ISO 9001 Standard / ISO 9001 Standards – ISO 9000 Standard / ISO 9000 Standards Certification & Implementation

International ISO standards facilitate trade, spread knowledge, and share technological advances and good management practices.Published under the designation of International Standards, ISO standards represent an international consensus on the state of the art in the technology or good practice concerned.ISO has a multi-faceted approach to meeting the needs of all stakeholders from business, industry, governmental authorities and nongovernmental organizations, as well as consumers, in the field of the environment. ISO has developed:1. Standards that help organizations to take a proactive approach to managing environmental issues: the ISO 14000 family of environmental management standards which can be implemented in any type of organization in either public or private sectors – from companies to administrations to public utilities.2. ISO is helping to meet the challenges of climate change with standards for greenhouse gas accounting, verification and emissions trading, and for measuring the carbon footprint of products.3. ISO develops normative documents to facilitate the fusion of business and environmental goals by encouraging the inclusion of environmental aspects in product design.4. ISO offers a wide-ranging portfolio of standards for sampling and test methods to deal with specific environmental challenges. It has developed some 570 International Standards for the monitoring of such aspects as the quality of air, water and the soil, as well as noise, radiation, and for controlling the transport of dangerous goods. They also serve in a number of countries as the technical basis for environmental regulations.Organizations around the world, as well as their stakeholders, are becoming increasingly aware of the need for environmental management, socially responsible behavior, and sustainable growth and development.Accordingly, as the proactive management of environmental aspects converges with enterprise risk management, corporate governance, and sound operational and financial practices and performance, International Standards are becoming increasingly important for organizations to work towards common and comparable environmental management practices to support the sustainability of their organizations, products, and services.Furthermore, governments and regulatory bodies are increasingly looking to ISO standards to provide a framework to ensure alignment and consistency both nationally and internationally.ISO International Standards and related normative documents provide consumers, regulators and organizations in both public and private sectors with environmental tools with the following characteristics:- Technically credible as ISO standards represent the sum of knowledge of a broad pool of international expertise and stakeholders- Fulfill stakeholder needs as the ISO standards development process is based on international input and consensus- Facilitate the development of uniform requirements as the ISO standards development process is built on participation by its national member institutes from all regions of the world- Promote efficiencies when the same standards are implemented across markets, sectors, and/or jurisdictions- Support regulatory compliance when the standards are used to meet market and regulatory needs- Enhance investor confidence because the standards can be used for conformity assessment such as by audit, inspection or certification. This enhances confidence in products, services and systems that can be demonstrated to conform to ISO standards and provides practical support for regulation.ISO standards developed for Environmental Management covers the following areas:• Environmental management systems• Environmental auditing and related environmental investigations• Environmental performance evaluation• Environmental labelling• Life cycle assessment• Environmental communication• Environmental aspects of product design and development• Environmental aspects in product standards• Terms and definitions• Greenhouse gas management and related activities• Measuring the carbon footprint of products.The ISO 14000 family of standards reflects international consensus on good environmental and business practice that can be applied by organizations all over the world in their specific context. The ISO family of standards includes:- ISO 14001 is the world’s most recognized framework for environmental management systems (EMS) -that helps organizations to manage better the impact of their activities on the environment and to demonstrate sound environmental management. ISO 14001 has been adopted as a national standard by more than half of the 160 national members of ISO and its use is encouraged by governments around the world.- ISO 14004, which complements ISO 14001 by providing additional guidance and useful explanations.- Environmental audits are important tools for assessing whether an EMS is properly implemented and maintained. The auditing standard, ISO 19011, is equally useful for EMS and quality management system audits. It provides guidance on principles of auditing, managing audit programmes, the conduct of audits and on the competence of auditors.- ISO 14031 provides guidance on how an organization can evaluate its environmental performance. The standard also addresses the selection of suitable performance indicators, so that performance can be assessed against criteria set by management. This information can be used as a basis for internal and external reporting on environmental performance.- The ISO 14020 series of standards addresses a range of different approaches to environmental labels and declarations, including eco-labels (seals of approval), self-declared environmental claims, and quantified environmental information about products and services.- ISO 14001 addresses not only the environmental aspects of an organization’s processes, but also those of its products and services. Therefore ISO has developed additional tools to assist in addressing such aspects. Life-cycle assessment (LCA) is a tool for identifying and evaluating the environmental aspects of products and services from the “cradle to the grave”: from the extraction of resource inputs to the eventual disposal of the product or its waste. The ISO 14040 standards give guidelines on the principles and conduct of LCA studies that provide an organization with information on how to reduce the overall environmental impact of its products and services.- ISO 14064 part 1, 2 and 3 are international greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting and verification standards which provide a set of clear and verifiable requirements to support organizations and proponents of GHG emission reduction projects.- ISO 14065 complements ISO 14064 by specifying requirements to accredit or recognize organizational bodies that undertake GHG validation or verification using ISO 14064 or other relevant standards or specifications.- ISO 14063 addresses environmental communication guidelines and examples, helps companies to make the important link to external stakeholders.

It is not difficult to become a believer in global warming. According to the U.S. National Climatic Data Center 2001 was the second warmest year on record and it was the 23rd consecutive year of above normal temperatures. Perhaps most troubling is the fact that the rate of temperature increase is accelerating. Add to this the data just released from insurer Munich Re stating that deaths from natural disasters were more than double in 2001 versus 2000 and insured losses were up more than 50%.UNEP estimates that the extra economic costs of disasters attributable to global warming are running at more than $300 billion annually.
Some 180 countries are proceeding toward an expected ratification of the Kyoto Protocol by the end of this year. Of the six gases it will control CO2 is by far the largest contributing nearly 90% of the global warming impact. The primary source of CO2 is the burning of fossil fuels. Therefore the focus on energy will continue to increase.
Throughout the world different methods are being used to encourage reduced energy use. Japan has enacted the Energy Conservation Law in 1999 mandating huge efficiency improvements by 2004 for nearly all air conditioning products. The U.S. has revised ASHRAE Standard 90.1 for buildings to raise the minimum COP level for centrifugal chillers from the current value of 5.2 to 6.1 effective in October 2001. DOE and Green Seal have revised their recommended efficiency levels to an even higher level of 6.27.
Some countries use laws. Others use codes and standards. An increasing number of countries are using environmental costing which increases the price of energy thereby increasing the financial attractiveness of high efficiency products. European countries have been using such “carbon taxes” for more than a decade. However a rapidly growing trend in developing countries is the reduction of subsidies to energy industries “so prices more accurately reflect environmental impacts” according to OECD’s Environmental Strategy for the First Decade of the 21st Century.
China has shown leadership by reducing subsidies to the coal industry from $24.5 billion in 1990 to $10 billion in 1996 resulting in 7% emissions reduction while seeing a solid economic growth of 36%! China is now moving aggressively into environmental costing with the just announced (1/13/2002) 5-year environmental plan that commits 700 billion yuan ($84 billion) to help protect the environment. The government will provide the fist 65 billion yuan to initiate the project but will apply the “polluter pays” principle for the rest. The “environmental protection authorities will collect funds from the pollution-producing companies”. The impact on the price of energy is not known at this time. However it is clear that the addition of environmental costing will increase energy prices. According to a European Research Commission Report of July 2001 “The cost of producing electricity from coal or oil would double if costs such as damage to the environment and health were taken into account”.
The global movement to high efficiency is accelerating just like the rate of temperature increase. But this is not all that is changing. This second environmental threat of global warming is making it clear that we need to give combined consideration to ozone depletion and global warming. But more important is the need to focus on the real issue which is the total environmental impact not address each individual environmental threat in isolation. This includes the concept of environmental risk exposure, which recognizes that there are other environmental threats that are less well understood today. However, there are “no regrets” decisions we can make today (such as minimum refrigerant charge, minimum atmospheric life refrigerants, etc.) to minimize these risks.
Combined consideration would place more emphasis on reducing the use of CFCs, which are still being produced in developing countries until 2010 in accordance with the Montreal Protocol. Little attention is being given the large contribution to global warming from CFCs. Actions which cause confusion and delay the phaseout of CFCs cause increased environmental damage rather than lessening the environmental impact.
The other rapidly changing factor in the HVAC industry is the shift to becoming a hermetic industry, where refrigerant is contained throughout the life of a chiller and recycled for further use when the chiller is replaced. This simple understanding that “if it doesn’t get into the environment it does no harm” is a powerful argument, which will lead to the continued use of the most efficient refrigerants in such closed hermetic applications as chillers. In just 15 years annual refrigerants emissions from chillers have been reduced from 25% to well below 1% today. This defines a whole different world than that which existed when the Montreal Protocol was crafted some 15 years ago.
But perhaps the most important change coming to our industry is the realization that there are no new or “perfect” refrigerants waiting to be discovered. There are eight elements that can be combined for use in a vapor compression cycle. All feasible combinations of these eight have been evaluated. The reality is “what we have now is all there is”.
This recognition is why we are now seeing a shift from the search for a perfect refrigerant to a search for the right refrigerant(s) for the right application. Said another way, the highest efficiency refrigerants for the lowest emissions applications. Many in our industry call this “Responsible Use”.

Demographers now project that, in the near future, more people are going to live in cities than in rural areas, and this will be the first time in the history of the world that this has been the case. As a result, while there are many different levels of society and business where global warming needs to be dealt with, cities are going to take an ever expanding role. It’s easy for local governments to pass the buck to state, provincial, or national governments, but this isn’t a sustainable practice. If we’re going to successfully fend off the apocalyptic-scale global warming that many scientists now predict, cities are going to have to take the lead. As a start, here are some basic things that municipal governments can do.

Green roofs: If you fly over any major metropolitan area, you’ll likely see a few patches of green where there are parks or tree-lined streets, but for the most part you will see nothing but bare rooftops dominating the landscape. When you think about it, that’s a lot of space that is simply going to waste. In the city of the future, we’re going to increasingly put all this excess space to use for green purposes. There are a few things we can do up there, including:

• Having solar and wind power stations on roof tops can help make buildings and cities in general cleaner and more energy efficient.

• Rooftop gardens can help residents grow their own produce rather than having to buy from energy-inefficient sources.

• Rooftop trees and greenhouses help balance out deforestation while cleansing smog-filled urban atmospheres.

Expanded public transit: When it comes to moving people around, the private automobile is the most energy-inefficient vehicle ever created. Things like buses and trains are not without emissions, but they have a much lower pollution-per-person ratio. Many cities throughout the developed world are decades behind in this respect and need to catch up fast in order to do their part. We need more rail-based transit systems, and many cities would do well to expand their bus networks.

Pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure: In many cities, it’s a sad state of affairs for pedestrians. If you want to travel on foot, you too often have to deal with landscapes that make walking very difficult, not to mention the culture of motorists who drive fast and aggressively and are not used to sharing the road. For a more sustainable future, we need more pedestrian-friendly landscapes, and it also doesn’t hurt to encourage people to take their bicycles.

Better recycling programs: We have come a long way in the realm of recycling, but too many cities are still stuck in the 90s with their recycling technology. We now have the ability to recycle a much broader spectrum of materials, including plastic bags and soiled containers, but many cities haven’t taken the steps necessary to implement these technologies. This investment, which is relatively small in the big picture, can have hugely positive effects in the long run.

Fuel-efficient fleets: Most cities rely on large fleets of vehicles to provide their basic services. From buses, to sanitary trucks, to road maintenance equipment, all of these vehicles can be made more efficient with new technology. Of course, it costs a lot of money to replace these vehicles, but all vehicles do need to be replaced with newer models sooner or later, and cities should use these opportunities to make their investments more efficient, rather than purchasing the same old polluting vehicles.

As individuals, each of us can contribute to the solution. As a start, we can choose to drive vehicles that are more fuel-efficient. We can plant more trees. We can recycle where practicable. We can take stock of our energy consumption practices and try to reduce them by some factor.

But, what steps can your organization take to help? The answers are varied, depending upon the size of the organization and the related environmental aspects and impacts. But no matter how simple or complex the business, each can benefit from the implementation of a management system based on ISO 14001:2004. This international standard has as its focus the prevention of pollution, accomplished by a teamwork approach to identifying those aspects of the organization’s processes that have the potential for harming the environment and the development of ways to reduce or prevent this harm. In the process, many organizations have found ways to reduce costs by elimination of scrap, changes to their waste disposal processes or reduced use of natural resources. It is the application of the system approach that has proven to be successful. And, once the system is in place, it is logical and beneficial to have that system certified and registered. This provides added assurance that the management system remains effective and also provides public recognition to numerous stakeholders that your organization is committed to the prevention of pollution.

Go to http://www.iso9001store.com for more information on ISO 14001 Standards.

An environmental policy should reflect the vision, intentions, philosophy, values, and beliefs of the organization with respect to the environment. Top management should put a great deal of thought and imagination into developing and crafting the policy, since it will become the code of conduct by which the organization lives and operates. The policy should be practical and inspirational, providing a framework and a compass for business and technical decisions and actions, and at the same time motivate and encourage all personnel in the organization to achieve excellence in environmental performance.

The ISO 14001 Standard specifies several requirements for the development, content, intent, and implementation of an environmental policy:

1. Top management is responsible and accountable for defining the organization’s environmental policy. They must, as a minimum, carefully review, approve, and commit to abiding by an environmental policy that has been developed for their consideration.

2. The policy must completely cover the organization’s (i.e., facility’s) range of operations, including where appropriate, raw material acquisition, transportation, packaging, and shipping of product,as well as all on-site operations that may impact the environment.

3. The policy must contain three core commitments that are ISO 14001 absolute requirements:

(i) A commitment to continual improvement of the EMS and environmental performance.
(ii) A commitment to the prevention of pollution (i.e., this means taking all reasonable steps to eliminate, or at least minimize, pollution).
(iii) A commitment to comply with relevant environmental legislation and regulations, and with other requirements to which the organization subscribes. This means the organization commits to meet local, regional, and national legislated environmental standards.

4. The policy must give direction and a framework for progress through new environmental objectives and targets that will be set during the course of implementing and maintaining the EMS.

5. The policy must be documented, and it must be implemented through the day-to-day functioning of the EMS.

6. The policy must be maintained, meaning kept up to date and relevant to current operations and conditions.

7. The policy must be communicated to all employees. This implies active, intentional efforts by the organization, led by top management, to ensure all employees know about, understand, and apply the principles, ideas, and commitments in the policy.

8. The policy must be made available to the public, i.e., it must be accessible to all members of the public who wish to see it.

In addition to the essential requirements for an environmental policy, other considerations that may be incorporated into the policy include:

Principles of sustainable development, resource renewal, and preservation • of biological diversity

A commitment to use the most effective pollution abatement technology and • equipment, consistent with economic viability of the business (i.e., BEAT – Best Economically Achievable Technology)

Use of environmental performance indicators to quantitatively monitor • progress

Life cycle thinking – consideration of ‘cradle to grave’ impacts of a • product, which would require the organization to assess cumulative environmental impacts from all stages, from design of the product; acquisition of raw materials; processing to finished product; packaging; shipment; end-use; and ultimate re-use, recycle, or disposal.

For all components of this element of the Standard to be brought to fruition, it is essential that there is clear allocation of responsibilities for developing, approving, communicating, disseminating, implementing, maintaining, and when necessary, revising the environmental policy.

Although environmental policy is the first element of ISO 14001, it may be prudent for an organization to defer finalization of the wording of their policy until work has been done to identify the scope of environmental impacts from the operation, and other planning and preliminary preparation for the EMS has been done. This will help to ensure the policy is authentic and appropriate for the organization’s purpose.

Please visit http://www.e-wia.com for more information.

Around the world people and their governments are concerned about climate change and global warming.  During 2009 there is a series of international meetings preparing for the next climate change agreement to be hammered out in Copenhagen in 2010.   This will be a very critical meeting because the planet is fast approaching a “tipping point” when it will be too late to pull back from very serious climate change.

So what does this mean to business and particularly small business?  Small business is the backbone of economies around the world and cumulatively is responsible for an enormous amount of carbon emissions even when they are small and “just office or home based”.  In fact office based business is responsible for 30% of greenhouse gas emissions.  This is far more than transport which is the most obvious target for concern.

When a small business systematically addresses all its activities and looks at the carbon and other environmental impacts of each, the business can remove a large amount of waste and preventing waste is what also saves money.  If you can reduce your electrical waste by 20% you will reduce both your greenhouse emissions and your power bill by that same 20%.  And electrical consumption is just area that can be looked at.

If this is to work effectively the business will need to work with all employees to change the culture and raise awareness of green issues.  Commencing some green training for all personnel helps them to understand and accept the reasons for the changes and know what is expected of them.

Many people feel that they want to go beyond carbon emissions because they realise that there is more to the environment than just emissions.  In this case the business may want to take their planning a step further and implement and environmental management system.  This works even better when an effective feedback loop is included so that when mistakes of any kind are made, the business looks at the root cause or real reason that they were able to happen then remove that cause.

Many businesses take their environmental management system a step further and have it independently audited to ISO 14001 which is the international standard for environmental management. It is important to keep the system simple and low in paper because otherwise it is unlikely to work effectively in the long term.

A simple and effective environmental management system can save a small business for more than the cost of implementing and maintaining it and it also saves time and money.  Reducing your carbon footprint saves money but a full management system saves even more and achieves an internationally recognised green certification, ISO 14001.

Refer to http://www.e-wia.com for more information on ISO 14001 Standards – Environmental Management System