Findings of an Action Research on implementing an Integrated Energy Management in a German SME

Abstract

The responsible and sustainable use of energy in private, public and business environments is one of the major societal challenges of our time. An essential part of this challenge is to increase the energy efficiency of (high energy) companies and implementing a sustainable energy management. In this paper we demonstrate that this is a complex socio-technical problem that asks for a holistic view and the need of integrated energy management systems without neglecting the difference between the needs and roles of the various stakeholders in a company. These findings are based on an ongoing action research where we conduct interviews with 15 groups of interest in the company that is operational in the area of fastening technology and has more than 2300 employees in 30 subsidiaries.