EECA Awards 2014: AUT cuts fuel, energy, waste

2014 EECA Awards finalist AUT has cut energy by three per cent and waste by 20 per cent. Photo / Simon Devitt

The EECA Business Awards celebrates organisations and community groups making efficiency and environmental concerns part of what they do. Tonight is this year’s award ceremony - and AUT's savings put it among finalists.

The Auckland University of Technology (AUT) is spread across four campuses in the Auckland region. Its approach to sustainability is three-pronged, focusing on transport, energy consumption and waste.

Since 2007, AUT has undertaken a number of sustainable transport activities. Examples include the installation of 63 bicycles and 80 motorcycle parking spaces, and implementing pay and display at both the North Shore and Manukau campuses to discourage car travel.

In its attempts to become more energy efficient, AUT successfully used EECA grants to implement a range of energy-related initiatives. Examples include the replacement of 500 halogen lamps with LEDs, UVC treatment lamps for improving efficiency of air conditioning, and an upgrade of AUT's check metering system.

Efforts to reduce waste include large scale recycling projects, and the implementation of recommendations from an external waste audit.

The success is already evident. Recent surveys have shown a number of improvements across all three focus areas. There was a 17 per cent increase in students using public transport to access the North Shore campus between 2008 and 2010, and the number of staff driving to work alone at the city campus decreased by 20 per cent between 2006 and 2012.

Energy consumption per equivalent full time student dropped by three per cent between 2008 and 2012. The amount of waste produced has reduced by 20 per cent, while recycling increased by 40 per cent.

For the full list of finalists at tonight's EECA Awards, visit eecabusiness.govt.nz/awards-2014/finalists.