BCAS 2018

www.bcas.org.uk 13 BCAS Executive Director’s Report accordance with the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS), as mandated by the adoption of the EU Energy Efficiency Directive by the UK government. The .GOV web site details the new requirements: “ESOS is a mandatory energy assessment scheme for organisations in the UK that meet the qualification criteria. The Environment Agency is the UK scheme administrator. “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. The deadline for the first compliance period, 5 December 2015, has now passed.” A part of the ESOS assessment includes compressed air systems, for which there was no accepted industry process for carrying out such an audit. Recognising this BCAS, working with industry, developed a new standard - ISO 11011. ISO 11011:2013 sets the requirements for conducting and reporting the results of a compressed air system assessment and considers the entire system, from energy inputs to the work performed as the result of these inputs. It considers compressed air systems as three functional subsystems: supply which includes the conversion of primary energy resource to compressed air energy; transmission which includes movement of compressed air energy from where it is generated to where it is used; demand which includes the total of all So why is the BCAS Air trend showing an increase? compressed air consumers, including productive end-use applications and various forms of compressed air waste. ISO 11011:2013 sets out the requirements for analysing the data from the assessment, reporting and documentation of assessment findings, and identification of an estimate of energy saving resulting from the assessment process; it also identifies the roles and responsibilities of those involved in the assessment activity. In the light of this new legislation we now have a tool, designed by experts, to help the end user assess their entire system and to potentially save both energy and money and to be of great benefit to the environment. New compressed air systems are can be much more efficient – speak to your compressed air supplier about the payback in energy saving and how it can offset the capital cost in a period far shorter than you may imagine. In addition to ESOS, we are also heavily involved in the energy efficiency directive – a piece of legislation that will affect us all in the future, particularly with regard to new compressors placed on the market in the EU. You can now see The British Compressed Air Society engaged on a much broader level with the end-user, we have facilitated surveys and to ensure we listen and really understand what is required from us in this period of change the latest copy is now available for you to review - see the end users feed back on what is needed. An early example of the way we have been able to help the end user is as an independent body, able to offer free and impartial advice. We recently hosted a major global organisation in our offices in London. They were caught between two pieces of advice, the first from the company that performed their inspections under PSSR and the second from a company with the responsibility for carrying out routine service and maintenance. The query started with a call to our technical officer about the methodology applied by the inspecting company to test safety relief valves on air receivers. Our response, after being challenged significantly by the inspecting organisation, was that the system being used was asking to “testing a box of hand grenades by pulling the pins to confirm which ones were still live.” Clearly this was a case for the provision of suitable and impartial advice and after a meeting lasting a couple of hours, during which the PSSR regulations and acceptable industry practices were discussed in detail, they were able to formulate a suitable response to ensure that the potentially dangerous practices identified were curtailed. Unfortunately, this is a scenario we come across all too often. The purpose of highlighting this particular example is to demonstrate that we can work with industry to ensure safe practice is carried out at all times, and that by continuing to do so can ensure that the ignorance still evident in some areas of the sector is eradicated. In summary, our future is in broader engagement and we look forward to your questions and hopefully, future membership. As an end-user supplied by a BCAS member you are entitled to free membership of the society without charge. In joining you will gain access to a broad range of services and support, ensuring that you remain fully up to date with the latest developments, legislation and best practices relating to the world of compressed air. We look forward to welcoming you in the future; remember BCAS can help you to Be Compliant and Safe.