This is the first edition of CSA SPE-501, Ideal state benchmarking and application of benchmark energy factor for industrial systems and processes.

The CSA Technical Committee on Energy Efficiency of Industrial Equipment, as part of its strategic planning, has endorsed the development of user-oriented standards. Historically, the Technical Committee has developed energy efficiency standards for industrial equipment, where the equipment?s efficiency is determined in a certified laboratory. Future opportunities for industrial energy savings are expected to come from measurement of energy performance of an industrial system at the facilities location using benchmarking methodologies. Once benchmarking has been accepted as an accurate, reliable, and comparable method of estimating energy savings, energy management initiatives can be implemented to monitor the energy performance thereof.

This Publication summarizes a novel approach to ideal state benchmarking of industrial systems and processes. Dedicated papers have been published by BC Hydro at various international conferences and in journals: the American Council for Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), and the Journal of Energy in South Africa (JESA). This Publication provides the basics necessary to benchmark the energy efficiency performance of industrial systems and processes by using a dimensionless indicator called the benchmark energy factor (BEF).