The implementation of monitoring tools and energy management systems (EnMSs) supports companies in their long-term energy efficiency strategies, and they are essential to analyse the effectiveness of energy performance improvement actions (EPIAs). The first fundamental step towards increasing energy efficiency is the development of energy audits (EAs). EAs provide comprehensive information about the energy usage in a specific facility, identifying and quantifying cost-effective EPIAs. The crucial role of these tools in clean energy transition is remarked by the European Energy Efficiency Directive (EED), which promotes the implementation of EAs and EnMS programmes. The purpose of this work is to better understand the link between EnMSs (specifically ISO 50001) and EAs in the EED Article 8 implementation in two industrial and two tertiary sectors in Italy. Moreover, the impact of company size, energy monitoring systems, and EnMSs on planned and/or implemented EPIAs is analysed. Our findings show that, albeit the complexity of the variables involved in energy efficiency gap, the “energy savings/company” and “EPIA/site” ratios are higher in enterprises with an EnMS and monitoring system. Thus, a correct energy audit must always be accompanied by a specific monitoring plan if it is to be effective and useful to the company decision maker.

The importance of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from economic, social, and environmental point of views and the crucial role of energy efficiency are widely recognized. However, the development of effective policies and their analysis are still challenging topics, for which research is relatively scarce. The main reasons for this are the high heterogeneity of SMEs, their low energy impact compared with energy-intensive enterprises, the lack of quantitative in-formation on the energy consumption of SMEs, and the low awareness of SMEs on energy topics. The structural paradigm change in the energy markets has underlined the importance of EE in SMEs. Several studies have been devoted to analyzing EE policies, using different methods and targets, not necessarily with a focus on SMEs or quantitative figures. This study presents a scoping review aimed at mapping the scientific literature on this topic, assessing its volume, nature, characteristics, type of evidence available, key concepts, and possible gaps. The existing contributions were systematized on three assessment levels regarding the EE policies for SMEs: general framework for their classification; comprehensive analysis of contributions providing qualitative information; in-depth analysis of evaluation studies including quantitative information. This study highlights the need for a good balance between economic and supportive mechanisms and the crucial role of energy audits. The analyzed contributions show that despite SMEs’ efforts to develop EE policies, there are still important barriers to be addressed. Moreover, there is an important lack of quantitative analyses, which are necessary for the development a harmonized policy evaluation approach. Based on a synthesis of the review findings, key learnings for the better design, implementation, and evaluation of EE policies for SMEs are provided.