Clean technology for commercial buildings
GIDI: Commercial Buildings offers co-funding to help install and upgrade to cleaner, smarter, energy-efficient, and low emissions technologies.
Its focus is the replacement of fossil fuel boilers for space and water heating in commercial buildings.
Co-investment from EECA aims to help New Zealand businesses access clean and clever technology so our businesses are future fit with a reduced carbon footprint. Funding can help where businesses face a financial barrier to the upfront cost of replacing fossil fuel boilers, or there is a need to help them do this faster than is otherwise feasible.
The opportunity for commercial buildings
EECA’s Energy End Use Database shows that heating spaces is the largest use of energy in the commercial sector (excluding transport). It is also the largest use of most fossil fuels, and the sector’s largest source of carbon emissions.
Switching away from fossil fuels can have many benefits for business, beyond reducing carbon emissions.
The key co-benefits include:
- Cost savings – reduce operating costs through energy efficiency and fuel switching.
- Social license – improve your reputation with socially responsible consumers and investors.
- Brand value – tap into new markets, spark innovation and create business opportunities.
- Employee engagement – attract and retain talent.
- Avoid inflationary costs – coal and gas are being phased out. Stay ahead of regulation for climate change mitigation and avoid inflationary costs by doing inevitable capital projects earlier.
The business good of decarbonisation
Commercial Buildings Decarbonisation Pathway
About GIDI: Commercial Buildings
Co-funding will focus on the replacement of fossil fuel boilers with heat pumps. This technology is a highly efficient, proven, solution for decarbonisation and can lower running costs – even when compared to natural gas.
EECA will also consider projects which replace fossil fuel boilers with biomass or other low emission non fossil fuel technology where there are temperature or other requirements which cannot be met with heat pumps, including barriers to electrification.
GIDI: Commercial Buildings is part of the Government Investment in Decarbonising Industry (GIDI) Fund
Apply for co-funding
EECA welcomes applications from commercial building owners (and tenants with the owner's consent) for space and water heating projects with total projects costs over $300,000.
This fund will be allocated on a first-in-first-served basis and will initially be open until 30 June 2024, if not fully allocated prior.
Key criteria include
- Applications are for the replacement of fossil fuel boilers in existing buildings and specifically excludes funding for new buildings.
- Applicants will need to specify heat pumps which meet the requirements set out in the Applicant Guide.
- Applicants will need to demonstrate that they have optimised the design of the system, including the capacity of the heat pump.
Minimum co-funding conditions include
- Total project costs must be at least $300,000.
- Government co-funding will be limited to a maximum of 50% of eligible project costs.
- Applications for funding must be for the incremental capitalised project costs, not operating costs.
- Projects must be fully commissioned and operational within 2 years of application approval.
Minimum specifications
EECA’s Publicly Available Specifications (PAS), produced by Standards New Zealand, provide best-practice specifications for non-regulated products. Applications for projects involving high-temperature heat pumps or biomass boilers must check the relevant PAS to ensure their applications align with the minimum specifications.
How to apply
Read the GIDI: Commercial Buildings Applicant Guide carefully and follow the instructions. It includes information about how our decision-making process works, when you can expect to hear from us about your application, and what your funding agreement would cover.
Email us with any questions about the application, including requests for help in completing the form at GIDIfund@eeca.govt.nz
Given the pending election and position of respective parties you may be uncertain about whether this programme will be continued to be offered in its current form. Our advice is:
- Take this into account when making your decisions about investing time and resources into applying for EECA funding or responding to an EECA RFP.
- Look to publicly provided information about political parties’ positions.
- All contractual arrangements already entered into with EECA will continue on the terms agreed.
- Currently, EECA’s approval and contracting functions are operating as business as usual.
Application documents
Applications for the fund open on 1 July 2023. Please apply online at the link below.
Business Case Checklist [PDF, 327 KB]
Applicant & Supplier Briefing Webinar
Sign up to this webinar to learn how to complete the Application form and Financial Assessment Template (FAT).
Date and time: September 26 at 11am