Lion's The Pride Brewery in East Tamaki. Photo: James Russell
Business uses half the energy used in New Zealand, spending more than $8 billion. The top 200 companies account for 70 per cent of that.
That's why the Electricity Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) gets excited when a large company like Lion gets serious about becoming more efficient with its
power use.
EECA project manager Kirk Archibald, who was one of the judges who gave the energy efficiency prize at the recent NZI National Sustainable Business Network Awards to Lion's The Pride brewery in East Tamaki, says the work being done there points the way for others.
"The big thing for us is Lion sets clear targets to reduce energy use. It measures itself against an international benchmark. It set up a management structure that enables energy efficiency. People are responsible for it and thinking about it," Archibald says.
"The company also reports on sustainability as a group to GRI guidelines, the Global Reporting Initiative, so there is transparency and external audit so you can be sure what it is saying is not greenwash."
The package of projects that caught the judges' eyes included installation of LED lighting for an annual saving of $165,000, and a new pasteuriser cooling tower that knocked $250,000 off the brewery's power bill as well as reducing the amount of water going down the drain.
There were smaller savings in the $10,000 to $25,000 range from reducing compressed air leaks, insulating steam lines, and upgrading a steam accumulator.
"People would be surprised how much low-hanging fruit there is out there for energy savings, particularly with lagging pipes, which there is an alignment with health and safety, so there can be benefits that are even greater than energy saving," Archibald says.
"We see energy management as similar to quality management or environmental management. You have got to have a system and you have got to have management commitment and policy around it and staff responsible for it, and it's only when you start putting all that in place as Lion is doing that you get action from it.
"You may have a lot of energy efficiency projects with a good return on investment, but until you empower your staff to put the business case for them it is difficult to get any action.
James Perrin, The Pride's site environmental champion, says the projects come out of a Lion's annual target-setting process, which includes sustainability. All capital projects including energy, water and waste-reduction projects must meet Lion's requirement for a three-year payback.
He says the creation of an environment team which looks on different ways to mitigate the plant's impact has created a culture change at the site, meaning that floor staff are more likely to report hazards and suggest improvements.
Archibald says EECA is encouraging businesses to adopt the ISO 50001 energy management standard.
"A key part of that is getting staff engaged, because most energy savings from energy efficiency come from operational changes rather than putting in new technology. You can have the most efficient lighting, but if it's on when it's not needed, what's the point?"
Greg Visser, the general manager for EECA's business delivery arm, says even small savings in energy efficiency can make a significant impact on the bottom line for business, freeing up capital to be used elsewhere.
"Businesses that are able to think about energy management the same way as they think about health and safety or quality management are making real gains, so it is about approaching it as a systems approach and embedding it as part of your company's strategy, policies and management systems which then cascade down to not only projects but also behaviours and culture," Visser says.