by chris | Aug 5, 2021 | Carbon Sustainability, Case Studies
Discover how Total Utilities helped New Zealand schools harness real-time energy insights to identify energy waste, explore solar power viability, and drive significant reductions in carbon emissions.
With over 1,500 Panoramic Power sensors installed across 50+ schools, we identified energy wastage and demonstrated the cost-saving potential of solar power. Schools are now making smarter, data-driven decisions to cut costs and reduce emissions.
Learn more about how energy efficiency and solar can drive sustainability in our full case study!
by chris | Aug 4, 2021 | Case Studies, Power Factor
Total Utilities has assisted many clients in making long term immediate savings by identifying power factor issues and providing turnkey services to rectify the problem.
by chris | Dec 7, 2017 | Case Studies, Energy, Panoramic Power
Pushkar Kulkarni from Total Utilities completed the site review and NABERSNZ Assessment of Watercare House. Here he provides additional commentary to the original published case study, highlighting the specific benefits of a NABERSNZ tenancy rating.
“A NABERSNZ tenancy rating is an ideal tool for tenants as it shows them how their day to day operations impact their energy performance. It can also determine how well they manage energy and identify the opportunities that may exist to improve energy performance.
In an increasingly competitive market place and businesses look for a point of difference by delivering on their corporate and social responsibility, and think about long term business sustainability, tools like NABERSNZ are a good demonstration of their willingness to “walk the talk”. It reflects where they are now with respect to others and what benefits they can get by improving their NABERSNZ rating. I definitely feel that ratings will become increasingly important in New Zealand.
Equipment directly impacting the tenancy rating of Watercare are: lighting, computers, and client specific plug load etc. They are limited to what they can do with the lighting connections and zoning due to way in which these were originally designed. This has had an impact on the rating. If a NABERSNZ rating was a factor that developers and contractors were informed of during the design/build stage, then there is good chance that the lighting connections and zoning may have been designed differently.
In my opinion the occupancy density, clever use of all areas, and using lighting controls are the main factors that have resulted in a 4-Star NABERSNZ tenancy rating for Watercare. The rating demonstrates it’s a very good start and platform for Watercare to understand where they are at compared to the wider market and examine strategies on how they can improve going forward.”
Scoring a first-rate NABERSNZ 4-star tenancy rating for energy consumption at its office demonstrates an Auckland company’s commitment to the environment.
Auckland water provider Watercare Services Limited is the anchor tenant in an eight-level office block constructed in bustling Newmarket in 2013.
73 Remuera Road is the first Green Star rated commercial property in the district and reflects the growing demand from corporate tenants for green principled, energy smart work spaces.
Watercare occupies three of five office floors in the building.
Key Facts
- 4-star ‘excellent’ NABERSNZ tenancy rating
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Energy use certified as 97.6 kWh/year/m2
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NABERSNZ to be used at other sites
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Further energy upgrades continue
Big Numbers
- 2013 – achieves a 5 Green Star Design rating
- 2015 – achieves a 5 Green Star Built rating
- 2016 – achieves a 4 star NABERSNZ tenancy rating
- Energy use certified as 97.6 kWh/year/m2
- Total energy consumption 738,454 kWh/ year
Building Profile
Location: 73 Remuera Road, Newmarket, Auckland
Owner: Viewmount Orchards Limited
Anchor Tenant: Watercare Services Limited (approximately 300 employees on site on an ordinary day)
Accolades:
- 5 Green Star Design (Achieved 2013)
- 5 Green Star Built (Achieved 2015)
- NZ Property Council Award – Commercial Office Property Best in Category Award 2015
- NZ Property Council Award – Green Building Property Merit Award 2015
The Anchor Tenant
Watercare is an Auckland Council owned organisation (CCO) providing water and wastewater services to Auckland and its environs. It is committed to the sustainable management of natural resources and energy saving operations. The Auckland Council has two additional NABERSNZ rated premises – the Manukau Civic Building (3 star whole building, 2014) and Orewa Service Centre (3.5 star whole building 2016).
watercare.co.nz
The Building/Facilities Manager
FM Concepts Limited is an Auckland-based commercial property management firm which focuses on medium to large high rise buildings and offers a full range of services including onsite operational management, property consultancy, contract management, health and safety systems and cost management. It has a strong interest in the sustainability of the built environment and energy efficiency. Two commercial buildings in its portfolio are currently undergoing NABERSNZ ratings.
fmconcepts.co.nz
Key Sustainable Features
- Located within easy walking distance of train and bus networks – encourages sustainable transport options for occupants
- High-tech building controls and management system with real time monitoring
- Energy efficient heating, ventilation and air conditioning system (HVAC).
- Double glazed façade
- LED lighting
- Well-designed waste collection and recycling area
- End of trip facilities – gym, cycle park and locker facilities
This property is a brownfield redevelopment – its construction has improved an existing dilapidated area and makes a positive contribution to a sustainable Auckland.
Why NABERSNZ?
With water being its core business Watercare has the environment and energy issues at the top of its agenda.
While its head office is housed in Green Star rated Watercare House the company’s sustainability manager Roseline Klein says the company wanted to understand its everyday energy performance across the three floors it occupies in the building.
It was the missing ingredient.
We wanted to know where we were at with our energy performance, how well we were doing and where we could improve. We’d heard about NABERSNZ so we did some research online. It’s a great tool, it provides a benchmark and it drives best practice.”
– Watercare Services Limited Sustainability Manager Roseline Klein
NABERSNZ in Action
Watercare Services Limited sustainability manager Roseline Klein says undertaking a NABERSNZ rating over its 7563 square metres of office space has proved to be “a painless process”.
The meterage required for a rating was already in place – 18 meters had been installed in the building during the construction period to aid fine-tuning of systems and utilities.
The company took advantage of the free NABERSNZ feasibility assessment which determines a building’s readiness to get started with a rating.
“It made a big difference for us and took away the humdrum business of counting 644 computers and documenting the configuration of staff plus it set a timetable, provided a checklist and saved us time,” says Roseline.
NABERSNZ assessor Pushkar Kulkarni from Total Utilities says lighting, computers and occupant specific plug load have the biggest impact on a tenancy rating.
He says clever configuration of work spaces, occupancy density and sensory lighting controls have resulted in Watercare’s superb 4 star result.
The Value of NABERSNZ
Watercare says it wants to model water and energy efficiency and its 4-star NABERSNZ tenancy rating shows its credentials.
Sustainability manager Roseline Klein says the rating has been “a great experience” and has pushed the company to look hard at its resources and ensure they are better used.
“It’s spearheaded change. For example we’re now trying to ensure our procurement process is not always about cost but energy efficiency too. We’ve recently retrofitted our gym with water efficient shower heads which use nine litres per minute compared with 12 – they offer a better shower experience and use less water and energy,” she says.
Roseline believes if a NABERSNZ rating was compulsory it would encourage energy awareness and help tackle climate change.
“For example Aucklanders are the lowest users of water because it is charged volumetrically so whether you are sustainably-minded or not your invoice reminds you not to waste, to think of water efficiency. A mandatory energy performance rating would have the same effect for landlords and tenants.”
In Australia a NABERS rating is compulsory for commercial offices over 1,000 square metres while a range of mandatory energy performance ratings exist in Europe.
NABERSNZ assessor Pushkar Kulkarni says as Kiwi businesses increasingly look to deliver on corporate and social responsibility and think about long-term business sustainability a NABERSNZ rating demonstrates a willingness to ‘walk the talk’.
“The NABERSNZ tool is set to become increasingly important in New Zealand.”
A NABERSNZ rating demonstrates a willingness to ‘walk the talk’
– NABERSNZ Assessor Pushkar Kulkarni
by DavidSpratt | Oct 31, 2017 | Case Studies, ICT
In 2013, Zespri, one of the world’s leading horticultural companies, and the recognised category leader in kiwifruit, was facing many significant challenges. The Psa virus which attacked their main gold kiwifruit crop, had the potential to devastate the company and its grower shareholders. In addition, they were facing significant capital outlays associated with their existing ICT systems and the need to upgrade their computer hardware.
Zespri had to ask questions like, “Could the new variety of crop, Sun Gold, be more robust and become another bestseller?”, or, “Would our outputs dramatically reduce?” At the same time, Zespri’s Board were concerned about identifying and mitigating the risks of a natural disaster like the tsunami in Japan or the earthquakes in Christchurch. Their data centres were located in Mount Maunganui and backup services in Tauranga. They wanted to understand the impact these types of events could have on their onsite server and storage infrastructure.
Measured Baseline Informs Strategy
Undertaking the initial analysis of Zespri’s current position, we established a baseline ICT cost. This baseline was used as a benchmark to inform financial decision-making and monitor ongoing expenditure.
With assistance from the team at Total Utilities, Zespri evaluated its ICT data centres and infrastructure services and platforms. The objective was to determine whether they could manage the range of potential outcomes that they faced. These systems would have to be flexible enough to adapt to both the best case and the worst-case scenarios.
Zespri sought Total Utilities’ independent advice to identify and assess out how they could best respond to these risks and opportunities. They ultimately saw the need to inform vital decisions around how they consumed computer services with a scalable and cost-effective model that was aligned with their overall financial and business strategy.
Undertaking the initial analysis of Zespri’s current position, we established a baseline ICT cost. This baseline was used as a benchmark to inform financial decision-making and monitor ongoing expenditure. Using this measure, we demonstrated to the CIO and CFO and subsequently their executive and board, significant savings could be made by moving to a monthly subscription model based on public cloud services.
In the future increases above the baseline, increased spending in ICT, would be indicative of Zespri’s growth. The baseline is a very useful comparative tool, both for supporting financial decisions and controlling monthly spend.
After conducting a thorough analysis of the needs and opportunities available to Zespri, we provided the quantitative data that underpinned the business case presented to their board. Total Utilities subsequently supported Zespri through our independent Request for Proposal process to choose a candidate for the migration to, supply and support of a comprehensive cloud-based infrastructure running over the Microsoft Azure Platform.
Moving ICT operations to Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing platform has many advantages including access to data from anywhere and at any time, an IT environment that is quick and easy to replicate as new offices open and new services become available, and it can effectively respond to the increased competitiveness that occurs when other global players enter the market.
In addition, moving to Azure mitigated the risk of natural disasters crippling the closely located physical data centres.
Ongoing Insights and Cloud Analytics
Our commitment to providing Zespri with a dynamic and meaningful experience meant that our relationship continued past the selection phase. With our expertise in financial analytics we continue to provide them with forever evolving insights. Steve Wichman, Zespri’s Procurement and Commercial Manager, outlines how Zespri is moving into an ICT maturity phase. With this the board is always looking for ways to optimise their systems. The regular technical and financial input from Total Utilities is very useful in this regard, Steve describes us as a sounding board and an independent voice.
Zespri utilise the Total Utilities cloud management service based on our analytics, reporting capability and the Cloudyn tool. Providing these reports and monthly insights we can help ensure that expenditure is aligned, appropriate, and adaptable to Zespri’s financial strategy. We also help them manage and mitigate the risks associated with an OPEX approach, bill shock, by providing them with real-time alerts of consumption. Steve states that these reports provide insights on how Zespri can best optimise their systems, analyse exceptions, and determine how they can improve their current and future operating state while reducing overall expenditure.
Customer-Centric and Flexible Reporting
The board is always looking for ways to optimise their systems. The regular technical and financial input from Total Utilities is very useful in this regard.
The dynamic nature of our service to Zespri means that, as well as providing clear and understandable reports, our analytics extend to creating what-if scenarios. For example, we can analyse what might happen if Zespri consolidated or expanded some of its ICT services. This approach means we can project future cost savings or increases accurately.
Total Utilities insights, financial analysis and recommendations have become more meaningful as more data is gathered and more avenues explored. We can now calculate ICT costs on a “per service” basis. This allows Zespri to identify the true cost of financial, operations, marketing or any other system that requires ICT resources. Our benchmarking and cash projection approach extends to three-yearly reviews of the business case. These reviews are vital to ensure that the case remains relevant to Zespri’s situation and consistent with the parameters set by the board. Regular reviews, along with ongoing monthly, quarterly and annual reporting, are at the heart of Zespri’s ongoing drive to extract the maximum, identified and projected value available from the Microsoft Azure platform of services.
Understanding Key Business Drivers to Leverage Competitiveness
Other ICT consulting companies might focus on the technology or hardware, we take a financial analytics approach that sees ICT as a consumable and adjustable utility. This means consumption and costs are transparent, flexible and optimised. We believe ICT should be financially appropriate for a company, aligned with their goals, and be able to adapt to real-world factors. We do all this by establishing a baseline of costs, creating a detailed business value analysis in support of a business case and then deliver regular monitoring. This approach informs understanding of the company’s consumption, costs and benefit realisation from their Azure based ICT systems. This is the multi-faceted and valuable service that we continue to provide to Zespri.
Finally, would Steve at Zespri recommend us to other companies? A resounding yes. Our strong and dependable relationship, the way we deliver on a job both in quality and in timeliness, and our independent and trusted advice, is hard to find elsewhere.
by DavidSpratt | Jul 12, 2016 | Case Studies, ICT
The year 2013 was tough for Zespri.
The PSA virus was decimating its growers’ high value, gold kiwifruit crops across New Zealand. As well, a major initiative was underway to help growers replace existing cultivars with a more disease- tolerant variety, Sun Gold.
The hope was that this cultivar’s vigorous fruiting qualities would also lead to strong production, that it would be outstandingly successful with consumers, and help sustain the growth of the industry.
The Zespri board and executive had witnessed the devastation of the Christchurch earthquakes and the Japanese tsunami, and recognised a risk to their offices in Mt Maunganui and backup IT services in Tauranga. Zespri operates a global supply chain, and losing its IT services could leave crops unpicked, left in storage or stuck on wharves anywhere in the world.
To compound the challenge, Zespri’s IT infrastructure was approaching end-of-life, and required a substantial capital investment to upgrade and enhance existing services.
In short, the kiwifruit marketing, grower-owned company faced the following risks:
Financial risk
A substantial capital investment is a challenge to any business. The competition for funds is fierce. In this case of an IT upgrade there would be a multi-year burden on the balance sheet as the items depreciated, whilst uncertainty swirled around the business’ long term viability.
Scale risk
If the crop yield grew as hoped, then there was a need to quickly scale up to markets new and existing. If the crop yield fell then the IT investment would be oversized compared to the need going forward, with the burden sitting on the balance sheet. Either way, replicating the current IT environment was not the answer.
Natural disaster risk
Christchurch’s earthquakes and Japan’s tsunami had changed the risk equation for Zespri’s business forever. Natural disasters were now a very real threat to continued IT service in a 24/7/365 global enterprise. Were data centres, even if distributed across the North Island, really a robust answer?
Global reach risk
Offices across the globe required access to IT services, many of which were operated out of Mt Maunganui. These services were delivered via complex, secure VPNs (Virtual Private Networks). Technically this approach worked, but it placed all the business’ eggs in one basket. With a real business need for application access via mobile phones, tablets and roaming devices, VPNs seemed a very complex way to access services. The question came from above:
I get easy access to Facebook and LinkedIn when I am travelling. Why not my business information?
Support risk
How does a New Zealand company deliver acceptable levels of support to cities across the world? What if the network connection goes down in Tokyo during the peak season? Who do you send? What service guarantees are there? Who gets priority in a major crisis?
The solution options
- Keep things as they are: unacceptable.
After the earthquakes and the tsunami, having two data centres within the same region was now seen as just too plain risky.
- Moving to new, geographically separate hosting facilities: marginal.
- Moving equipment and services into a hosted environment didn’t solve the problem of scaling up and down, or offer a financially sensible option. Commercially, Zespri would have to upgrade the IT equipment to have it hosted, or sign up for a fixed term to have a supplier own and operate it on their behalf.
- Shove it all up into the cloud: scary.
But that is exactly what they did.
Growth enabled
Now three years later Zespri is in growth mode. The gold crop is producing record numbers and is in demand across the planet.
The IT systems scale up and down as seasonal and market demands require, consuming services as needed and switching them off when not required.
Costs are no longer tied to capital investment. The IT financial model is consumption-based with close monitoring and management of expenses using a combination of financial analysis, real time online analytics provided by Total Utilities and constant reappraisal of the business’ requirements based on the insights delivered.
Access is via a stable and secure data network, delivered by a world class provider. The supply chain resides in multiple Microsoft Azure data centres globally, ensuring business continuity.
This managed, outsourced Azure environment delivers critical supply chain services globally. Coupled with Office 365, Skype for Business and SharePoint, Zespri is competing for market share on the world stage. It is able to scale with speed, delivering a robust and repeatable IT environment as new offices open and new services emerge and evolve, and all this at a lower cost per tray of kiwifruit than was previously thought possible.
No innovation comes without a new set of risks and challenges though. As with international roaming mobile data services, bill shock can be an issue.
In my next post, I will address managing and monitoring consumption-based IT services locally and in the public cloud.
David Spratt is director of ICT at Total Utilities. Email [email protected]
by DavidSpratt | Apr 18, 2016 | Case Studies
When you have a global supply chain delivering premium live seafood and chilled fresh fish to domestic and overseas markets, there is little room for communications, business process or system errors.
Aotearoa Fisheries Limited is the largest Maori-owned fisheries company and it’s been harvesting, processing and delivering live, chilled and frozen seafood since its establishment in 2004. It harvests, processes and delivers chilled, canned and frozen seafood and ready to eat products to over 20 countries.
For the past five years Aotearoa Fisheries has been working with utilities procurement specialists, Total Utilities, to ensure that their telecommunications/ICT, natural gas, electricity suppliers are providing high levels of service at the best price.
Independent ICT Strategic Review
When David Spratt, Director of ICT at Total Utilities, carried out a strategic review of Aotearoa Fisheries IT architecture, hardware and management in 2015, he brought 30 years of experience in senior ICT roles to the table.
Aotearoa Fisheries had recently moved to a new IT provider supplying Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), with one division retaining and maintaining its own servers. The business was interested in comparing the two approaches as well as benchmarking costs against other providers in the market.
Photo by Aotearoa Fisheries
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