What is the Skill Set?
The Skill Set covers determining energy usage and making recommendations for improvements for an entire process or organisation.
The units of competency in the Determine energy usage Skill Set are:
- MSS015011 Conduct a sustainability energy audit
- MSS015001 Measure and report carbon footprint.
Level and scope
This Skill Set applies to an entire process, site or organisation, rather than part of a process or a work area. It is particularly applicable to energy intensive processes such as steel and cement manufacture where the most benefit can be gained from improving energy efficiency and reducing energy use.
Determining energy usage includes:
- Defining boundaries for an energy audit for all or part of the value chain of an organisation
- Conducting an energy audit
- Mapping the value chain for energy use/carbon footprint
- Measuring and calculating actual and theoretical energy consumption
- Conducting energy balance analyses
- Quantifying the carbon footprint, including the embodied carbon in each process step in CO2 equivalent tonnes
- Identifying energy use, waste, embodied carbon and sinks
- Determining priority areas for improvement
- Undertaking benefit/cost ratio analyses
- Identifying and recommending strategies for reduction and more efficient use of energy and reduction of the carbon footprint.
MSS015011A Conduct a sustainability energy audit covers auditing the energy use and waste for all or part of a value chain in an organisation. It determines the high priority issues based on the energy use/waste and recommends improvements to reduce energy use.
MSS015001A Measure and report carbon footprint expresses the energy use in terms of equivalent tonnes of CO2 emissions. The carbon footprint could be reduced through the more efficient use of energy, a change to the source of energy, or by the use of carbon sinks.
There is overlap between the units as both units identify options for making improvements and in this Skill Set the improvements will target energy efficiency.
The carbon footprint of an organisation may include non-energy sources such as emissions from the process or waste disposal, but the most common and largest source of carbon footprint is in the use of energy. The energy audit provides information that can be used to determine the energy related carbon footprint.
The energy audit unit focuses on the efficient use of energy, regardless of its source. The carbon footprint unit expresses the energy use in terms of equivalent tonnes of CO2 emissions.
Target group
The Skill Set is targeted at people such as managers and technical specialists who have a major responsibility for sustainability and energy efficiency, either alone or as part of a team. The Skill Set requires that the learner already has technical knowledge of the process and can obtain additional technical assistance if required. In order to be able to conduct an energy audit the learner will need to have detailed knowledge of the process and carbon related changes which occur at each step in the value chain.
The learner will need to identify the boundaries of the process, work area or part of the value chain to be evaluated and audited for example the whole business for a small business, or a process line or a work area such as the warehouse or office.
The learner will need to be able to interpret specifications, operating procedures, manuals, regulations and other complex documents to be able to identify the steps and the energy use at each step.
Relationship to other Skill Sets
The Audit energy usage for a work area and Improve energy usage for a work area Skill Sets can feed into the Determine the energy usage Skill Set where the focus is on an entire process or organisation, rather than a work or process area.
The Determine energy usage Skill Set can feed into the Reduce sustainability risk and Recommend energy improvements Skill Sets.
The Improve energy usage for a process or organisation Skill Set can be used to implement the recommendations made to improve energy efficiency from the Determine energy usage Skill Set.
