Energy Academy
Level 1: Foundations/Introduction to Energy Management
Level 19 lessons · 68 min

Introduction to Energy Management

What energy is, how it's measured, why we manage it, and how to turn a saving into a decision. The foundation course for the whole platform.

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01Energy Fundamentals

  1. 01What Is Energy?Forms of energy, energy quality, and the two laws of thermodynamics that govern every system you'll ever manage.8 min
  2. 02Units, Scales & ConversionsJoules, watts, kWh, therms and tonnes of CO2 — the units you'll meet every day and how to move between them.10 min
  3. 03Energy vs. Power: kW and kWhThe single distinction that trips up newcomers — and why your energy bill has two very different kinds of charge.8 min
  4. 04Energy Fundamentals CheckQuiz: consolidate energy forms, units, the laws of thermodynamics, and energy vs power.5 min

02The Practice of Energy Management

  1. 01Why Manage Energy?The business, environmental, and reliability case — and why energy is one of the most controllable costs an organisation has.7 min
  2. 02The Energy Management CyclePlan-Do-Check-Act: the continual-improvement loop at the heart of ISO 50001 and every effective energy programme.9 min
  3. 03Energy Management Practice CheckQuiz: why organisations manage energy, the PDCA cycle, and when and how to apply it.5 min

03Making the Case for Savings

  1. 01The Economics: Simple PaybackTurn an energy saving into a financial decision with the most-used metric in the industry — and learn where it misleads.10 min
  2. 02Course CheckA short quiz to consolidate everything from the foundation course.6 min

Frequently asked questions

What is energy management?
Energy management is the systematic practice of measuring, controlling and reducing an organisation's energy consumption, so it gets the same output for less cost and carbon. In practice it combines metering and data analysis, operational improvements such as controls and scheduling, capital projects such as insulation or plant upgrades, and compliance with UK schemes like ESOS and SECR.
What does an energy manager do?
An energy manager monitors consumption against baselines, finds and quantifies savings opportunities, builds business cases for efficiency projects, manages compliance deadlines, and reports performance to management. The day-to-day toolkit is data: half-hourly meter readings, degree-day normalisation and exception reporting, backed by site knowledge of boilers, HVAC, motors, compressed air and lighting.
What is the energy management cycle?
The energy management cycle is Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA), the continual-improvement loop at the heart of ISO 50001. Plan a baseline, policy and targets; Do the improvements; Check results against the baseline through monitoring and verification; Act by standardising what worked and feeding lessons into the next cycle.
Is this energy management course free?
Yes. Level 1, including this introduction, is completely free and open with no signup. A free account unlocks the deeper Level 2 and 3 courses and every sector course, including the interactive capstones.
Do I need an engineering background to start?
No. Level 1 assumes no prior knowledge: it starts with what a kilowatt-hour is and builds from there. The technical Level 2 courses go deeper into individual systems, but every concept is introduced from first principles with worked UK examples.