Due to several reasons, the importance of energy efficiency as objective for industrial companies has been rising for several years. So far, the existing methods to analyze energy efficiency and optimize processes and systems need detailed quantitative insights of a process as input information. Therefore, the applicability of these methods during factory planning processes is limited due to the high effort to acquire the necessary data.
A new methodical approach was developed to identify energy efficiency measures in factory planning processes. The goal is to provide a manageable and transparent approach to effectively identify proper energy efficiency measures with low effort for data acquisition. The approach thus specifically addresses small- and medium-sized companies, which currently struggle to implement energy efficiency holistically because of deficits in know-how and lacking time. The systematic identification of energy efficiency measures is based on the qualitative description of a factory planning task. Based on that, proper energy efficiency measures are identified and additional content regarding the implementation of these measures is provided.
In the paper, the overall methodical approach is described based on the components of a qualitative model. A use case demonstrates functionality and applicability.