Bay of Plenty councils' carbon footprints among NZ's best, and worst

Tauranga City Council's main building, at the corner of Wharf St and Willow St. Photo / File

Bay of Plenty councils have been rated among the best, and some of the worst, in a New Zealand assessment of energy efficiency.

The New Zealand Green Building Council (NZGBC) ranked most of New Zealand's councils - and their buildings - in a 0 to 6 star rating system. The indicative data came from 12 months of energy information from 68 councils, and rated them and the public office space they occupied.

The assessment found the worst offenders with a rating of 0 to 2 stars were councils from Central Otago, Buller, Dunedin, South Taranaki, Gore, South Waikato and Hauraki.

Tauranga City Council was included in the councils with fewer than 3.5 stars, along with councils from Invercargill, Manawatu and Westland.

By comparison, Rotorua Lakes Council received 3 to 4 stars; Western Bay of Plenty District Council and Whakatāne District Council received 4 to 5 stars, and Bay of Plenty Regional Council received 5 to 6 stars. These councils were among 56 estimated to rate between 3.5 to 6 stars, which translated to showing good to aspirational performance.

NZGBC chief executive Andrew Eagles said while some data came from the Government-backed energy performance programme NABERSNZ, Bay of Plenty councils were not signed up to this. Their data was assessed via a Local Government Official Meetings and Information Act request.

Because it was possible some councils had not provided full or accurate information, it was important to consider the data as indicative, Eagles said.

Despite this, Eagles said he was still "shocked" at the results.

"It's alarming how inefficient council buildings are."

NABERSNZ is an independent system for rating the energy efficiency of office buildings.

Rotorua Lakes Council building. Photo / File

Eagles said he was concerned many councils did not appear to know how efficient their buildings were and potentially wasting ratepayers' money.

"They've said they are going to take action but then they are clearly not. It's pretty shocking."

In 2017, each local council signed up to a Government Leaders' Climate Change Declaration calling for an urgent response to global warming. Buildings account for 20 per cent of New Zealand's greenhouse emissions.A spokeswoman for Tauranga City Council said the council was currently spread across several CBD buildings and energy use was monitored and reported on by an inhouse energy and carbon manager.

"While the rating may be appropriate for the space assessed, it is based only on the energy usage and floor space of the area we lease in our Cameron Rd building, and does not reflect the energy efficiency of council's wider building portfolio, or the actions we are taking to reduce our consumption.

"At this time, we have limited control over interventions that could be implemented to improve the rating as we do not own the building."

The spokeswoman said energy performance would be a key focus in future office space and the council would consider the use of NABERNZ.

"Additionally, the council has a close working relationship with the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Association."

The council was preparing for an independent greenhouse gas inventory. This was expected to help in the development of future environmental actions.

The new Bay of Plenty Regional Council building in Tauranga. Photo / File

A Western Bay council spokeswoman said it agreed with the rating and may consider joining NABERSNZ.

Rotorua Lakes Council group manager of strategy and partnerships Jean-Paul Gaston said it had been monitoring its carbon footprint since 2016, following an international guide of best practice.

"Council is committed to sustainable thinking and leadership in all areas of its activity, including wastewater systems, buildings, solid waste management and sustainable transport provision.

"The council building was built in 1986 and we have been working to make it and all activities on-site as energy-efficient and sustainable as possible."

This included using geothermal heating, installing LED lighting, phasing out single-use cups, plus providing electric transport.

Gaston said the council was also committed to responding to and working to lessen the impacts of climate change in the district.

At Whakatāne District Council, strategy and community development manager Cashy Ball said the council worked hard to learn more about the building's efficiency and in 2018 completed an energy audit of all council facilities.

"The energy audit identified opportunities to reduce our energy use, and many of these are now being investigated and progressed as part of a two-year energy monitoring programme. As a result, we have a relatively good understanding of our energy use and have made this information publicly available by providing the Energy Audit Report on our website for interested residents."

While the council supported the intent of NABERSNZ, work already under way and Toitū certification meant the council was already working towards many of the NABERSNZ goals, Ball said.

Bay of Plenty Regional Council customer contact manager Rachael Burgess said the team was proud of such a high rating. The council has refurbished its Tauranga and Whakatāne buildings to include environmentally sustainable designs such as wind turbines and rainwater harvesting.

"We have also installed a comprehensive building management system to monitor and manage energy use."

Burgess said the council had a range of work to help mitigate and adapt to the climate change which included flood management projects, planning rules, engineering advice and science work.

"We're expanding on those efforts through a number of additional projects as outlined in our first Climate Change Action Plan ... to be able to lead by example and support future climate change response efforts throughout the region."

The regional council would consider joining NABERNZ and was already taking part in the Toitu Carbonreduce Programme which assesses a wider organisational carbon footprint.

The NZGBC plans to rate each council again in a year's time.