**1. Introduction**

Historically, economic growth proved to be linked to levels of energy consumption. Tugcu, Ozturk, and Aslan argued that this is the case for both renewable and non-renewable energy consumption [1]. At the same time, rising energy consumption results in excessive carbon dioxide (CO2) emission as the most prevalent long-lasting greenhouse gas [2] and the most important greenhouse gas with regards to human activity. In effect, climate change may be positioned among crucial challenges of modern times. Energy efficiency (EE) is highlighted as the largest emissions growth restraint [3] and one of the widely acknowledged measures to meet the goal of keeping the increase in average global temperature well below 2 ◦C above pre-industrial levels according to the Paris Agreement [4]. Thus, societies put considerable hopes on it to mitigate the negative environmental impact and achieve sustainable economic development in the long run [5].

EE may be considered a distinctive feature of the products concerned [6], as well as a habitat preservation method that does not incur excessive costs, and at the same time, it provides companies with the opportunities for positive publicity [2]. The decision to take action to improve EE might be internal and resulting from purely economic reasons. That said, the pressure to shift towards more energy-efficient products, services, solutions, and behavioral patterns in terms of energy savings achieved is also likely to be enacted by governing bodies and institutions through energy efficiency policies (EEPs) [7]. Meeting the objectives of an EEP has a direct impact on the activity of companies operating within particular industries. All the actions taken by managers and employees of a given company to implement the rules and measures enforced by an EEP requires a properly developed

business model [8]. On top of that, the results of these actions need to be monitored in order to verify whether the intended effects are achieved or not, and corrective actions are undertaken when necessary [9]. By tailoring business models, adapting business processes, rehauling, and deploying new IT solutions that support day-to-day EE-oriented management practices, the companies effectively establish energy efficiency management (EEM). The motivation behind this research was to extend the EE body of knowledge by understanding how consideration of EEPs and management practices necessary to implement them affects business models of real-world organizations.

Involving companies in EE programs is likely to exert influence on most components of their business models, regardless of the transformation strategies in place [10]. As implementing EEPs may come with substantial risks regarding the cash flow and bottom line of a company [11], such transition requires a good understanding of the constraints in place and demands on specific companies, as well as the core processes. Having a model of EEM tailored to the organization requires designing and implementing a process that features exploratory work and experiments. In our experience, all stages towards EEM—from the initial idea, through to evaluation, ensuring cost-effectiveness, actual financing, and implementation—should be considered. Therefore, the goal of this paper is to design and formalize the reference process of a pilot EEM implementation that involves external business partners in a multi-facility organization. The empirical study is fueled by three research questions:


After the introduction, related research is discussed and the method is presented in Sections 2 and 3, respectively. Subsequently, the artifact as understood within the design science research is introduced, particularized, introduced to a real-life business organization, and validated. Section 5 discusses some best practices regarding post-pilot EE-focused activities between parties involved in setting up EEM based on the feedback collected during the study. Section 6 introduces the implications and limitations of the study, which are followed by conclusions.

## **2. Research Background**
