ESOS (Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme) is a mandatory energy assessment scheme for organisations in the UK that meet the qualification criteria.  It will be administered by the Environment Agency .

Organisations that qualify for ESOS must carry out ESOS assessments every 4 years. These assessments are audits of the energy used by their buildings, industrial processes and transport to identify cost-effective energy saving measures.

Organisations must notify the Environment Agency by a set deadline that they have complied with their ESOS obligations.

What is ESOS?

The Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) is a mandatory energy assessment and energy saving identification scheme for large undertakings. The scheme applies throughout the UK.

What will I have to do?

A full overview of how the scheme operates is provided in Section 2 of the Guide. In simple terms, an ESOS Assessment requires participants to do three things:

1. Measure your total energy consumption across your buildings, transport and industrial activities.

2. Conduct energy audits to identify cost-effective energy efficiency recommendations. You must ensure that at least 90% of your total energy consumption is subject to an ESOS compliant energy audit, a Display Energy Certificate, a Green Deal Assessment or a certified ISO 50001 Energy Management System during each phase of the scheme.

For the first phase of the scheme, you can use any energy auditing activity dating back to December 2011 to support compliance (for example, the Carbon Trust Standard) provided that it meets the minimum standards required of ESOS Energy Audits.  Unless your total energy consumption is covered by a certified ISO 50001 Energy Management System, you must ensure that your ESOS Assessment is conducted or reviewed by a qualified Lead Assessor (the lead assessor may be an in-house expert or external consultant).

3. By 5 December 2015, you must notify the Environment Agency that you have complied with the scheme. Prior to notifying the Environment Agency, you must ensure that your ESOS Assessment has been reviewed by a Board-level Director and approved by a Lead Assessor.

Am I in scope of ESOS?

You are likely to be in scope of ESOS if, on the qualification date (31 December 2014 for the first phase of ESOS), you are:

1. An undertaking which has 250 or more employees.

2. An undertaking which has fewer than 250 employees, but has an annual turnover exceeding €50m and a balance sheet exceeding €43m.

3. Part of a corporate group which includes an undertaking which meets criteria (1) or (2) above.

Organisations that are required to comply with the Public Contracts Regulations 2006 or the Public Contracts Regulations (Scotland) 2012 are exempt from the scheme.

Table 1: ESOS phase timings

Go here to download:

ESOS Environmental Management – Guidance from HM Government

Guide to ESOS