Norman Disney & Young achieves ‘excellent’ NABERSNZ rating

Norman Disney & Young achieves ‘excellent’ NABERSNZ rating

Small changes and a commitment to energy efficiency has enabled Norman Disney & Young (NDY) achieve a 4 Star ‘excellent’ rating for energy use in its downtown Auckland tenancy.

The professional services engineering consultancy has an Auckland-based team of around 50, working from the AMP Centre at 29 Customs Street West.

Owned and managed by Precinct Properties, the 21-storey building was built in the 1980s. NDY’s tenancy consists of 833 square metres on the fifth floor. The NABERSNZ rating shows the tenancy uses 64 kWh of electricity per square metre, per year – denoting ‘excellent’ energy efficiency compared to similar New Zealand office tenancies.

As part of a project examining its wider environmental management, NDY scrutinised its energy use. Desktop computers were replaced with more energy efficient laptops, and occupancy sensors were installed to control lighting across a third of the office.

Because of their sustainability-related work, staff were aware of the impact of small actions such as turning computers and lights off at night, which also contributed to a positive difference.

Tony Arnel, NDY’s Global Director of Sustainability, said the Auckland office’s 4 Star NABERSNZ rating exemplifies the organisation’s commitment to sustainability.

“Sustainability is at the heart of everything we do and our workplaces need to show that. In New Zealand, commercial buildings use one-fifth of the nation’s electricity, so it is crucial that we are able to measure our performance and track improvement. NABERSNZ allows us to do that. It also helps us to benchmark against others and, importantly, improve our brand and reputation.”

Mike Underhill, Chief Executive of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA), said it was positive to see a company that carries out NABERSNZ assessments undertaking the process itself.

“Gaining an ‘excellent’ NABERSNZ rating is demonstrable proof for NDY that its energy efficiency focus has yielded results. A tenancy NABERSNZ rating covers aspects that directly influence comfort and productivity – and shows that what tenants do can have a real impact on energy use. It’s not just the landlord’s job to ensure services are running efficiently,” he said.

NABERSNZ is licensed to EECA and administered by the New Zealand Green Building Council (NZGBC). Chief Executive Alex Cutler said the result was great news for NDY, and showed it was ‘walking the talk’.

‘NDY positions itself as a consultancy that is skilled in sustainability and understands environmental issues and impact. By embracing transparency and reporting on its own performance, it sends a strong message to customers and the wider market that they’re taking it seriously.”

NABERSNZ is the New Zealand scheme that benchmarks office building energy efficiency on a scale from 1 to 6 stars. Ratings are based on 12 months’ energy use, and can be carried out for whole buildings, tenancies, or base buildings (covering common areas and services provided by the landlord).

The NABERSNZ rating was carried out by Anita Milne of NDY, an accredited NABERSNZ assessor.

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