06 · Standards & compliance

ISO-50002 conformance: what's required

Last updated 2026-04-21

Draft published

First-pass content live. Engineering review and Opnor-team validation in progress — see the "author backlog" callouts at the bottom.

ISO-50002 is the energy-audit standard most industrial buyers (and Hydro-Québec program reviewers) reference when they say "we need a real audit, not a walkthrough." It defines what a credible audit produces, the depth tiers, and the documentation you have to hand over. Opnor's 2-week deep-dive is ISO-50002-Level-2 conformant.

What ISO-50002 actually requires

ISO-50002:2014 (Energy audits — Requirements with guidance for use) defines a process. Not a deliverable format, not a software tool — a process. It prescribes how the auditor must:

Plan the audit (objectives, scope, boundaries, depth)
Collect data (consumption history, asset inventory, operational profiles)
Conduct the field walk-through with documented sampling
Analyze the data to produce energy-performance baselines
Identify and rank energy-saving opportunities (ECMs)
Report findings with sufficient evidence for replication and review

The standard is technology-neutral. It doesn't say "use software X." It says the auditor must produce evidence, traceability, and engineering review at every step. Opnor's Audit Engine produces exactly the evidence ISO-50002 asks for — that's why our deliverable is conformant out of the box.

The three depth tiers

ISO-50002 defines three audit levels. Hydro-Québec's Solutions efficaces (SEA) program requires Level 2 minimum.

Level 1 — Walk-through

High-level visual survey, narrative report, ballpark ECM list. Useful for screening, insufficient for funding applications. Opnor's free diagnostic + EMD sit in this band.

Level 2 — Detailed

Engineering-grade audit with measured baseline, asset-level energy model, ECMs sized + costed, payback calculations. SEA-eligible. Opnor's 2-week deep-dive lives here.

Level 3 — Investment-grade

Same scope as Level 2 plus extended monitoring, statistical analysis, and detailed M&V plans for each ECM. Required for ÉcoPerformance projects with capex above ~$500K.

The 2-week-audit confusion

Some buyers assume "2 weeks" means we're doing a Level-1 walk-through faster. It doesn't. The 2 weeks is elapsed time on a Level-2 deep-dive — the audit-engine compresses analysis work, not engineering depth. Same scope, same sign-off, faster delivery.

Scope-of-work content (what the SOW must specify)

Before kickoff, ISO-50002 requires a written scope agreement covering:

Audit objectives — savings target, decarbonization goals, capital-allocation use case
Boundaries — physical (plant fence, specific buildings) and operational (production lines included/excluded)
Depth (Level 1, 2, or 3)
Energy carriers covered (electricity, gas, steam, fuel, biomass)
Time period analyzed (typically 12 months)
Auditor competence and independence statement

Opnor's standard SOW template covers all of these — and the boundaries + depth + energy-carriers fields drive the Audit Engine's configuration before kickoff.

Required deliverables

ISO-50002 prescribes the audit report contains:

Executive summary with prioritized opportunity list
Description of the energy-using systems audited
Baseline energy consumption with carrier breakdown
Energy-performance indicators (kWh/tonne, GJ/tonne, intensity ratios)
Identified energy-saving opportunities with: estimated savings, capital cost (AACE-class), simple payback, qualitative risk assessment
Recommendations for implementation sequencing
Methodology and data-quality discussion (the confidence-scoring model in our case)
Auditor sign-off (P.Eng. for Quebec projects)

What ISO-50002 isn't

ISO-50002 is an audit standard, not an energy-management standard. That's ISO-50001 (the management-system standard, which a plant implements organizationally). Plants often confuse them — typical question is "do we need ISO-50001 to qualify for SEA?" The answer is no: SEA funds the ISO-50002 audit; ISO-50001 is a separate certification path on the operational side.

Similarly, ISO-50002 doesn't prescribe M&V protocols for measuring savings after the fact. That's IPMVP (which Opnor EMIS conforms to). The two work together: ISO-50002 produces the engineered savings estimate, IPMVP is how you verify it post-implementation.