FOREWORD

With the rising costs of energy and concerns about global warming, it is imperative that countries adopt the most efficient energy conservation measures and technologies. Energy conservation must evolve as a way of life in developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region given the limited availability of resources. If we are to share commercial energy equitably across all sections of society, it is necessary to conserve energy and use it efficiently. Industries can become globally competitive when their products are energy efficient and their production processes consume the least amount of energy.

For this purpose, energy audits and conservation studies must be conducted at regular intervals in all industries. One of the main bottlenecks in conducting these studies is the lack of technical information on various types of equipment and how energy performance should be measured.

The Working Manual on Energy Auditing is an outcome of the workshop on Energy Efficiency and Green Productivity organized by the Asian Productivity Organization (APO) and National Productivity Council (NPC) in New Delhi, India, and subsequent Web-based project on Energy Management organized by APO and conducted by the author in 2007, during which the practical difficulties in conducting energy audits were discussed. The manual explains briefly the necessity for energy audits, their step-by-step methodology, and the instrumentation required for undertaking detailed energy audits in industries. It also contains worksheets for performance assessment of various types of equipment generally found in industries. The publication is intended to be a one-stop guide for managers interested in conducting energy audits.

This manual is the result of efforts by the Energy Management Group of the National Productivity Council (NPC), India. The inputs were drawn from interaction with the participants during the above workshops, energy audit studies conducted by the NPC over the past four decades and extensive literature survey. Their liberal use in the manual helped to make it more practice oriented.

The Working Manual on Energy Auditing was developed by the APO to promote the concept and fundamentals of energy conservation so that industries in the region can become more competitive and improve their bottom lines. I hope that it will find wide acceptance among industry professionals in the Asia-Pacific.

Shigeo Takenaka, Secretary-General
Tokyo, July 2008