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Why have a register?
There is a growing need for businesses to be able to locate professional energy auditors and be assured of their competence in auditing specific energy end use.
AIRAH as an organisation is ideally placed to offer this service to the
marketplace and promote competent energy auditors with a peer based assessment
procedure.
Business
Energy Efficiency Program
AIRAH has joined the Global Sustainability
Initiatives (GSI) Alliance which is providing auditors with an opportunity
to be involved in a series of projects across Australia providing energy
audits to pre-qualified small to medium size businesses. The program is
delivered by the GSI Alliance and participating local
governments. GSI has existing contracts to deliver 200 energy audits
in New South Wales with discussions continuing to expand this number considerably
and also into Victoria, Queensland and South Australia.
AIRAH's role in the Alliance is to ensure the energy audits are conducted
to the highest standard.
The large volume of audits required will provide incentive for existing
audit companies to ensure their staff have obtained the necessary AIRAH
accreditation to access the soon to be released audit tenders.
New businesses expanding into energy efficiency are also being encouraged
to have their staff trained through the AIRAH auditor
training program so that they can access the audit tenders being released
by GSI.
Federal
The Australian Government's Energy Efficiency Opportunities program encourages
large energy-using businesses to improve their energy efficiency. It does
this by requiring businesses to identify, evaluate and report publicly
on cost effective energy savings opportunities.
Energy Efficiency Opportunities is designed to lead to:
- improved identification and uptake of cost-effective energy efficiency opportunities
- improved productivity and reduced greenhouse gas emissions
- greater scrutiny of energy use by large energy consumers
Participation in Energy Efficiency Opportunities is mandatory for the estimated 250 corporations in Australia that use more than 0.5 petajoules (PJ) of energy per year. This is approximately equivalent to the energy used by 10,000 households.
For more details see http://www.energyefficiencyopportunities.gov.au/
New South Wales
High energy users in NSW are required to prepare Energy Savings Action
Plans.
The Government introduced new legislation in May 2005 to encourage a better
understanding of energy use by business, government agencies and local
councils and establish detailed plans of action for savings.
A list of organisations required to prepare savings action plans was published
as a Savings Order in the NSW Government Gazette on Friday 28 October
2005. It includes:
- Businesses in NSW using more than 10 gigawatt-hours per year at a site
- All local councils in NSW with populations of more than 50,000 people and
- NSW Government agencies which use more than 10 gigawatt-hours per
year at a site
More details at:
http://www.greenhouse.nsw.gov.au/actions/agencies/decc/energy_savings_action_plans
Victoria
The EPA requires all Victorian businesses who require work approvals and
licenses under the Environment Protection Act (both existing licence holders
and new applicants) to conduct an energy audit to comply with the Environmental
Management Protocol. Only operations with an energy use of less than 500
gigajoules per annum (or less than 100 tonnes of energy-related CO2 equivalent
emissions per annum) are exempt.
Ongoing energy and greenhouse requirements
continue to apply to EPA license holders and works approval applicants.
As well as this, new requirements for all large energy and water-using
sites are being developed under the Environment and Resource Efficiency
Plan (EREP) program.
The AIRAH Accredited energy auditor register assists end-users in sourcing
energy service providers and ensure they can competently perform energy
audits.
For more details see http://www.epa.vic.gov.au/greenhouse/program.asp