Energy management pays off for The University of Auckland - case study

The University of Auckland now uses 41% less energy per student than it did in 1981, thanks to careful energy management. The university has achieved the reduction by continually monitoring its energy use, and using the results to identify and introduce targeted energy-efficiency measures.

Those measures include large-scale projects, such as upgrading the heating system, as well as low-cost initiatives such as introducing automated computer shutdowns. They are estimated to have saved the university more than $100 million since 1981 (based on 2008 energy rates).

According to environmental coordinator Lesley Stone, careful monitoring is the key to the university's energy-efficiency success.

"Monitoring and attention to detail by measuring your energy use is absolutely essential if you're going to identify problems and put solutions in place."