Leading by example
Two public sector organizations are already leading by example and have taken advantage of EECA’s Grants for Public Buildings.
The Department of Corrections
The Department of Corrections took advantage of the Grants for Public Buildings scheme for both a feasibility study, and subsequently an installation, at Christchurch Men’s Prison.
Keen to reduce its use of fossil fuels for environmental and financial reasons, the department installed a hybrid system comprising 21 solar panels and a high-efficiency gas boiler to replace the diesel-operated system that previously heated the hot water used in the prison’s laundry.
“We use around 7,000 litres of water daily at Christchurch Men’s Prison laundry,” explains Cees Ebskamp, Energy Manager, Department of Corrections.
“Installing solar was a carefully planned move that should help save the department – one of New Zealand’s largest users of domestic commercial hot water – considerable money in the long term. Utilising EECA’s grants to firstly evaluate and then assist with solar installation, has given us the ability to consider it for other Corrections buildings and facilities – including off-prison sites.”
Landcare Research
By contrast, Landcare Research installed several domestic-sized solar systems into its Lincoln office and laboratory facilities, as well as introducing it to its other sites around the country.
As a Crown Research Institute focused on sustainability, it made sense for Landcare Research to minimise its own environment footprint and set an example by sourcing as much of its energy from renewable resources – including solar water heating.
“We are keen to walk the talk,” says Graeme Rogers, Senior Technician at Landcare Research overseeing the solar installation projects.
“Solar water heating is one of an array of energy efficient initiatives we have adopted. At Lincoln we started out installing a domestic-sized system and have recently increased this to cover more buildings there. It has been a gradual process as we have monitored progress and learned over time how to optimise the solar panel output because our hot water demand can be very variable.”
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