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An American company that specialises in building environments will partner the Electricity Commission in a three-year programme to help New Zealand businesses reduce their electricity consumption.
The commission is funding projects to overcome market barriers to investment in electricity efficiency, in a bid to reduce the energy consumption and carbon footprint of New Zealand businesses.
Honeywell, based in New Jersey, will use the funding in energy performance contracts to guarantee customers cost savings based on calculated reductions in energy consumption.
Simon James, energy and environment leader for Honeywell South Asia Pacific, said: "Businesses are increasingly becoming aware of their social responsibility to make wise decisions when it comes to their energy use.
"They're also now realising that by reducing energy consumption, they can reap significant financial rewards through reduced operating costs."
The new initiative would provide a further incentive to building operators to upgrade their facilities with up-to-date and energy-efficient solutions, he said.
Honeywell would work with businesses to assess the extent of potential electricity savings.
To qualify for funding, projects would have to demonstrate enduring electricity savings. Initiatives could include upgrades to heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems, mechanical, lighting, electrical and building automation systems.
The programme was expected to have a positive ecological impact due to reduced carbon emissions from more than 30 projects over a three-year period until June 2010.
Electricity Commission chairman David Caygill said the programme was designed to stimulate investment in efficiency and make it part of business processes.
"Honeywell offered us an innovative scheme that guaranteed capturing some of New Zealand's efficiency potential. We're pleased that Honeywell will be part of this landmark programme as it is a significant player in energy management and works with some of the country's major electricity users."
Honeywell had led the industry in the development of sophisticated energy management systems to help businesses better understand, monitor, control and forecast their energy consumption and conserve energy, optimise building operations and leverage renewable energy.
It was a member of the Clinton Climate Initiative, established to help the world's largest cities reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.
