14 January 2016

Agreement builds on greening goals

Victoria University of Wellington is continuing to ‘walk the talk’ in environmental responsibility through a collaboration agreement with the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA).

The three-year agreement aims to either save or convert to renewable at least 600,000 kilowatt-hours of energy—the equivalent of the energy used by around 50 average New Zealand homes and two percent of Victoria’s total energy use.

The collaboration includes the identification of energy saving opportunities or improvements across the University’s campuses and the drafting of a comprehensive energy management strategy, with funding for ongoing monitoring.

The first initiatives include the development of a new energy strategy, an in-house system to track energy use, fine-tuning the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning plant in six of the University’s buildings and a review of lighting in common areas.

Victoria’s environmental manager Andrew Wilks sees the agreement with EECA as an opportunity to expand on the University’s current energy-saving initiatives.

“The University has been involved with energy efficiency initiatives for some time, but the collaboration with EECA will help us draw on additional resources to bed down a more substantial campus-wide approach to energy saving,” says Andrew.

“We’ve reduced campus CO2 emissions by 12 percent since 2007 through targeting areas such as transportation and energy use in buildings. This strategic partnership with EECA will help us to build on that success and further reduce our environmental impact.”

EECA Account Manager Mike Frew, says the agreement builds on extensive energy-savings already achieved by the University.

“This is a new partnership and it’s been ideal to kick it off by supporting a renewal of the University’s energy strategy,” says Mike. “We’re also keen to help ensure that energy use trends are more visible for more of the campus—so the University can target the most cost effective improvement opportunities.”

The new agreement follows Victoria’s recent success at the Australasian Green Gown Sustainability Awards, where it won the carbon reduction and leadership categories.

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