ISO 50 001/SANS 50 010 - overlap, overkill or overdue?

The launch of ISO 50 001^[1] in June 2011, combined with the growing international as well as local adoption of M&V (Measurement and Verification) based on the IPMVP^[3] (International Performance Measurement and Verification Protocol) raises questions regarding the respective roles of these two standards. In South Africa, the SABS (South African Bureau of Standards) recently published SANS 50 010^[2] - a National Standard for Measurement and Verification based on the IPMVP. Some of the questions being asked are "Do we need any of these? If so, why? Do we really need both? Is this not a case of too many standards - or even worse standards that are not in harmony Which one should we implement?" etc. This paper sets out to put these two standards into context given the broader challenges facing energy management and energy supply in general as well as the changing regulatory landscape and potential financial incentives as a result thereof.