Energy Management in German Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises
Anna O’Faoláin de Bhróithe, Frank Fuchs-Kittowski, Jörn Freiheit, Thomas Dinkel, Stefan Voigt

Abstract
The aim of this work is to assess the current status of energy management in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in order to better understand the motivating factors and the main obstacles. An empirical study of SMEs in Germany was performed by sending a short online survey to 7745 German companies and quantitatively analyzing the results. In order to better highlight the benefits of energy and environmental management systems, a model of environmental and energy management has been developed which clearly illustrates the potential returns for the company as a function of effort and outlay. An analysis of the distribution of survey participants within the model is presented in this paper. The majority of survey participants claim a high awareness of energy efficiency matters, so it seems there is a high chance of unlocking the large energy-saving potential offered by more energy-efficient SMEs, provided the necessary support is made available.

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