The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recognizes 3M for achieving 34 Superior Energy Performance 50001 (SEP 50001) program certifications. SEP 50001 is a U.S. DOE-administered energy performance program for facilities that have been certified to the ISO 50001 energy management system standard. As of the end of December 2021, 3M has 53 sites certified to ISO 50001 globally. Of those sites, 34 in North America also achieved SEP 50001 program certification (28 in the United States). Over the six-year improvement period (2016-2021), the SEP 50001 program has collectively improved normalized energy performance by 4.8%.
At 3M, energy efficiency is a key part of the strategy to achieve the corporate carbon goal, and a structured EnMS is central to the corporate plan for energy efficiency. 3M continues to encourage more sites around the globe to achieve ISO 50001 and SEP 50001 certification, focusing first on those that account for the greatest energy usage. To streamline expansion, 3M developed a robust centralized EnMS, tools, training, resources, an expert energy team, and internal auditors. This approach has led to significant savings and drastic reductions in implementation time, effort, and certification costs.
By certifying multiple sites together, the third-party auditor needed only to conduct ISO 50001/SEP 50001 on-site audits at a small share of the candidate sites (sampling). Sampling requirements for SEP 50001 are consistent with those of the ISO 50003 standard for the certification bodies conducting energy management system audits.
The ISO 50001 standard and the SEP 50001 program have accustomed 3M staff at all levels to follow a structured system of energy management and identify and exploit opportunities to increase energy efficiency across site operations. 3M has plans to certify all Tier 1 sites, amounting to 85% of global energy consumption to ISO 50001 by 2025. In the future, 3M looks to develop a global enterprise model to spread the energy savings and emissions reductions to facilities around the world.
DOE’s SEP 50001 program, managed by the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office (IEDO), offers certification and elevated levels of recognition to facilities that achieve sustained excellence in energy management. To achieve SEP 50001, facilities implement an energy management system aligned with ISO 50001, the International Organization for Standardization’s energy management standard, and demonstrate improved energy performance. Entities that exceed certification requirements in SEP 50001 can use a scorecard to achieve DOE recognition at the Silver, Gold, or Platinum level. An independent third party conducts an audit to verify achievements.
Learn more about how 3M improved its energy management practice through SEP 50001.