Qualifying for Superior Energy Performance

Superior Energy Performance^cm is designed to encourage participation among facilities of all sizes and levels of experience in managing energy. The program offers flexibility by offering two tiers for participation. Facilities will elect to become a Partner or Certified Partner, depending on the degree of data verification desired.

All facilities will need to conform to the ISO 50001 energy management standard and additional requirements specified in the ANSI/MSE 50021 standard, available from the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).

ANSI/MSE 50021 includes normative references, including the SEP Measurement and Verification Protocol for Industry and the Industrial Facility Best Practice Scorecard, which are described in more detail below. The Superior Energy Performance Certification Protocol defines the steps required for participation from initial application through SEP certification. These documents are periodically revised. This website provides the latest versions of those documents.

Superior Energy Performance Tiers and Summary of Requirements

PARTNER	CERTIFIED PARTNER
Basic Criteria Conformance with ISO 50001 energy management standard and ANSI/MSE 50021 standard Measure and verify energy performance improvement using the appropriate sector-specific SEP Measurement and Verification Protocol	Basic Criteria Conformance with ISO 50001 energy management standard and ANSI/MSE 50021 standard Measure and verify energy performance improvement using the appropriate sector-specific SEP Measurement and Verification Protocol
Performance Levels Energy performance improvement required	Performance Levels Energy performance improvement required, minimum requirements set by program (see Performance Characteristics below) Two Pathways Available: Energy Performance or Mature Energy
Method of Verifying Result Self-declared, or internally verified	Method of Verifying Result Third party verification from an ANSI-ANAB accredited SEP Verification Body

Method of Verifying Results

All participating facilities are required to verify conformance with ISO 50001 and ANSI/MSE 50021 using the appropriate sector-specific SEP Measurement and Verification Protocol. Two methods for verifying results are available:

	Self-Declaration (Partner): Facilities will submit internal audits conducted by team members within the facility or by off-site representatives.
	ANSI-ANAB accredited certification (Certified Partner): Facilities submit required materials to a third-party ANSI-ANAB accredited SEP Verification Body of their choice. The Verification Body will conduct the SEP conformity audit and provide certification of the results.

Corporate representatives may become certified SEP Performance Verifier or SEP Lead Auditor to prepare the plant for the third-party review process. Corporate reviewers cannot serve as the third-party reviewer for their own organization, but may prepare the documentation and interface with the third-party SEP Performance Verifier and/or SEP Lead Auditor to reduce review costs.

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SEP Certified Partners: Two Pathways for Industrial Facilities to Achieve Performance Levels

To encourage industrial facilities to achieve greater energy performance improvements, Superior Energy Performance offers silver, gold, and platinum designations to Certified Partner applicants based on the level of energy performance improvement attained.

Superior Energy Performance for industry provides two pathways for achieving Certified Partner designation: the “Energy Performance Pathway” and the “Mature Energy Pathway.” Most facilities will qualify through the Energy Performance Pathway, which requires facilities to achieve a certain percentage of improvement in energy performance. However, continued achievement of aggressive energy performance improvements will prove to be more challenging for industrial facilities that have a long track record of sustained energy performance improvement. The Mature Energy Pathway is designed for Certified Partner applicants with mature energy management systems and requires the use of the SEP Industrial Facility Best Practice Scorecard to meet SEP program performance levels.

The SEP Industrial Facility Best Practice Scorecard assesses the maturity of a facility’s energy management system and offers credits for energy management system activities, processes, or procedures that are “above and beyond” ISO 50001 requirements.  The scorecard’s guidance provides details about the credits and approaches that can be implemented to achieve them.

Energy Performance Pathway Performance Levels: All facilities must meet a minimum energy performance improvement over the 3 years after the baseline period*.   Silver: 5%   Gold: 10%   Platinum:     15%

Mature Energy Pathway Prerequisite: All facilities must first meet a 15% energy performance improvement over the 10 years after the baseline period*. Performance Levels: Facilities will apply the SEP Industrial Facility Best Practice Scorecard to receive a score that includes credits for energy management best practices and energy performance beyond the 15% reduction. SEP Industrial Facility Best Practice Scorecard Point Requirements   Silver Gold Platinum Total Scorecard Points (minimum) 35 61 81 Minimum Energy Management Best Practices Points 30 40 40 Minimum Energy Performance Points 0 10 20

* Facilities may use a shorter time period than 3 years for the Energy Performance Pathway or 10 years for the Mature Energy Pathway (after the baseline period) if specified criteria are met. See the SEP Certification Protocol for details.

Renewal of Participation

Triennial recertification for both Partners and Certified Partners will be required to maintain SEP status.

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