out this video to find out how the automotive manufacturer is managing energy and using SEP to track progress, validate savings, focus reinvestments and create jobs.

  • SEP Webinars
    SEP Webinars

    Learn more about the value of Superior Energy Performance (SEP) from participating companies. AMO hosts a series of case study webinars to highlight successes and share solutions on accurate, credible achievement of energy performance improvement.

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  • Hilton: Three hotels SEP certified.
    Hilton: Three hotels SEP certified.

    Hilton Worldwide has become the first hospitality company to have hotels certified to the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Superior Energy Performance® (SEP™) program. The SEP certification for three hotels in Washington, DC, Honolulu, HI, and San Francisco, CA recognizes Hilton’s leadership in energy management and verified energy performance improvement.

Superior Energy Performance logoCertifyin​g Increased Energy Productivity under ISO 50001

Facilities certified to Superior Energy Performance® (SEP™) are leaders in energy management and productivity improvement. The facilities in SEP have met the ISO 50001 standard and have improved their energy performance up to 30% over three years.

SEP provides guidance, tools, and protocols to drive deeper, more sustained savings from ISO 50001. To become certified, facilities must implement an energy management system that meets the ISO 50001 standard and demonstrate improved energy performance. An independent third party audits each facility to verify achievements and qualify it at the Silver, Gold, or Platinum level, based on energy performance improvement. This certification emphasizes measureable savings through a transparent process.

SEP-certified facilities note that investing the extra effort in SEP—beyond ISO 50001—is clearly worth it. Cost-benefit assessments find that SEP helps facilities in a wide range of industries and large energy users. Results to date:

  • HARBEC Quote.pngAnnual savings of $36,000 to $938,000 using no-cost or low-cost operational measures—Read the business case for SEP
  • 12% reduction in energy costs within 15 months of SEP implementation (on average)
  • 5.6% to 30.6% improvement in energy performance over three years
  • Paybacks of less than 1.5 years (in facilities with energy costs > $2 million annually).

An energy management system (EnMS) helps a facility establish the policies and procedures to systematically track, analyze, and improve energy efficiency. Learn more about energy management using ISO 50001. The DOE eGuide helps facilities think through and streamline the implementation process to maximize and sustain savings. Read about the certification process to learn how to prepare and qualify for SEP and ISO 50001 certification.

Companies are testing strategies to implementing SEP across multiple facilities within the corporation. In this SEP enterprise-wide accelerator, companies are pursuing a corporate-level ISO 50001 certificate, with SEP certification across select facilities. In addition, DOE is partnering with a group of leading water and wastewater treatment agencies to demonstrate the energy and efficiency benefits of implementing SEP.

The SEP program was designed to drive systematic energy performance improvement across the U.S. manufacturing and commercial buildings sectors—significantly reducing energy use and carbon emissions. It was developed with active participation by industry members of the U.S. Council for Energy-Efficient Manufacturing (U.S. CEEM) and is currently administered by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Audits are performed only by SEP Verification Bodies accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI)-ASQ National Accreditation Board (ANAB). DOE provides recognition to facilities certified to SEP.