Hawke’s Bay DHB welcomes Climate Change Minister James Shaw’s announcement that it will receive funding for an electric vehicle (EV) and to install charging infrastructure under the State Sector Decarbonisation Fund.

The news follows last month’s announcement that the DHB will invest in two new energy efficient cooling units also from the State Sector Decarbonisation Fund.

Financial Services Executive Director Carriann Hall said all three projects will help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions with an immediate reduction in carbon emissions of 6.6 tonnes for the cooling units, and a reduction of 36 tonnes over the next 10 years for the EV (around 3.6 tonnes per annum on average).

“We’re committed to driving our energy consumption and our carbon footprint down and have reduced our emissions by 24 percent since the 2017/2018 financial year. One of the key ways we are doing this is by prioritising low-emission vehicles,” says Carriann.

Eighty-six percent of the DHB’s fleet are now hybrids and the new EV will be the second in the DHB’s fleet.

“By focusing on low emissions vehicles, we have been able to decrease our fleet fuel consumption by 17 percent,” says Carriann. “And we’re working on a solution to boost our electrical capacity for EV charging so we can bring more EVs on board.”

Other sustainability areas the DHB is focused on includes:

• Energy efficiency upgrades, such as introducing more LED lighting which use up to 85 percent less electricity than traditional incandescent bulbs, last 15 times longer and saves roughly $115.04 per bulb per year.
• Waste minimisation, which includes hiring a new Waste Minimisation Officer, switching out single-use plastic dining consumables for more sustainable alternatives and implementing new recycling streams to divert waste from landfill.
• Monitoring our energy use and carbon emissions.

The DHB was announced as one of the top 10 carbon reducers of 2020 for its recent efforts, which you can read about here.

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