Case studies

People power is Telecom’s greatest weapon in the battle for energy savings. A staff culture change and internal leadership is making the difference to their energy use. The Energy Manager works hard to get all staff on board via a number of different initiatives, including energy efficiency campaigns, the use of "Energy Rangers", energy audits and the use of different technologies to reduce energy use across this large corporate.

Soil moisture metering is a good investment for farmers who want to stop over-irrigating and cut their energy costs, according to Lincoln University Dairy Farm manager Peter Hancox.

Installing a soil moisture metering system helped him avoid unnecessarily irrigating an 80-hectare block on at least 32 days during the 2008/2009 growing season-and cut his power bill by more than $2000.

Processing the energy bills for over 100 sites across New Zealand was a monster job. The sheer flood of paperwork meant there was little opportunity to check or analyse, especially when deadlines for prompt payment discounts were looming.

So, The Warehouse implemented an energy monitoring and targeting (M&T) system.

During the design phase of Waitakere Hospital a design audit was undertaken to ensure that the new facilities were low-energy environments. Adjustments were made to the design so that the buildings made the most of natural ventilation, insulation and natural lighting levels were increased as well as the use of other energy efficient technologies.