Element august 2014

Monday, August 25, 2014

BUSINESS

PLANET

WELLBEING

Entrepreneurs:

heads up!

Element’s guide to building a world-changing enterprise

Solar in schools Powering young minds

Pulverising power bills New energy efficiency section

Fresh water The political football PLUS: Derek Handley / Te Radar / New Orleans / Win a cycle computer

contents The new business model

James Russell Element editor

P

retty soon you may well start hearing about the ‘Anthropocene’, because next year scientists are to due to begin deliberations on whether or not we have entered a new geological climate epoch entirely of our own making. If it is accepted, it will bring a premature end to the Holocene, which began some 12,000 years ago and should have persisted for another 20,000. It will also make the epoch the laughing stock for evermore, given that its Greek meaning translates as ‘entirely recent’.

Will Steffen, who heads Australia National University’s Climate Change Institute and earlier this month spoke at the Environmental Defence Society conference in Auckland, believes the epoch’s official kick-off should be back-dated to the beginning of the industrial revolution or, failing that, the atomic age of post World War Two. “Either way,” he says, “it will be a strong reminder to the general public that we are now having undeniable impacts on the environment.”

We may be powerless to do much about the earth’s new classification, but we can still vote for the political party who is going to do something about it.

To get a good idea of which political party is doing what, be sure to check out the (non-partisan) Great Climate Voter Debate taking place on September 3 at 6pm. It is on in Auckland, but will also be live-streamed on TV3’s website. And, if you’re of the opinion that the climate is important, vote accordingly.

Business

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Social enterprise and conscious capitalism Page 10 Solar schools ............................................................9 SBN conference .....................................................15

After the hurricane New Orleans’ recovery Page 6

Beijing calls time on coal .......................................7 NYC enshrines climate change law ......................9

The energy efficient home Kill your high power bills Page 22

Planet

6

The fresh water debate ........................................24 Te Radar ................................................................ 26

Editor: James Russell editor@elementmagazine.co.nz Co-founder and brand publisher: Gavin Healy, Viridian Media Design: Tamara Nyholt | Online: Nina Fowler Contributors: Ted Baghurst (photography), Sophie Barclay, Rosie Bosworth, Jamie Joseph, Te Radar, James Russell, Helen Twose.

Advertising enquiries: gavin.healy@apn.co.nz | 09 373 6096

The next issue of Element is out on September 29, 2014.

Wellbeing

22

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The content of Element magazine is organised around the triple bottom line philosophy – that of people, planet and prosperity.

Element is a monthly supplement published by The New Zealand Herald in association with Viridian Media.

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Depleting resources, pollution, the loss of biodiversity, climate change: You know the problems, but what are we going to do about them?

These are complex issues, made all the more challenging by a rapidly growing global population causing urbanisation pressures, which itself raises complicated problems of sustainability, community integrity, security, and equality.

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upfront

Own the road This month Garmin announced the Edge 1000®, a topof-the-line cycling computer for competing, connecting, and navigating. Edge 1000 features advanced capabilities including the ability to view start and finish point alerts, race themselves or other riders, and advanced ride planning. It also offers instant uploads to social media, live tracking, on-the-go upload and download of data from Garmin Connect™, and advanced bike-specific navigation and mapping capabilities.

The numbers

35,000

Kiwi innovators from across the country could win a share of $90,000 to develop fresh ideas that benefit conservation, in a new national awards scheme.

The numbers of people signed up to neighbourly.co.nz – a new website connecting New Zealand citizens in their neighbourhoods.

The first-ever WWF-New Zealand Conservation Innovation Awards seeks to showcase novel and effective ways to support communities to protect and restore our unique biodiversity. First prize in each of three categories – product, project and research – is a $25,000 grant, with three runner-up grants of $5000 each.

8000

“New Zealanders have a proud history as conservation pioneers, inventing ground-breaking traps and tranquiliser darts that are now used throughout the world,” said WWF-New Zealand head of conservation projects Lee Barry. “We’re searching the whole country for the next great idea. If you think your concept or design could make a real difference, we want to hear from you.”

1421

New ideas for nature

Entries are open until September 30. Find out more at wwf.org.nz/innovation

Visits to the site each day

Neighbourhoods on the site (and growing)

735 Largest neighbourhood membership – St Heliers

400 New members each day

One island, two weeks, fifty eco events An upcoming Eco Festival on Waiheke Island – called The Good Life – will feature a series of environmentally focused events being run over a two-week period from the September 26 to October 12. The Good Life will be packed full of experiences, ideas and inspiration and hosted by innovative locals, community groups, businesses, sustainability experts and creative entrepreneurs who embrace eco ideas through their life and work.

WIN

The Edge 1000 comes with preloaded maps and points of interest, including parks and trails, to help cyclists find their way. It has a recommended retail price of $799, or $899 for the bundle including HRM and new speed/cadence sensors. For more information visit garmin.co.nz

Element has an Edge 1000 unit to give away.

To enter visit magazine.co.nz

Kings Seeds certifi certified ed organic in NZ To celebrate its recent announcement as New Zealand’s largest organically certifi ed mail certified order seed company, Kings Seeds is giving away prize packs containing ten of their top selling organic heirlooms varieties including radish Easter egg, beetroot detroit dark red, rocket, onion red amposta, carrot scarlet nantes, blue shelling pea, cucumber tendergreen, lettuce green salad bowl, basil sweet Genovese and zucchini black beauty. Each pack is valued at $35 and we have 10 to give away.

Visit elementmagazine.co.nz to enter the draw.

Be part of the future Festival for the Future, the annual three-day conference celebrating youth-led Kiwi innovation and aimed at illuminating a pathway toward a sustainable future, is running for the first time in Auckland, at AUT from September 5 – 7.

Speakers include; Nikki Kaye, minister for youth development; festival founder Guy Ryan; Icehouse CEO Andy Ryan; Power by Proxi founder Fady Mishriki, coastal champion Taylor Finderup, the Be-Institute’s Minnie Baragwanath and Rock the Vote’s Laura O’Connell Rapira – among many others.

Find out more and see the full line-up at festivalforthefuture.org.nz

E-racing coming to Chch

Several

NZ’s first ever day of electric motorsport will take place at Mike Pero Motorsport Park, Rapuna, Christchurch on November 30.

Lost and found chickens thanks to Neighbourly

The event, called EVolocity, will feature various electric racing classes, including go-karts, motorbikes, drag races, an efficiency rally, a high school competition and a dragon’s den for innovators.

Included in the festival is the Eco Home & Lifestyle show and the always popular Tread Lightly Home Tours.

The event is being organised by APEV (the Association for the Promotion of Electric Vehicles) – a non-profit incorporated society focused on promoting the environmental and economic advantages of electric transport in NZ.

For further information visit ecofestwaiheke.com

Find out more at evolocity.co.nz

element

5

GLOBAL MINDSHIFT

planet New Orleans’

social revolution

From the physical and emotional wreckage of a city devasted by Hurricane Katrina, the new New Orleans has become characterised by social entrepreneurship and putting the wellbeing of its citizens at its heart.

New Orleans was inundated by flood waters as a result of Hurricane Katrina.

By Sophie Barclay in New Orleans

W

hen Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans nearly nine years ago, it prompted a social revolution. Angered by post-Katrina policies giving flooded neighbourhoods four months to demonstrate their “viability”, and the incompetence at the SuperBowl ‘shelter of last resort’ where evacuees were forced to wallow in the filth of 24,000 people when the bathrooms became overwhelmed, citizens soon realised that government assistance was neither timely nor sufficient.

Nearly two million volunteers rushed to the city to help with everything from rebuilding to providing free medical care, most sleeping in tents, and citizens began to organise amongst themselves in an unprecedented wave of grassroots engagement.

Within the Vietnamese community, those with building skills got to work, storing their equipment in their churches. The city’s Social Aid and Pleasure Clubs (SAPCs), a primarily working-class African-American tradition of groups of musicians and dancers that perform at street festivals, mobilised, locating all of their members in just a few days despite the lack of cellphone coverage.

Musicians and musical organisations throughout the world rallied together to restore the cultural heart of the city. 72 houses were built by Habitat for Humanity in Musicians’ Village and truckloads of shiny, new instruments, from piccolos to tubas, streamed into the city and were directed to the legendary Tipitina’s jazz club.

Mark Fowler, who runs the Tipitina’s Foundation music co-op, directed them to musicians who had lost everything; manuscripts, recordings, their instruments and their ability to earn a living.

Tipitina’s also became a make-shift community centre– providing information and resources for musicians and

6

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Blues guitarist John T. Lewis accepts his new Gretsch guitar from Tipitina.

locals. “We had computers and wifi that nobody had access to at that point, so we were able to help people get on line and find out where their families were,” says Fowler.

Umbrella groups like the Neighbourhood Partnership Network (NPN), founded in 2006 by community leaders, popped up, helping to facilitate cooperation, and not competition, among under-resourced neighbourhoods.

Most of these grassroots groups are still active; NPN runs monthly community forums and even publishes its own community rag, The Trumpet.

Researching the recovery of the city, Associate Professor of Sociology at Louisiana State University Frederick Weil, says that despite the city’s pre-existing inequality, people with fewer individual resources could draw on the communal resources and social capital of their neighbourhoods, and the leadership of determined locals that emerged following the disaster.

At his inauguration in 2010, Mayor Mitch Landrieu set about reversing the trend of engaging solely with the

city’s elites. He created 17 task forces charged with the rehabilitation of the city and enlisted the help of the new community leaders. He also established Louisiana’s ‘Office of Social Entrepreneurship’, dedicated to “helping replace services and organisations lost from the 2005 hurricanes with socially responsible enterprises.”

Idealistic newcomers flocked to the city in a phenomenon dubbed the ‘brain gain’. They joined locals in seeking creative solutions to the city’s problems, producing an explosion of activity.

The New Orleans Healing Centre (NOHC), a project devised by a group of citizens who wanted to participate in the rebuilding of the city, is one example. Boasting more than 25 businesses, from a yoga studio, to the Street University (a community meeting space also used to teach low-cost community courses), and an environmental business incubator, the Centre opened its doors in August 2011.

Co-founder Sallie Ann Glassman, who also runs the Island of Salvation vodou store in the NOHC, says the project would never have been feasible before Katrina.

“It was actually created as a response to Katrina. We just took a look around us and there were all these brilliant people coming from around the world to think tank about rebuilding New Orleans but nothing was happening.”

The Centre is also unique in that all businesses must be committed to the Centre’s manifesto; to contribute to healing on some level, and to prioritise the wellbeing of the community.

Glassman says that destruction caused by the hurricane and broken levees has acted as an opportunity for New Orleanians to focus on moving forward towards a better future; “We’ve worked out what our resources are and how can we capitalise on what we’ve got here, rather than focusing on what we’ve lost.”

Adapting for climate change is no longer just a recommendation in New York State – it’s about to become the law. New York lawmakers passed a measure recently requiring that communities design projects to handle the impacts of climate change such as rising sea levels, heavy flooding and more intense storm surges. The legislation – the Community Risk and Resiliency Act – affects infrastructure such as bridges and parks to wastewater systems, covering projects needing government funding or permits. – Carbon News

The levels of mercury in ocean surface water have more than tripled in some areas as a result of mining and fossil fuel combustion, according to new research. The study, drawing on observational data from Atlantic, Pacific, Southern and Arctic oceans, has important implications for understanding the accumulation of the toxic metal in fish and seafood.

Dolphins are among the marine mammals where mercury build-up occurs.

The reality of spray-on solar panels has come a step closer, thanks to a team of scientists from Sheffield University in the UK, which is using a new material to create a solar paint. The solar paint makes use of the material perovskite, or calcium titanium oxide, an inexpensive option which is showing efficiency levels of 19% – comparable to the regular silicon cells.

Beijing is to ban coal in its six main districts by the end of 2020 to solve its air pollution problem. The districts will stop using coal-fired power plants to produce power, and natural gas will replace coal for heating and other activities. Coal accounts for 22% of the typical smog in Beijing, while motor vehicles account for 31%. Plans are afoot to restrict fuel use also.

It appears the shark fin trade may finally be on the wane. Prices and sales of shark fin are falling in China by 50 – 70% according to a new report released by WildAid. The report compiles surveys from shark fin vendors and traders in Guangzhou, China (the current center of the fin trade) and surveys of price data from Indonesian fishermen. Peter Knights, executive director of WildAid, says: “The more people learn about the consequences of eating shark fin soup, the less they want to participate in the trade.”

Late last month senior politicians were presented with a petition signed by over 100,000 people demanding action to save the last 55 remaining Maui’s dolphins. “Tens of thousands of New Zealanders, and thousands more from all corners of the globe, have spoken out for the world’s smallest and rarest marine dolphin. It’s time for our leaders to listen,” said WWF – New Zealand’s executive director Chris Howe.. “We will not stay silent and watch the last 55 Maui’s slip away.”

element

7

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Pegasus Bay Primary School Pegasus Bay Primary School, which opened in May this year in Christchurch, is perhaps the most ambitious schools project, with 560m2 (or 90kW) of photo voltaic panels on its roof. The array should be enough to make the school net zero energy, meaning that it generates as much energy as it uses.

The school is connected to the grid, so power produced on school holidays actually earns the school money.

Power to the pupils Russel Norman and Gareth Hughes with pupils from Laingholm Primary School. PHOTO: James Russell

With sunshine hours coinciding with the hours that schools operate, putting PV panels on our country’s schools make a whole lot of sense.

T

he Green Party launched its ‘Solar in Schools’ policy last month at Laingholm Primary School in Auckland.

If implemented, 500 schools will have solar panels installed over three years at a cost of $20m. The Greens have calculated annual savings off those schools’ power bills of $1.64m, with a saving of $41m over the 25-year lifespan of the solar panels.

The total installed capacity will be almost seven megawatts – the size of a small power station.

“In the same way that households are paying too much for power, schools’ electricity bills are too high,” said Dr Russel Norman, Greens co-leader.

“Our Solar in Schools policy will allow them to save money on electricity – money which can be invested directly into teaching and learning instead.

“It’s effectively increasing schools’ operations budget, in a smart, green way.”

Laingholm Primary School plans to install a 10kW solar system, which will save it over $2500 a year in electricity costs.

“A saving of $2500 on electricity would enable me to double the amount of money I allocate in my budget to literacy,” Principal Martyn Weatherill said.

“I would much rather spend money on students than on power,” he said. “This policy will benefit the environment and improve student achievement.”

The electricity is used for lighting, computers and to power the efficient air-sourced heat pumps for underfloor heating. In addition five highperformance solar hot water systems provide the children and staff with hot water. The low maintenance, closed-loop, drain-back hot water systems are designed to last thirty years and serve utility/ toilet clusters and kitchens in each block.

Roger Hornblow, Pegasus Bay School Principal, says: “These children will have a new understanding of sustainability and eco-efficiency from attending Pegasus Bay. Our net zero energy school will educate our pupils and community about acting responsibly for the environment and their future.

The efficient building methods of the school complement the solar electric panels which generate about $20,000 of power a year (at 18c/kwh) and reduce carbon emissions of Pegasus School by nearly a 30 tonnes/year CO2 per year. As well as the improved indoor environment benefits from natural ventilation, underfloor heating, solar control and good natural daylight, these energy efficient features and solar electric generation should achieve an anticipated payback on the additional investment of about twelve years.

Weatherill says that solar power is ideal for schools. “The time we need most power coincides with sunlight hours, for a start. But also we have a long-term view. We know we are still going to be here in 50 years – so investments like this make an awful lot of sense.”

“Our Solar in Schools policy will allow them to save money on electricity – money which can be invested directly into teaching and learning instead.”

Element recently covered the installation of a 10kW gridtied solar array at Peria School in Northland, which will save the school $6000 a year in power bills. The greater savings from the same sized system as Laingholm School intends to install is due to higher power prices in Northland and more sunshine hours.

Solar in Schools builds on previous Green Party energy announcements including Solar Homes, which will help households install solar on their roofs through a payback system added to their rates.

Winner The winner of the Solar King solar system competition held last month was Roz Smith of Auckland. Congratulations Roz!

element

9

World-chan enterprise

BY JAMES RUSSELL

10

element

anging e Social enterprise: An organisation that applies commercial strategies to maximise improvements in human and environmental well-being, rather than maximising profits for external shareholders.

Conscious capitalism: Businesses which have a higher purpose in terms of environmental and social goals, while also maximising shareholder profit.

S

INCE MAN FIRST TRADED A FISH FOR A HANDFUL OF berries, business and commerce have existed and thrived. For a while, everything was hunky dory. For quite a while, actually.

When the industrial revolution arrived, so too did fortunes beyond which had ever been imagined. When the Second World War ended, growth of every conceivable measurable skyrocketed yet again.

What we didn’t realise was that the vast majority of businesses were making the equivalent of Dr Suess’s Thneeds, with no regard for the social or environmental effects that came from a direct result of making products or providing services. Where our raw materials came from, what they were made from or how they were obtained didn’t matter. What happened to them after our customers finished with them didn’t matter either – that was someone else’s problem.

The realisation that resources are finite, and that damage has been done, has inspired a new business philosophy – that of the ‘conscious capitalism’ model. This redefines success, broadening the parameters by which it is measured to include environmental and social goals, and enlarging the pool of benefactors to all stakeholders – as opposed to just shareholders. In effect, it’s the hybrid child of the union of traditional business, environmentalism and charity. Further, that business model has been applied with fantastic effect toward helping to solve some of society’s most pressing social concerns.

The benefits of the conscious capitalism model include growing awareness of environmental problems or social issues, the more rapid achievement of social outcomes and environmental goals, the reduced need for state or philanthropic funding (or, at least, the one-off need for it only), additional learning and innovation to solve problems, and the sustainable nature of these organisations due to their ability to create revenue or be self-sustaining.

It sounds like some utopian ideal, but a few of our most forward-thinking business people have been operating these models for years. But the time is well overdue when new organisations must aspire to do the same – for the sake of the fragility of the planet’s ecosystems and climate, the wellbeing of its inhabitants, and the scarcity of resources.

This is Element’s guide to starting a social enterprise or a conscious business, or indeed turning your existing company into one. It’s designed to guide you through startup, incubation, funding, launch and growth. We talk to industrial designers, marketers, entrepreneurs, incubators and strategists. Pull it out and refer to it often. It might just inspire you to build something you can be truly proud of.

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11

Stephanie Draper Derek Handley Forum for the The B team Future (UK)

Nick Astwick Kiwibank

Bernard Hickey Business Commentator

Mike Bennetts Z Energy

Vivien Maidaborn Loomio

Jacqueline Ireland Colmar Brunton

Global snapshot

The UK is a leader with an estimated 68,000 social enterprises contributing £24bn to the economy.

Australia's government and social finance providers recently invested $40 million AUD to stimulate the sector, estimated to include 20,000 ventures.

In the US, the sector is estimated to be 3.5 per cent of GDP, with one-third of the increase taking place since 2011. JP Morgan predicts the global social impact investment market could reach US$1 trillion by 2020.

Source: MJ Kaplan report

Establlish a purp pose In 1970 Kiwis Viv and Richard Cottrell travelled to India to work with Tibetan refugees. On their return home they brought with them some of the beautiful rugs made by the refugees, and sold them for a small profit. Seeing the opportunity to both make a living and help those in developing countries trade their way out of poverty, the Cottrells broadened the enterprise to other countries and other products, and Trade Aid was born. This small, idealistic company has grown into 28 stores, engaging thousands of New Zealanders as staff and volunteers, and hundreds of thousands of consumers who have been able to vastly improve the lives of people half way around the world.

For forty years Trade Aid has asked its customers to consider asking ‘who made this?’ and whether they were justly and fairly compensated, and what sort of impact the product has had on the world.

Welcome to conscious capitalism and social enterprise.

The Cottrells started with an idealistic purpose, and built a business model around achieving it. But the reverse can also be true. Perhaps following your business plan will leave the planet and its people worse off. Retrofitting your business to encompass a broader social return on investment (SROI) is also possible. A good example is New Zealand’s Z Energy, which is attempting to lessen its environmental impact through the development of alternative energy sources such as biofuels.

“I acknowledge climate change is real, and it is caused mostly by humans, and that the products we sell are part of the problem. We have decided that we should be part of the solution,” said CEO Mike Bennetts, speaking to Element recently.

Establishing a purpose becomes the business’s reason for being – its modus operandi – and the basis for the organisation’s vision statement.

“Once you have a compelling purpose, you run the normal business model, but ensure that you check in regularly to make sure it’s working toward achieving that purpose,” explains Qiujing Wong, co-founder and chief executive of Borderless Productions. A small company with an international client list, Borderless influences through its two complementary offerings – digital storytelling and social change actions – and last year Qiujing was awarded the Blake Leader Award by the Sir Peter Blake Trust for her contribution to social change.

Alongside her husband, co-founder and managing director Dean Easterbrook, Wong has run Borderless for eight years. Their 2007 documentary ‘A Grandmother’s Tribe’ is an example of what they do. Described as a ‘for-purpose’ documentary, A Grandmother’s Tribe is the story of some 13 million orphans in sub-Saharan Africa who are now being reared by their grandmothers. Its complementary campaign has raised funds and awareness for those grandmothers and which continues to this day by the mechanism of concerned citizens holding screenings of the film to raise funds.

Dean Easterbrook and Qiujing Wong, from Borderless Productions. Photo: Richard Crayton

Borderless Productions turns a profit, employs a handful of full time staff, and a much larger pool of freelance film production staff for its work, all the while improving the lives of the subjects of its films, campaigns and advertisements.

Says Wong: “Social change is everyone’s work so, when we tackle an issue, we don’t see ourselves as the problem solvers – we see ourselves instead as bringing together the energy that is already out there, helping to crystallise thinking, develop strategies and then create ways of working. That ensures everyone feels involved in taking action and being a part of the solution.”

Wong says social change often takes a long time – many social issues will take at least a generation to shift. “We have to be patient, and determined.

“It’s also often complex, so we are realistic that a ‘one size fits all’ solution is not going to work – instead, we find many approaches working collaboratively and cohesively is a much more powerful way to work.”

The company’s latest achievements include co-founding the Be. Accessible campaign, a nationwide accessibility campaign in New Zealand; founding the Borderless Foundation; and creating Harpooned Soul, a North American film and campaign targeting youth around the subject of drug abuse.

Another New Zealand company with strong social and environmental goals is All Good Organics. Auckland based, the company imports Fairtrade bananas from Ecuador, dried banana chunks from Samoa, and produces a range of

“Writing g a cheeque mig ghtt impa act hundreeds of peoplee's livees; moobilisiing your wh hole bu usinesss to drive chang ge can imp pact million ns of livves, an nd givve a wholee new life pu urp posee to alll the people who work in n yoourr comp pany.””

— RICHARD BRANSON

organic soft drinks. Its ‘Karma Cola’, for example, contains real cola nut from the Boma village in Sierra Leone with natural spices; vanilla bean grown by the Forest Garden Growers Association in Sri Lanka and organically grown and processed sugar cane from the Suminter Organic Farmers Consortium in Maharashtra, India.

The recipient of global sustainability awards, the organisation is typical of the business career of Chris Morrison, who started All Good with his brother Matt and friend Simon Coley. Other profitable conscious enterprises include Phoenix Organics, Clean Planet cleaning business, Kokako organics and Nice Blocks –Fairtrade, organic iceblocks. “I am only interested in investing in and supporting businesses which are based around environmental and social sustainability,” says Morrison.

“These are in line with my personal ethics and, fortunately, are on trend. There is a strong business case for these types of investments.”

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Busineess pllanning g and markett reseearch h The business planning phase of a start-up is the springboard from which a social enterprise or conscious business may or may not be accepted into an incubator programme, so it deserves a lot of thought and effort. It’s the phase where prototypes may be created to test proof of concept, legal Jacqueline Ireland, from structures and recruiting are research firm Colmar Brunton. considered, possible funding sources are researched and identified. If a number of entrepreneurs are involved in conceptualisation, it may be worth using cloud based software for business planning and decision making. The latter is well supported by New Zealand social enterprise start-up Loomio (see pg 15), which has developed software for collaborative decision making based on that which evolved from the Occupy movement. It’s a democratic and transparent system which establishes a precedent for the type of many-stakeholder decision making processes common to social enterprises.

During this phase it is worth considering and identifying potential partners in the supply chain, and gauging their interest in working with you.

When the plan is prepared, put it together professionally, both in hard copy and digital formats. It’s handy to have a 90-second video that sums up the issue, the idea and commercial solution and how it could work – the digital version of an elevator pitch.

MARKETT RESEA ARCH

Jacqueline Ireland, from research firm Colmar Brunton, began the ‘Better Business Better World’ report – the largest and most definitive longitudinal study conducted into sustainable consumer attitudes and behaviour – in 2009.

1000 people were interviewed last year, with a topline observation that ‘conscience consumers’ is a rapidly expanding group, particularly in the younger generations of consumers. Indeed, within the next four years Gen Y will represent 24% of the population.

High on the list of concerns of New Zealanders were conservation, unsustainable use of resources, and inequality.

Almost two in three people are “willing to pay a bit more” for products which are sustainably and ethically produced. It also appears that people want more information about products so they can make more responsible purchasing decisions – in the case of Gen Y 94% of respondents want that information. However it’s clear that education is lacking, with two in three unable to say which of New Zealand’s brands are the greenest.

When it comes to buying food, 81% of respondents said they wanted locally produced food, with 75% saying they wanted 100% natural ingredients. 50% of respondents want food that is palm oil-free. Organic and Fairtrade products have seen a huge increase in popularity. All of the gains in these areas are even more marked when focusing on Gen Y respondents, however most of those same respondents don’t believe they should have to pay more for sustainable products.

An update of this report is due out in October 2014.

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Akina foundation

Entries have now closed for a special competition run by business accelerator Akina, and co-financed by Contact Energy and the Department of Internal Affairs, to get social enterprise ideas off the ground. Akina will give six months of intensive support and coaching to the 10 successful social enterprise ideas in the competition, turning them into thriving, self-sustaining businesses by March 2015.

Icehouse chief executive Andy Hamilton Photo: Martin Sykes

“We're stoked to be able to help,” says Contact Energy's community relations manager Craig Griffiths. “Our national social and local community investment is aimed at helping New Zealanders be safe, secure and connected, so supporting social enterprise allows us to get in behind a range of great ideas to help achieve this – whether it be through our financial support or allowing our people time to volunteer their skills.”

Next month Element will profile the 10 successful entries and eventual winner, which will receive start-up funding.

Incubaation and fu und ding

By Adam Gifford

Starting companies is tough. That’s why many entrepreneurs work in incubators, where they can share space and resources with other fledgling companies.

They also get access to some of the business expertise, networks and money they will need to succeed.

The latest evolution to the incubator model is the addition of government funding through Callaghan Innovation, which is signing three-year contracts with eight incubators.

The five founder incubators, including Auckland’s Icehouse and eCentre, Soda Inc. in Hamilton, The Bio Commerce Centre in Palmerston North and Wellington’s Creative HQ, build support around an entrepreneur who has a particular idea or business concept.

Callaghan’s grants manager Norman Evans says incubators can help people structure a business and get it ready for trading.

“They are there to take the risk out of building a business. It’s not much different to what a business would do on its own if they have all the skills and knowledge.

Because incubators have access to that knowledge they can keep them from falling into traps.

“Kiwis often try to do things themselves because it is cheaper and they make the business so risky it falls over, or they talk to the wrong people and try to engage with a venture capitalist far too early before they have enough to say to them.”

He says businesses that have been through the incubation process have a much higher survival rate.

“I’m very optimistic. I think we are heading in the right direction,” Evans says.

“As a nation we are getting better at commercialising technology in particular, and in a few years we will be

The Next Foundation

The brand new heavyweight on the social enterprise funding scene is undoubtedly The Next Foundation. A $100m fund donated by philanthropists Neal and Annette Plowman, The Next Foundation aims to fund three environmental education programmes per year, with grants between $3m and $15m.

turning out some excellent companies.”

PowerHouse chief executive Dr Stephen Hampson says his incubator, which has been operating for five years, works closely with the technology transfer offices at Lincoln and Canterbury Universities.

“We work with the researchers, and if we identify an opportunity that’s worth building a company around and providing capital, part of the process is to find someone to move into that business and run the company and build up a management team. We have a role identifying those early customers, finding the capital, finding the people to run the business.”

PowerHouse wants to turn the research into something that can be in the hands of the first customer within 12 to 18 months.

That doesn’t mean it’s a fully-fledged product. Hampson says the aim is to find a customer with a problem to be solved – by focusing on the problem, the applicability of the technology can be better understood.

“We’re offering guidance on how to innovate, how to pick the right first customer, how to make the right choice of first product.”

Hampson says PowerHouse raises about $5 million a year to fund its companies, and the Callaghan grants will allow it to speed up the process of early-stage research, testing whether there is a business case.

Icehouse chief executive Andy Hamilton says most incubators have moved to being more investor aligned, as with the Ice Angels, or even providing investor funds themselves, like PowerHouse.

“Incubators and angel groups like to fund what they have the capacity to fill. They might put in $200,000 because they’re confident they can raise $2m to get the company to break even, but if it’s a $200 million opportunity, that may be too challenging,” Hamilton says.

He says the bigger investments will probably need to come from overseas.

“The good news for the clean tech world is that global capital is looking everywhere.

Khosla Ventures has invested in three kiwi cleantech businesses – Lanzatech, Rocketlab and Bio Discovery. That doesn’t mean any kiwi company can rock up to Khosla and expect to be let in, but is shows what is possible for quality entrepreneurs.”

BUSINESS

SBN conference coming Sitting quietly in your seat listening to talking heads isn’t on the agenda at this year’s Sustainable Business Network’s conference.

by Helen Twose

C

ollaboration to create practical solutions for business sustainability is at the heart of the Project NZ #theBIGshift conference, which introduces four areas of focus for The Big Shift, the organisation’s project aimed at boosting sustainability.

Three sustainable business visionaries gave Element a heads up on where they will be leading discussions at the conference.

Robb Donze, INZIDE Commercial

Robb Donze is an old hand at the sustainable business game.

For nearly 20 years his company, INZIDE Commercial, has been creating synthetic carpet tiles out of recycled materials – mainly old fishing nets – then taking back the old tiles to be recycled into new flooring.

Donze says his interest was piqued by the Sustainable Business Network’s new work stream focussing on the circular economy, which moves the focus from waste management to waste optimisation.

He says what appealed was how it simplified the whole sustainability discussion.

“You don’t need to get into all the detail of the recycle

Project New Zealand #theBIGshift: Sustainable Business Network’s 2014 conference.

September 17 – 18, 2014, Sir Paul Reeves Building, E VC9-?XC? 5%;T?CU P[JF-N >01 0X%9-?=%;U <:=%X-== 2F'CC[N >:F![JXD WX-;7C?!%X) D?%X!= 7%[[ H- '-[D %X ;'- -9-X%X) C+ 2-A;-ZH-? G(OL Tickets +C? CX- DJU =;J?; J; #.""LIIN 7%;' J ;7CMDJU AJ== =;J?;%X) J; #*""LIIL See the full line up and purchase online: =:=;J%XJH[-LC?)LXTKFCX+-?-XF-MEIG,K?-)%=;-?K

content and what-not, and what’s going into a product as long as you make people responsible when they’re finished with it.

“All the clever stuff just doesn’t matter then.”

Donze says with the likelihood that scarcity of resources in the future will push up the price of raw materials the circular economy approach is not ‘tree hugging’.

“It’s not doing this for altruistic reasons because we want to save the planet. That’s a side benefit.

“It’s good business.”

Rachel Taulelei, Yellow Brick Road

Despite the whimsical brand name Rachel Taulelei is serious about getting beautifully fresh fish on the plates of New Zealand restaurant customers.

Yellow Brick Road began out of Taulelei’s desire to ensure fish reached restaurant kitchens in peak condition by sourcing her products from fisherman – both big and small operators – who took care and attention with all aspects of their operations.

What fires Taulelei up are the ideas of sustainability and responsibility around oceanic resources and that delicate balance between conservation and commerce.

“We are this great seafaring nation and we have been doing this [fishing] since the beginning of time.

“Increasingly we’re identified as being world leaders in this space and I would like to have a discussion around the authenticity of that message.”

She says it’s almost impossible to put a finger on a definition of sustainability, but she takes the quota management as a starting point and layers it with product traceability and authenticity.

“I don’t think, quite frankly, that business is any clearer on this subject than consumers are and consumers look to businesses for their lead.”

Vivien Maidaborn, Loomio

When Vivien Maidaborn co-founded an online collaborative decision making software tool spun out of the Occupy

Clockwise from top left: Robb Donze, Rachel Taulelei, Vivien Maidaborn

movement she could already see an application beyond its activist roots.

Created using open-source code by young people who experienced the best and worst of large group decisionmaking, Loomio is now used by up to 28,000 people in 75 countries around the world to agitate for change.

“Over half the discussions on Loomio aren’t in English,” says Maidaborn.

Maidaborn knew it could be taken further.

“I always saw the opportunity for transforming organisation cultural life.”

Increasingly businesses and government organisations are tapping into Loomio to create more engagement and collaboration among staff without adding to the cost of doing business, says Maidaborn.

As well as connecting teams in different locations Loomio can also give a voice to those who would normally be marginalised or are too shy to contribute, she says.

Maidaborn says she will reveal what Loomio has taught her about collaboration and open management for sustainable businesses focussed on embedding social values into business.

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The product or service It’s a statistic that profoundly shocks: every square kilometre of the world’s oceans has an estimated 13,000 pieces of plastic floating in it. There’s no other way to frame it – there’s something inherently wrong with our design process. Purposebuilt for mostly singleuse applications, plastic should have no place in the designer’s suite of options for single use or convenience items.

Let’s take the humble drinking straw, for example.

Tim Allan, from Locus Made from petrochemicals, Research, Bay of Plenty. and not biodegradeable, New Zealand charity Sustainable Coastlines will tell you that they pick up thousands of them on our beaches, from Rangitoto to Great Barrier Island. This is a product that should be made from either cardboard, or a more permanent version from stainless steel.

Here’s where an industrial designer comes in. There’s many ways to skin a cat, goes the old saying, and the same goes for products.

Timothy Allan, founder of the product development and innovation consulting company Locus Research, helps to develop new products and services which have sustainability and life cycle thinking integrated into their development.

“In the research and development stages of creating a new product there are always opportunities to re-imagine how a product may work. Selecting appropriate technology and materials is a critical part of changing the impact of a product,” says Allan.

“We can also substitute materials for more environmentally benign alternatives – which doesn’t have to mean performance is sacrificed.

“Considering the performance of a product over its life

aries betweeen n pu ublic, privatte, “Bounda n-profi fit secttorrs arre blu urring g in and non the queest for betteer, fastter, cheaperr solution ns. Soccial en nteerprrise, a hybriid structu ure and d emergiing fourtth sector, is acceleratiing g in respoonse too markett turbu ulencee. Itt is propeelled by redu uced goovernmeent spend ding, pressurre for intervven ntioons tha at demonsstrate resullts, groowing g socia al conscioousnesss by fina anciial invvestorrs and a neew gen nerattion n off talen nted social entreprreneu urs..”

— MARY JO KAPLAN (Kaplan researched the New Zealand social enterprise sector as part of the Ian Axford Fellowship)

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(consumables and energy) is also important, and at the end of life making sure that there is a viable route for recycling and reuse is increasingly becoming a vital way of better using our resources. As resources are becoming more scarce, and the true costs of making products which harm the environment are being factored into the equation – not least through conscious consumer purchasing behaviour – it makes sense to design the whole life cycle of a product,” says Allan.

Kokako Organics, a coffee roastery and café in Auckland, is a good example of embedding social and environmental responsibility into a supply chain.

It’s raw products are all organic and Fairtrade certified, and its takeaway containers are all sourced from Auckland company Friendlypak, which makes cups and containers from potato starch and timber and are compostable.

They can go into the 16 Hungry Bin worm farms (Auckland-based) which deal with food and coffee waste each day, and produce high quality organic compost and fertiliser. Anything that cannot go into the worm farms is collected by Auckland company We Compost.

“I encou urage you to actuallyy startt living in the now, an nd saying g ‘I'm m here noow on earth h, and d I'm alive,, and I want to do someeth hing. I'm m going to actually find sometthing disru uptive to do that wiill make me feel bettter about myself and d [m mak ke] th he world certain nly bettter’.””

Certifications

Obtaining a certification can be a robust way to ensure your product is meeting environmental and social criteria.

Organic and biodynamic produced foods are growing rapidly. Look out for the Demeter (biodynamic), or BioGro or Asure Quality (organic) certifications.

Fairtrade is about better prices, decent working conditions and fair terms of trade for producers in the developing world.

CarboNZero certified organisations have measured their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and any remaining emissions are then offset by purchasing carbon credits.

CEMARS is the first two steps of carboNZero certification, but with the omission of the offset stage.

The Heart Foundation Tick is to help people make healthier food choices when they are shopping.

The Royal New Zealand SPCA Blue Tick accreditation ensures that welfare standards for animals have been met.

The Environmental Choice certification is eco-label for independently proven eco-friendly products. It also has a ‘green office’ certification.

The Enviromark certification is a government-owned mark, with a five-step programme to follow.

The B Corporation certification is the newest kid on the block. A B Corporation is one that has social and environmental goals enshrined in its structure and reporting. There are over 1000 companies worldwide certified as B Corps but, as yet, just two in New Zealand - Eagle Consumables and Snakk Media.

— SIR RAY AVERY

Intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) decisions will be made on a caseby-case basis, but there are some good reasons for insuring your IP is protected over and above preventing competitors from copying your products, technical processes or services. IP protection can also help you create a corporate identity through a branding strategy; negotiate licensing, franchising and other IP-based contractual agreements; increase the market value of the business; acquire venture capital and enhance access to finance; and obtain access to new markets.

Recently these has been some notable exceptions to the rule. Tech superstar Elon Musk’s announcement that he is making the IP for his Tesla electric vehicles available to his competitors was unusual – whether that works out for the better or worse for his company only time will tell. “Tesla Motors was created to accelerate the advent of sustainable transport. If we clear a path to the creation of compelling electric vehicles, but then lay intellectual property

landmines behind us to inhibit others, we are acting in a manner contrary to that goal,” said Musk.

Change agency Borderless Productions managing director Dean Easterbrook also points that social movements are often characterised by open-source IP. He points to the ‘It’s Not OK’; anti-violence campaign, which has had high visibility throughout the country.

“People concerned about violence can tailor that campaign through the online toolkits and resources to meet the needs of their own community. For example in Paeroa they have ‘It’s Not OK’ posters up which feature the head boy of the local school and the guy from the service station.”

A highly effective marketing model, the ‘It’s Not OK’ campaign is a lesson on how to achieve broad visibility which can be applied to social enterprises. “The question is: how do you get people to see themselves in your campaign?” says Borderless CEO Qiujing Wong.

Measu uring SRO OI Your year-end financials show just one thing; whether or not your business is operating profitably. If it isn’t, changes need to be made. If it is – job done – right?

More and more businesses have come to the realisation that the bottom line tells only part of the story.

What if your clothing business is making good profits, but you have high staff turnover – they’re leaving in droves because they don’t agree with the way your garments are produced in a sweatshop with toxic dye leaking into the nearby river? Is your business a success?

Consumers’ buying power, or even the threat of consumer backlash, is showing the importance of transparent and responsible reporting practices. For example, last year Oxfam published a report exposing behaviour from large sugar companies who were forcing small subsistence farmers from their land. This prompted a speedy response from Coca Cola, promising an overhaul of its supply chain, and a transparent reporting process.

“The Coca-Cola Company will conduct third-party social, environmental and human rights assessments beginning in Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, India, Philippines, Thailand and South Africa,” responded the drinks giant.

Closer to home, Cadburys furiously backpedalled on its decision to include palm oil in its chocolate as a result of the public reaction to the effect palm oil plantations were having on the habitats of endangered animals such as the orang-utan.

New Zealand incubator Akina defines SROI thus: “SROI analysis enables organisations to evaluate their impact on stakeholders; put a price on the social and environmental value they create, and identify ways to improve performance relative to investments.

“In practice, this internationally recognised methodology tells the story of how change is being created, places a value on that change and compares it with the cost of inputs required to achieve it in order to determine an investment ratio.”

It can also help you manage risks and identify opportunities and raise finance, and may highlight potential improvements to services, information systems and the way you govern your businesses.

Akina (formerly The Hikurangi Foundation) contracted Dawn Baggaley from The Nature of Business and Social Ventures Australia to produce a SROI study for the Bikes in Schools initiative.

Bikes in Schools has provided a complete cycling package in more than 25 schools across New Zealand so far, and is now part of Akina’s incubation programme to promote rapid scalability.

The package includes a fleet of new bikes, helmets, bike tracks, bike storage and bike training within the school grounds.

The aim is to encourage children to become more active and healthy, help them develop various bike skills, build their self esteem and confidence, all while in a safe and familiar environment.

Approximately 3500 pupils participated in the Bikes in Schools programme over the three years measured, biking at least once a week. 46% of pupils cycled three times or more each week.

“We see this high participation as a reflection of how much kids simply enjoy Paul McArdle, founder of the Bikes in Schools programme. cycling. Over 80% of pupils said they had fun and felt happier as a result of biking within school, and we see this as a key factor for the success of the overall programme,” says Paul McArdle, founder of Bikes in Schools.

More specifically, the study found that Bikes in Schools delivers a long list of interrelated outcomes, which included increased fitness levels, confidence and stamina; better concentration in the classroom; and changing long-term transport behaviours, among many others.

On the cost side of the equation, the study found that a total of $610,000 was invested over the first three years of Bikes in Schools, delivering projects for 12 schools. The analysis concluded that this investment created a Present Value of $2.38m in the three-year period from 2010 to 2012, resulting in an SROI ratio of 4:1.

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Govern nancee The governance of a social enterprise or conscious business requires the same commercial acumen and business savvy as a regular enterprise, because it is run on the same principles. Where it differs, however, is the expectations of the board in terms of results.

“Governance is key for social enterprises,” says Henri Eliot, CEO of Board Dynamics in Auckland. “The board is responsible for establishing the strategic and ethical directions of the company. It recruits, compensates and evaluates the CEO and establishes a succession plan for senior management. The board is also responsible for the oversight of risk management, internal control and corporate communications.”

Eliot says that meeting these responsibilities requires the board to have an effective system of governance and to recruit directors who will work well together to meet the expectations of the owners, legislators and regulators. “They need to work as a team but there should also be a creative and healthy tension that comes from the ‘constructive interaction’ of people with different backgrounds.”

Eliot says that social enterprises often recruit board members based on personal relationships. Traditionally the primary sources for board members have been the personal contacts of the CEO, chair, other board members and senior management.

“To overcome this shortcoming, organisations should assess the skills currently needed over the next three years. Boards should actively seek out competent, qualified individuals who can help them understand diverse viewpoints from a wide cross section of the community.”

Eliot says it is critically important for board members and management to be clear about their respective roles because they directly affect their activities and relationships. “The board should determine how engaged it should be in the company’s destiny. This will define what kind of directors should serve and their degree of commitment and engagement.”

Henri Eliot, CEO of Board Dynamics.

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Conversations with Derek Handley

The global conglomeration of superstar business people known as the ‘B team’ is so named because ‘business as usual’ needs a plan B if we are going to have a better world and a different set of circumstances.

As the former CEO for The B Team, Kiwi Derek Handley spent a year drawing together global business leaders who “see the world the same way and try to understand what needs to change.”

What emerged is a manifesto of 12 key change areas known as ‘The Agenda’. It ranges from education – what business teach as the ‘purpose of business’; ‘true returns’ – the way success is measured; unequal wealth distribution and fair rewards; sustaining nature; and a ‘level playing field’ – which calls for a ban on corporate subsidies, particularly for industries which degrade the planet.

Kiwi tech entrepreneur Derek Handley.

Humaan ressourccess The secret to attracting the right team is to look for them in the right places. A brilliant example of this lately was ‘The Shoulder Tap’, a global search by tech entrepreneur Derek Handley. Handley employed a team of entrepreneurs, scientists, innovators and even actors to star alongside himself in a video asking for applicants for the job of being his second-in-command. He received 1000 applicants from more than 30 countries and has since employed two deputies to join the Handley Foundation, which aims to develop entrepreneurial leadership in New Zealand and offers grants for inspiring projects.

Few start-ups can call on such a line-up of heavyweights to publicly endorse their HR recruitment drive (let alone technical staff to produce it), but you get the gist: creativity is key to attracting creative people. Handley says that his intention was to inspire people to be part of something which will have a positive effect on society and the environment, and to connect with people through their values and not their skill set. He also approaches recruitment as yet another form of marketing – with over 15,000 people viewing the video in its first three weeks, it has certainly achieved that. Says Handley: “The world of creative advertising, digital thinking and recruitment need to meet, have sex and make a ton more babies.”

Handley also explained that he made it part of a wider conversation by encouraging people to ‘shoulder tap’ friends and colleagues they thought would be perfect for the job. It encouraged sharing. Those who were recommended were sent personalised teasers to encourage them to apply. “We also asked applicants to name a social issue they cared deeply about,” said Handley.

“Their issue was transformed into a tweet that included #theshouldertap hashtag, and cc’d to the New Zealand Prime Minister’s twitter handle, @johnkeypm, just for good measure.”

But Handley is now an ‘entrepreneur-in-residence’ with the B Team. His project is to collate “the world's biggest case study database of all the different innovative models of the future of capitalism.” When complete, Handley plans to make this research freely available.

“When you first talk to business people about this type of stuff they think it's CSR, or philanthropy, or charity, but the more you give them examples they understand the mindset shift.

With a whole range of examples the more they understand that it is embedded in every element of the organisation.

“It's a big shift from the person in the corner office with the title of CSR officer sponsoring the symphony and the cleanup in the park.”

“I think you can convince business people because they look to their peers. And they get worried that they might be on the beginning of the wrong end of history.”

“When I was a kid [in Hong Kong], all my dad's friends who had tons of money and all had big boats, ran tobacco companies. That was a sexy job. And then, all of a sudden, it became the most unsexy job in the world, so business people quickly had to decide whether they wanted to be in that or not. Sometimes that peer pressure can turn people.

“For politicians it's much more difficult. If the current National government were to even move in this space it's a space they don't want to be which is the green space and it becomes difficult… you have a party infrastructure called green – it's a global phenomenon – if they changed the name of that party it might help, but it doesn't help because everything that's to do with the environment is attached to that name. It makes it harder to see it in the light of a non-political idea.”

But Handley says that government must play a role. “It's important to have the support of government to help kick start some of these things where the gap is too big. If you look at the run-off into the rivers in the country and the farmers – where do you start? Should Fonterra take all that on? Or should the government at least help kick-start it, or match?”

He's scathing of the current government's performance in this area. “I don't think the government gives a shit about that stuff. I don't think they really care. I don't think they get it. You either get it or you don't.”

10. Buiildingg the braandd and maarketting No matter whether you’re running a business or a social enterprise the most powerful marketing tool in your kit is a good story.

So says Valerie Manna, senior lecturer of marketing at Lincoln University.

She cites the example of Rekindle as a great storyteller.

The Christchurch-based company takes native timber harvested from the earthquake-wrecked Christchurch homes and turns it into beautiful furniture.

“They use Facebook as their main tool, but they tell such good stories that they are widely shared. They’ve recognised that as the strength of their proposition – as well as their great product of course.”

Manna recently presented a research paper to the Australia New Zealand Marketing Association on the marketing of an app designed by Lincoln students for the Imagine Cup, a global tech competition run by Microsoft. The aim of Valerie Manna, senior lecturer – the app was to connect marketing at Lincoln University. people in need with others with a surplus – whether it be food, clothing, furniture – and have them connect and trade.

“They knew how to put this really complicated bit of software together, but didn’t know how to get it out there.

“What you’re talking about with social marketing is ‘I’m selling you behavioural change. I want you to stop smoking. I want you to drive the speed limit. I want you to take birth control. I want you to buy this product because it doesn’t have a detrimental effect on the environment.

“You’re trying to shape your communication and understand the obstacles to solving these big societal goals. You’re applying marketing techniques in order to get socially appropriate behaviours.”

Manna says marketing of social enterprises is often highly creative – a result of having little or no resources to fund a traditional marketing campaign. “You may have a community group with a problem, and a product or service to ameloriate it, but how are they going to market it? How do they pay for that? That’s where, traditionally, it may break down, and where people start to get creative.”

Manna says that marketers must put themselves in the shoes of their target audience when it comes to deciding the tone of their message. “For some a positive message works really well. For others you might find that a fear appeal is appropriate. You really have to know who you want to do what, and what motivates them.

“You have to ask ‘how familiar are they with the message?’ Do they have any preconceptions you have to overcome? You also have to figure out the most appropriate channels of communication to find your target market,

and what you want from them. Do you want them to like you? Is it awareness? Do you want them to choose one product over another? It’s got to be really specific, because you don’t have the money to be throwing around hoping something works.”

Manna also offers some fairly traditional marketing advice: “It’s also about putting such effort into a customer experience that they come away incredibly happy; happy enough so that they become part of your marketing team.”

Last year’s Colmar Brunton Better Business, Better World survey shows that organisations are missing the mark, or mudding the water around what are doing and the way they communicate it to their customers. A whopping 64% of respondents either agreed or somewhat agreed that the way businesses talk about sustainability is “confusing.”

Element's hot picks for social enterprises and conscious businesses ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

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“We can n makee mark kett forces work better for thee poorr if we devellop a more creativee capittalism m – if we can n strettch the reacch of markeet foorcees so that more people can ma ake a proofitt, or att leastt a living, serving g peop plee wh ho aree suffeering from th he worsst ineq quitiees.”

! !

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Clean tech – low carbon technologies Solar Recycling Energy efficient products Wood products Waste-to-energy Energy efficiencies – for home and business Sustainable building materials Combating obesity Education Packaging – moving away from plastic Agriculture and aquaculture (cleaning up the industries) Drought resistant crops Fresh water conservation Food production – organics (25% growth in the past three years), Fairtrade (12% increase YOY) and vegetarian Preparing for climate change/climate change mitigation Consulting/SROI Sustainability software

— BILL GATES

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CLEAN TECHNOLOGY

Blowing in the wind Latest Meridian project set to be one of the world’s most productive, and will increase New Zealand’s wind power capacity by 10%.

M

eridian Energy’s latest wind farm Mill Creek, near Wellington, will increase New Zealand wind generation by 10% while helping achieve NZ’s target of 90% renewable electricity generation by 2025.

Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) figures show an impressive 79% of electricity in New Zealand was generated from renewable sources (wind and hydro power) in the three months to March 2014.

Mill Creek, a 26-turbine wind farm in Ohariu Valley, is the country’s newest renewable energy project, and because New Zealand’s demand for electricity is currently flat, will probably be the last wind farm to be built for some time.

Work on the project began in late 2012. The roading for Mill Creek was the largest civil works project in New Zealand this year, with total of 18km of road laid on the site. Up to 63 cement truckloads of concrete went into the 20-metres-wide, two-metres-deep turbine foundations. The turbine blades are 40 metres long (10 metres longer than the wing of a Boeing 777).

The wind farm is the brainchild of four Ohariu Valley farmers who came up with the idea of a wind farm as an innovative and sustainable way to support the viability of their beef and sheep farms, while preserving the lifestyle and rural character of the area.

They ran a tender process to build and operate the wind farm and chose Meridian, which owns and operates four wind farms in NZ and two in Australia, because of its

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expertise in building wind farms in New Zealand, Australia and Antarctica.

Neal Barclay, Meridian general manager markets and production, says the project is Meridian’s 10th wind farm that it has developed or purchased. “We expect it to be one of the most productive in the world.

“Wind patterns at Mill Creek mean that we expect we will get twice the energy out of the turbines compared to that of the average global wind farm,” he says.

The project reached first power in May and full power (when all the turbines are generating) is expected by late September. The turbines generate electricity in wind speeds of between 14km and 90km per hour, and together will generate 59.8MW of electricity (2.3MW each), enough to power around 30,000 New Zealand homes.

“Mill Creek also further diversifies Meridian’s hydro and wind portfolio. “Having wind farms also means if it’s blowing in the North Island we can use wind and less South Island water from our lakes to generate electricity when we need it most.

“Mill Creek also further illustrates Meridian’s commitment to renewable generation and reinforces our view that wind energy is the leading technology in New Zealand’s renewable future. And it’s not only New Zealand’s future. Last year the equivalent of 600 Mill Creek wind projects were built around the world – enough to power all of NZ’s electricity needs one and a half times over,” says Neal.

The giant turbines being transported to the Mill Creek Wind Farm.

“Wind patterns at Mill Creek mean that we expect we will get twice the energy out of the turbines compared to that of the average global wind farm.”

Neal Barclay, Meridian general manager markets and production

BUSINESS PLANET WELLBEING

PROMOTION

Outlander PHEV just the business

Buying a business vehicle which slashes motoring expenses is a strategy that will go straight to the bottom line.

W

hen the new Mitsubishi Outlander Plug-In Hybrid (PHEV) hit the market a few months back it redefined the market in terms of efficiency. Using fuel at a rate of just 1.9L/100km, it must have fuel companies and the government – which taxes petrol at almost 70c per litre – full of trepidation.

It’s the future of motoring until such time as the fully electric model comes along, not only saving money at the pump, but keeping a good chunk of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.

With a 52km electric range before the petrol motor kicks in, the Mitsubishi PHEV easily covers the daily commute – which in New Zealand averages 38km.

The resilience and sustainability of your business model relies more and more on doing no damage to the environment, and transport – particularly business transport – is a major contributor toward New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions profile. Being able to take a chunk out of your business’s footprint is a significant and responsible step. If you have graduated to running a modern business reporting programme, which not only reports on the bottom line but also on social and environmental impacts, what you get around in matters.

The Mitsi PHEV has an annual running electricity cost of $364 and an annual fuel cost of $280. For a car which still has an engine it in, these are unheard-of figures. It’s also telling that electricity will cost more than fuel, despite the relatively small range.

There’s a quiet revolution taking place in the business community of New Zealand – that of installing solar photovoltaic panels on the expansive roofs of businesses all around the country.

The Sustainable Electricity Association of New Zealand says that the solar business has been growing at a rate of 330%, and businesses are about to install a total of 5.5MW of solar panels on their roofs – the equivalent to a small power station.

And why not? Business hours more or less coincide with sunshine hours, and our businesses are energy hungry beasts.

But what if you could tack your motoring costs on to that as well? The Mitsubishi PHEV would require electricity produced from just four standard 250W panels – 1kW of capacity. The average household installation is over 2kW, so it’s fair to say that when figures become available the average business installation will be larger than that. It seems like the proverbial ‘no brainer’ to plug in your vehicle while you’re at your desk, and use the sun to power both your car and your computer.

Also worthy of note here is that the Mitsubishi PHEV doesn’t economise on space and practicality like some of its e-competitors, which also seems a business necessity. It’s a large, roomy vehicle, which feels solid and safe on the road. It seems its batteries haven’t compromised anything – probably because there’s not many of them.

Nuts and bolts In ‘Series Hybrid’ mode, the two 60kW electric motors run the wheels and the petrol engine charges the state-of-theart Lithium-Ion battery. The battery will be fully recharged in just 40 minutes, having used around three litres of fuel to do it. In Parallel Hybrid mode, which kicks in at higher speeds, the petrol engine helps to drive the wheels. It’s a combination of two electric motors and a 2.0L petrol engine (not to mention the 3 clever drive modes that bring it all together) and means the Outlander PHEV isn’t bound by the range limitations of all-electric vehicles. Even using fuel the vehicle has emissions of just 44 grams of CO2 per kilometre.

The Outlander also uses regenerative /01"#4& +3 ,34.'0(' '('4 !30' '4'0&$Its cruise control adapts to the vehicle you’re following and it will even stop you to mitigate a collision if its radar detects a hazard but no brake input.

These are just some of the features that contribute to the 5-Star ANCAP safety rating.

The XLS starts the range at $59,990, with the VRX at $66,990. The VRX includes satnav, forward collision mitigation, adaptive cruise control, a power tailgate, heated front leather seats and the full PHEV colour display screens – plus the PHEV remote app that is available for iOS and )4*03#* 2%34'.-

The numbers

$1.41

The cost to fully charge the batteries on the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV

52

The kilometres the vehicle can travel on a full charge

6.5

The hours needed to charge the car

$364

Electricity costs per year (based on 38 kilometres travelled each day)

$280

Mitsubishi Outlander Plug-in Hybrid Test Drive Competition

Fuel costs per year (based on EECA tests)

Mitsubishi Electric and Mitsubishi Motors have partnered to celebrate the launch of the Outlander PHEV. Go in the draw to win a Mitsubishi Electric solar package worth $8,799 when you test drive the vehicle at your nearest Mitsubishi Motors dealership. To arrange a test drive and see competition terms & conditions please visit mmnz.co.nz/plug-in-hybrid/phev-test-drive/

The Energywise rating from EECA

6 Star

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ENERGY EFFICIENCY

Wellbeing The energy smart home Investing in eco-friendly and efficient appliances in your home will wreak havoc on your power bill.

30% WATER HEATING

O

n average Kiwis spend $2000 a year on electricity. This is a meaty chunk out of anyone’s budget. What’s more, as we continue to use more electronics, we are spending more money every day on powering up our homes.

But cutting your home energy bills can be easy – not to mention gratifying. What’s more, adopting energy efficient behaviours doesn’t mean you have to go back to the Stone Age either.

We’ve itemised household energy consumption to take you on a step-by-step journey of how to increase energy efficiencies and to get more money in your back pocket.

Water heating

* Before looking at upgrading, insulate well and you’ll need a smaller heating system.

POOR • Conventional electric hot water cylinders: Often poorly insulated, these are inefficient. Older, smaller (<180litres) and low pressure cylinders are particularly bad offenders.

(and growing!)

• Solar: solar has high installation costs, but low running costs. Free hot water when the sun is shining, but you have to revert to the traditional hot water cylinder when it’s not.

BEST • Heat pump water heaters: Moderate installation cost. Three to four times more efficient than electric water cylinders. Can knock 66% off your hot water bill.

Space heating HOUSEHOLD ENERGY CONSUMPTION: 29% POOR • Electrical heaters: examples include panel heaters and oil-filled column heaters. The most expensive way to heat.

• Open fires: Inefficient – most of the heat goes up the chimney BETTER • Heat pumps: at 13 – 18 cents / kWh heat pumps are efficient and a good replacement for electric heaters.

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11% REFRIGERATION 8% LIGHTING 6% COOKING 4% OTHER APPLIANCES

• Pellet burners: efficient, carbon neutral.

Electronics and other electrical uses

• Gas hot water storage systems: more efficient than electric cylinders and not affected by power cuts. Gas ondemand systems are even more efficient.

12% ELECTRONICS AND OTHER ELECTRICAL USES

• Wood burners: A range of highly efficient models are available. The cheapest heater to run and carbon neutral. Can also be combined with a wetback to provide hot water heating.

HOUSEHOLD ENERGY CONSUMPTION: 30%

BETTER • Instant electric water heaters: heat water on demand where it is used, eliminating loss from storage cylinders and pipes.

29% SPACE HEATING

BEST • Solar: passive solar heating is the cheapest way to heat your home. Flooring materials such as concrete slabs and tiles absorb heat from the sun, and release that heat during the evening. .

(Home entertainment, home office equipment and whiteware).

HOUSEHOLD ENERGY CONSUMPTION: 18% POOR • Leaving electronics on standby and old models without Energy Star or efficiency rating BETTER • Products with low standby electricity consumption (turning them off is best) • Compare and choose models with good energy ratings labels. The higher the stars, the more energy efficient the appliance. All energy rated products display annual energy consumption figure in kilowatt hours (kWh).

Lighting HOUSEHOLD ENERGY CONSUMPTION: 8% POOR • Incandescent or tungsten bulbs: inefficient, converting just 5% of the energy they use into light. The remaining 95% is turned into heat. Short lifespan (1000 hours).

BETTER • New generation halogens: Lower wattage and more efficient, new gen halogens will last twice as long as incandescent and are 30% more efficient • CFLs (compact fluorescent lights): CFLs use 80% less energy and last between 6,000 and 15,000 hours. Savings can amount to $111 over the life of the bulb.

BEST • Appliances with the blue Energy Star mark are among the top 10% of products in their category.

BEST • LEDs: Five times more energy efficient than incandescent light bulbs, and super cheap to run, an LED can last between 50,000 and 100,000 hours.

Refrigeration

Cooking

HOUSEHOLD ENERGY CONSUMPTION: 11%

HOUSEHOLD ENERGY CONSUMPTION: 6%

POOR • Old models with poor energy ratings BETTER • Models with high energy ratings BEST • Models with the blue Energy Star label. Fridges can last up to 10 – 15 years so selecting the most efficient model will save you a lot of money in the long run

POOR • Conventional flat top or coil electric hobs.

BETTER • Ceramic-glass surfaces: halogen elements deliver heat instantly and responds quickly to temperature changes.

• Gas: heats food instantly and the lower the BTU output (British Thermal Unit), the more energy-efficient the stove.

BEST • Induction elements: uses less energy than gas or electric.

This editorial series is made possible with funding from Energy Alternatives. To find out more about energy efficient products visit energyalternatives.co.nz

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ECOLOGY

The freshwater vote The state of New Zealand’s streams, rivers and lakes has become a political football. The question is: do you want to swim, or wade?

Comment: Rebecca Reider

S

hould New Zealanders be able to swim in the country’s rivers? Strange things can happen in election season; and this time around, it seems the hallowed summertime swimming hole is up for debate.

In early July, the Beehive announced New Zealand rivers and lakes would be subject to “clear, robust” new national standards for water quality. National Party, champion of rivers?

“It is critical that we protect and improve the water quality that we all care so much about,” said Environment Minister Amy Adams, announcing the new freshwater standards.

Alas, not many hearts were swayed by the new policy. Gareth Morgan put it bluntly on Campbell Live: the standards would ensure that water would only be considered too polluted “if your gumboots melt” from wading in it.

Indeed, National had decided to set maximum pollution levels such that rivers would be safe enough for wading and boating – but there was no requirement for them to be swimmable.

“New Zealanders want to be able to swim in their local river, but National’s plans offer nothing better than the ability to wade in them,” said Green Party water spokesperson Eugenie Sage. “If the Government wants to turn our rivers into drainage ditches, then it should come clean about that.”

Last year, government monitoring found that 61% of recreational sites on rivers were unsafe for swimming.

National then admitted last month in Parliament that it was planning to drop its annual reporting on whether rivers are swimmable – as though the problem with river health might disappear if we just stopped looking at it.

While National’s policy floundered in the shallows, the opposition wasted no time. Two weeks after the government’s policy announcement, the Greens jumped in to announce their own river policy, declaring it one of their

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top election priorities. They vowed to establish a protected rivers network (akin to giving some rivers National Park status); to take a strong stance on water quality, making all rivers safe for swimming again; and to prohibit new dams on any still-wild rivers.

In early August, Labour joined the fray as well, announcing a water policy in partial agreement with the Greens. Their top priorities: making all rivers and lakes “swimmable, fishable and suitable for food gathering”; getting farmers to pay for using big irrigation schemes; and opposing privatisation of water resources.

“National had decided to set maximum pollution levels such that rivers would be safe enough for wading and boating – but there was no requirement for them to be swimmable.”

The Government, on the back foot, turned to the ageold combat tactic – that of playground name-calling. The Greens’ proposal was “the latest step in their anti-jobs, anti-growth, stop-everything manifesto,” declared a Beehive press release. Surely making rivers swimmable should not be “dictated… by politicians in Wellington,” said Amy Adams. As for Labour, she called their water proposal an “anti-jobs attack on rural New Zealand.”

Meanwhile, Gareth Morgan commissioned a report critiquing the new government policy, drawing on the advice of 16 leading freshwater scientists. The report pointed out that the government’s standards for nitrate toxicity were totally inadequate, set at a level where nitrates would be toxic to 20% of aquatic species – a significant level of ecosystemic failure. The Morgan Foundation’s report put the

scientists’ alarm in plain words: “The analogy used is that an alcoholic is sick long before their liver fails.” Morgan has started a “MyRiver” website – garethsworld.com/myriver – to encourage average New Zealanders to become activists, protecting their rivers and influencing policy.

It wasn’t always this bad, of course. The sudden growth of New Zealand’s dairy industry has caused freshwater quality to decline rapidly in recent decades.

The countryside has gained 125% more cows in the past 30 years. The soaring number of bovine bladders has meant a whole lot more urine going onto the ground – and from there reaching groundwater and rivers. Dairy farming contributes 38% of the nitrogen runoff that ends up in New Zealand waterways.

It’s not just humans that are losing their swimming holes; 74% of New Zealand freshwater fish species are now listed as threatened.

Jan Wright, Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, issued a dire warning in a November 2013 report: “If we continue to see large-scale conversion of land to more intensive uses, it is difficult to see how water quality will not continue to decline.”

Still, many of those champions of water quality are pointing fingers not at individual farmers, but at government policy. Massey University scientist Dr Mike Joy, an outspoken rivers advocate, spelled it out in a recent lecture to the Royal Society: “Decades of minimal regulation of impacts from government has been the major factor contributing to the crisis we now have. “Poor practices have been incentivised; with no penalty for pollution, farmers have been pushed by the industry to maximise profit at the expense of our waters.”

Labour and the Greens have not specified exactly how they would get New Zealand’s rivers back into healthy swimmable condition. Nonetheless, as the political parties stake out opposite positions, the September 20 election appears set to influence how clearly our rivers flow into the future.

BUSINESS

PLANET

WELLBEING

PROMOTION

Alkaline-ionised water Lowering acid levels in your body starts with your water.

W

ater is a key ingredient influencing the taste, form and preservation of foods as well as being fundamental to our wellbeing.

So it makes sense that water deserves just as much attention in our healthy diets as food does.

Alkaline-ionised reduced water is becoming increasingly known as a positive alternative to other waters.

Kyushu University in Japan has recorded that alkalineionised water can assist people in their recovery from various illnesses, thanks to its antioxidant properties, higher pH levels and smaller water molecule clusters.

The report from the University’s Department of Bioscience and Biotechnology concluded that alkaline-ionised waters “are health beneficial and they suppress oxidative stressrelated diseases such as diabetes, cancer, arteriosclerosis and neurodegenerative diseases.”

The researchers claim that having an alkaline body can have far-reaching benefits; a person can expect fewer colds due to improved immunity, a decreased likelihood of cancer thanks to healthier cell turnover, easier maintenance of weight, improved muscle and bone mass, and mitigation of hypertension or strokes.

Auckland-based doctor of integrative medicine and clinical nutritionist Kathleen Wills emphasises the benefits of having a more alkaline body through the consumption of alkaline water and foods.

“Maintaining tissue and body cell pH is important for keeping healthy, and creating an inhospitable environment for diseased cells and fungus and bacteria to thrive,” Dr Wills says.

“Too much acid in the body forces it to borrow minerals, including magnesium, sodium, potassium and calcium from

This drop of water when ionised has a wide range of health benefits. In Japan every 5th household uses a water ionizer, as they are particularly conscious about how an alkaline diet can improve health and wellbeing. Our reliable, high quality technology and services ensure you receive the best ionised alkaline water on a daily bases.

our vital organs, teeth and bones to neutralise the acid, and safely remove it from the body.”

Wills says this process is called acidosis, and the resultant displacement of essential minerals can then lead to problems such as upset stomachs, anxiety, insomnia, headaches, early morning fatigue, restless leg syndrome, muscle pain, rapid heartbeats and high blood pressure.

A recent seven-year study conducted by the University of California, San Francisco, has found that acidosis may also cause a loss in bone density, resulting in fractures as we age.

It has also been linked to many kinds of inflammation in the body which, in turn, further increases acid levels.

In spite of the arguments for the benefits of alkalineionised water – there’s also plenty of online information debunking the science. So always check the source of the information and decide for yourself on its veracity.

Dr Wills comments she did a blindfolded taste test of five types of filtered water, and found that liquid from an alkalineionisation product called the Alka Jug tasted the freshest.

“Many of my clients ask me for alternatives to tap water, and I recommend the Alka Jug from Ionza, due to its health benefits and competitive price compared to other filtering options.”

Dr Mark Gabriel from Christchurch is in favour of alkaline water’s benefits, saying he has seen the health of his family noticeably improve through the daily consumption of alkaline water, and he is convinced it is an essential part of a healthy lifestyle.

Carl Sayer was suffering from gout until he started drinking alkaline water. Since then, he says it has “so majorly improved that I can now jog again. The fire in my feet is totally gone.”

Products range from $65 to $2,800. To find out which product suites you contact us at: www.ionza.co.nz Freephone 0800 101 707

Dr. Kathleen Wills holds a USA doctorate degree in Integrative Medicine (I.MD), Doctor of Natural Medicine and Traditional Naturopath (California, USA). She runs the Integrative Medicine and Health Practice in Auckland.

Wills says foods that form acid include meat, poultry and seafood, condiments and dressings, breads ,#+ $"(/-) ',*-) +,%/& !/"+(.*-) alcohol, processed juices, soda drinks, preserved or processed fruits and vegatables, and sweets.

Alkali forming foods include, among many others, most vegetables, grapefruit, lemons and limes, tomatoes, buckwheat, millet, lentils, coconut water, olive oil, goats milk and cheese, quinoa, spelt, almonds, cumin, fennel and sesame seeds.

Dr Kathleen Wills is a doctor of integrative medicine and clinical nutritionist

STRESSED, TIRED, ACHING JOINTS

See you at the Auckland Home Show - Stand 517

Le lessons TE RADAR RADAR’S RANT

Auckland could learn some Unitary Plan lessons from the City of Lights – and gargoyles.

Having recently spent a fortnight casually sauntering around central Paris the one conclusion I came to was that Auckland’s architecture is woefully bereft of gargoyles.

Gargoyles are the perfect example of form and function reaching a friendly agreement in the form of a drainpipe. A common feature of many buildings, notably the Notre Dame Cathedral, these carved grotesques are fitted with a spout which channels rainwater through their gaping mouths, allowing it to fall away from the walls.

Perhaps if we’d used more of them we might have avoided our leaky home debacle. At the very least our houses would have looked more gothic and that has to be a good thing. They add a sense of drama and style to the buildings they adorn. This focus on aesthetics embodies the Parisian building style, and in Auckland’s quest for higher density living it’s a lesson worth heeding.

Paris does have formless towers in its outer suburbs that are woefully designed, even compared with the worst of our soulless blocks, but the stylish apartments that line the streets of central Paris feature wrought iron balconies and window boxes bursting with vibrant geraniums, making them as attractive outside as they no doubt are inside.

Often built in squares around a central courtyard, the apartments combine a communal private space with tightly packed city living. It may not be the quarter-acre paradise we have long held dear, but at least there’s somewhere to put the bins, and no lawn to mow.

While Paris may be a model of urban lifestyle design, they may have taken the concept of having-it-all a little too far with the “Paris Plage”. Each summer they truck in tonnes of sand and dump it on the concrete sidewalk next to the Seine River, throw up a few umbrellas, lay out some loungers, and call it a beach.

Parisians slip into their speedos to bask next to an aromatic river they can’t plunge into for health reasons. This is either a Parisian Bondi or the world’s largest litterbox.

It is a great example of civic money being used to create usable public spaces, even if it is just for those members of the public who want to lie and fry in the sun as thousands of tourists walk past taking photos.

The lesson we can learn from the gargoyles, geraniums, and Gallic speedo-wearers is that developers, and those who allow development to happen, have a civic duty to create visually appealing, family functional, and ultimately desirable higher density environments so that people will move into them through choice and not necessity. Money spent on a city’s aesthetics is not money wasted.

We can also learn that not everyone is adept at keeping geraniums alive, that speedos are not for everyone, and that gargoyles might be attractive but when they channel rainwater away from walls it falls instead in a torrent onto the middle of the footpath, making it rather difficult to stay dry.

Even as I strolled the boulevards, one of the Auckland’s flagship apartment buildings, supposed to herald the

yours

.NET .NZ

“[We] have a civic duty to create visually appealing... and ultimately desirable higher density environments so that people will move into them through choice and not necessity.” successful transition to higher-density urban living in New Lynn, was being castigated for having pillars in the bedrooms. Pillars. As if no one would notice this rather inconvenient design flaw.

In fact it seems that no one did, at least until they tried to get a bed in.

We don’t have a large history of apartment building but I would have thought that at some stage during the sketching of the plans someone might have said “Should we really have a pillar there?” The correct answer would have been “No”. And, “Let’s add some gargoyles.”

Pho

BUSINESS

PLANET

WELLBEING

PROMOTION

The cheapest way to heat water Hot water heating is responsible for at least 30% of the average NZ home power bill. When you consider heat pump water heaters can turn 1kWh of electricity into 3kWh equivalent of hot water – it’s by far and away the best way to slash your power bills.

Interview: Dana Darwin Energy Alternatives NZ Ltd Dana Darwin is founder of affordable energy company, Energy Alternatives. A trusted advocate for efficient energy technology and a proven leader in the NZ solar sector, Dana belongs to SEANZ, SANZ, the NZ Green Building Council, and the Sustainable Business Network.

How do heat pump water heaters work?

Heat pump water heaters use electricity to move heat from the air to the water in the tank instead of generating heat directly via an element.

The principle is similar to a refrigerator but in reverse, generating heat not cooling. Highly efficient, a good heat pump water heater (HPWH) is three to four times more efficient than conventional electric water heaters (an average one is 2 – 3 times more efficient).

There are two main types; ‘all-in-one’ (integrated) systems or ‘split’ systems.

An all-in-one system has the heat pump attached to the top of the storage tank and is a good option when renovating, building new or replacing your old hot water cylinder. With a ‘split’ system you can keep your old tank, provided it’s not too old, and the HWHP is attached to it.

How fast is the industry growing Global sales of HPWH are increasing strongly and both the US and China report 13% a year growth.

Here in NZ the industry is steadily growing with increased confidence in the performance of the products as a result of an EECA subsidy program, and favourable reports from Consumer Magazine, BRANZ and the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment.

Do you foresee a time when all new builds will include a HPWH? Households with moderate-to-high hot water usage, eg four person families, are very well suited for HPWH so, yes, I expect that in time all new builds will include them. I also expect HPWH to become standard in new builds for multiunit properties like motels, hotels and retirement villages.

Heat pump water heaters do cost more at the outset than a traditional electric water heater with an element. Smaller households using very little hot water are unlikely to get enough energy savings to recover that initial cost and are pretty well served by conventional electric water heaters.

Is a HPHW the most eco-friendly of water heating devices?

A good heat pump water heater will transfer three times as much heat into the water as electricity used. This efficiency means you’re using 66% less electricity to heat your water.

Since NZ’s electricity is 70% renewable, the non-renewable energy content of the heated water is less than 10%. No other water heater can match this, including solar water heaters which use proportionally more electricity during the winter months when the non-renewable proportion of electricity generation is highest.

The less electricity we use, the less we are contributing to pollution and climate change, making HPWH units better for families and our environment.

Average price of a HPWH? All-in-one systems, which include the tank, cost between $2400 and $4500, plus installation, (typically between $750 and $1500). If you exclude what you’d spend anyway on a standard hot water cylinder, plus the plumbing and electrical labour, the extra cost of a heat-pump water heater is between $1000 – $3000. This extra cost is rapidly recaptured due to the high efficiency and cost savings of the unit.

“A good heat pump water heater will transfer three times the heat into the water than it uses in electricity.”

What is the expected return on investment (ROI)?

The ROI depends upon the extra cost of the system and install and the quantity of hot water being used in your home.

In a retrofit, where an existing tank needs to be replaced, or the hot water system is being upgraded to mains pressure, the marginal cost is around $800-$1000, which can provide a payback of 18 months to two years.

For a new build, the payback period can be 1 – 3 years for a family of four or more. An annual energy saving of $600 – $700 is readily achieved, and can increase by $200 – $300 per additional resident.

The marginal return for a family of four that invests in a HPWH when renovating or building a new home can range from 40 – 60% per year. A strong return on investment worth considering!

Do HPWH units work well with a solar PV array?

If the family has, or installs, a solar photovoltaic system, the two technologies complement each other very well, and work particularly well in households where the main hot water demand occurs during the morning.

Setting the HPWH to operate during sunlight hours to coincide with when the solar PV can provide the power allows for the water tank “battery” to store the energy for later use.

A HPWH can improve the return on the solar power investment from 10% to 30% per year, because hot water heating makes up so much of household power bills.

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THESE DAYS YOU CAN FARM

SHEEP, CATTLE & WIND ALL AT THE SAME TIME

The winds of change are blowing in energy. People want energy that’s generated using sustainable and renewable resources.

So that’s the sort of energy that Meridian makes. At Meridian they’re committed to hydro and obviously wind power generation.

Wind is the ideal resource to farm in New Zealand. We certainly get enough of it, and it couldn’t be cleaner to harvest. At their MILL CREEK WEST WIND

Mill Creek and West Wind farms for example, Meridian can generate enough energy to power the equivalent of all the houses in Wellington city and half the houses in Lower Hutt. Even better, cattle, sheep, horses and wind all co-exist there quite happily. Why not come on their journey towards a better energy future? Find out more about joining Meridian today by visiting meridian.co.nz