Case studies

Waste was one of the first considerations for Southern Pine Products when it started manufacturing MDF (medium density fibreboard) products.

The company opted to install a briquette press, which turns MDF dust into combustible briquettes for boiler fuel.

Moffatts Flower Company, a greenhouse complex only 5 km from Southern Pine, now buys all the briquettes the company produces.

The saving in Southern Pine's waste disposal costs is projected to be $180,000 a year and annual revenue from briquettes is projected to be around $25,000.

Pacific Wood Products (PWP) installed Ecogate control systems on their extraction fans. Through the use of air flow control gates and a variable speed drive connected to each fan that adjusts to meet the actual workload, PWP reduced their energy use substantially.

Energy savings were immediate from week one. The system will be paid for in be just over 4 years, and long-term they benefit from lower energy bills. Equally important, PWP will cut its annual CO2 emissions by 45 tonnes.

Dairy farmers and technical experts share their experiences across four demonstration projects using a variety of solar water heating and waste heat recovery systems to reduce energy costs in the dairy shed.

At Kopua Holiday Park in Raglan they can't always guarantee that the surf is up, but they can offer the sun on tap. That's because they've installed a large scale solar water heating system on their main kitchen and ablution block that delivers plenty of hot water when it's needed.