Better environment

Building a better environment

the green house offers a range of services designed to ensure that your business meets and exceeds its environmental responsibilities in key areas such as recycling, energy, carbon, renewables and education.

Whether you are looking at increasing your levels of recycling, lowering the amount of energy you use or even just gaining control over your current processes and systems – the green house is the perfect partner to offer assistance.

the green house has access to a Green Supply Chain consisting of over 150 service partners ranging from recycling companies to Smart Meter manufacturers. the green house combines this with its considerable experience in environmental management to create a simple yet powerful package – ideal for businesses who want to achieve strong levels of Corporate Social Responsibility without compromising cost or operations.

 RECYLING:

High Impact

Landfill as an end point for commercial waste is an archaic concept that commercially is in decline. Alternative solutions for dealing with the disposal of waste from businesses are required that meet commercial, operational and ethical standards.
the green house has built an impressive network of alternative solutions that it currently offers its clients – resulting in increased levels of sustainability, transparency and reduction in costs.
the green house has particular experience in commodity trading and can help businesses turn waste from a cost into a valuable resource generating revenues from materials such as cardboard, plastics and cooking oil.

Energy:

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Most companies have little control over their energy usage, relying on invoices to provide data (by which time it is out of date).
the green house has solutions that can provide analysis and management of energy usage in real-time to allow business to take control over their energy usage and make commercial decisions based on current and relevant data.
Products include sophisticated metering, including advanced and SMART meters, fast and secure data collection covering consumption, carbon and costs, providing valuable data and inputs for use in energy certificates (DECs, EPCs) and bill verification.

Carbon Management:

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Probably the highest profile environmental service thanks to extensive media coverage and sector development. The Carbon market doubled in size in 2008 from $32bn to $64bn per annum and yet many businesses still know only the basics such as what their Carbon Footprint is or was in the previous year.
That is changing and now businesses want to know what their Carbon Footprint is in real-time and how they are managing the amount of Carbon they are responsible for producing.
the green house offers businesses a fully outsourced Carbon solution which will include business alerts/early warning summaries, benchmarking and prioritisation and emissions and Carbon Reduction Commitment Compliance (CRC)
the green house will then undertake an improvement and implementation strategy to reduce the active footprint a client has.
Improvement – proactive Energy Management and ongoing Carbon Control initiatives including alerts and controls, business process changes, active management of energy through constant monitoring and changing staff behaviour.
Implementation – technology upgrades, proactive maintenance and installing energy efficient devices all deliver measurable benefits. Hardware and technologies covered include air conditioning, heating, lighting, office equipment, building controls and Building Management Systems.

Education:

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One of the most difficult things for businesses to overcome when attempting to improve their CSR credentials is attaining the complete ‘buy-in’ of senior management and the workforce. From an operational point of view it also makes the job of a company such as the green house harder as communicating information quickly and effectively becomes difficult.
To counter this the green house delivers a host of internal and external marketing and education solutions ranging from briefing notes to systems processes, websites and ecoPacks.
The end result of these processes is an efficient implementation of all new environmental measures and maximum exposure to stakeholders for the achievements in reaching targets.

Renewables:

 

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An exciting aspect of the environmental sector that is developing quickly is commercial micro-generation – businesses generating their own energy. As well as combatting increasing energy costs businesses generating their own energy can also take advantage of new Governmental measures introduced in April 2010 such as the Clean Energy Cashback Scheme, where businesses will be paid for any renewable energy they produce.
the green house has a number of solutions that can enable businesses to generate their own energy. In many cases, there is a direct correlation between other green house solutions that can create significant synergies for businesses.
Mini Case Study
In the case of shopping centres often food waste represents over 50% of the total waste output which could meet the necessary volumes to install a micro-anaerobic digestion facility on site. 100% of the organic waste produced could be fed into this process which is then used to generate electricity to power the building – thereby achieving the second objective of cutting energy usage.

The big picture

With the background of increasing government regulations for emission reduction targets, businesses need to comply with new policies cost-effectively. the green house can help companies to achieve this by advising on all aspects of compliance with current and impending legislation. This will include the following:

• Climate Change Agreements (CCAs)
• EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS)
• UK Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS)

An Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) is a document which states the energy efficiency of a building based on the standardised way that the building is used. Carbon dioxide (CO2) ratings are shown in bandings from A to G and this has now become an EU Directive that affects every building in the UK.

Auditing

The first step to improving the energy efficiency of your company is to find out where the energy is used. Energy Management Solutions can carry out an energy audit which will show you where savings can be made without adversely affecting the overall performance of the operation.
The results of the audit will vary company to company but will often include suggestions for the installation of new technologies such as Voltage Optimisation, Smart Meters and/or Renewable Energy solutions as well as best practice procedures and energy workforce processes.

Data Management

the green house offers a management service to collate data such as:

• Sophisticated metering, including advanced and SMART meters
• Fast and secure data collection covering consumption, carbon and costs
• Providing valuable data and inputs for use in energy certificates (DECs, EPCs)
• Carbon, energy and CRC reporting
• Bill verification services

Meter Operations

Through a partnership agreement with a leading commercial body the green house can offer its clients a hands-on service of managing the supply of energy to the buildings with services that includes:

• Sophisticated equipment for electricity, gas, water and more
• True nationwide coverage
• Advanced metering, Multi-utility and Sub metering for even more visibility
• Choice of flexible communications
• Expert, highly trained engineers

Energy Intelligence

If businesses don’t put their carbon and energy data into context, they will not gain a true picture of current activity, opportunities available and future direction.

• the green house analytics transform the data into actionable insight.
• Analytics
• Benchmarking
• Recommendations
• Strategy development
• Advanced bureau services
• Complete energy certification support (DECs, EPCs)

Compliance

the green house advises on how to comply with legislation including:

• Emissions Trading Scheme (EUETS) and Climate Change Agreements (CCAs)
• Emission trading scheme application and verification
• Energy Efficiency Accreditation Scheme

The big picture

With the background of increasing government regulations for emission reduction targets, businesses need to comply with new policies cost-effectively. the green house can help companies to achieve this by advising on all aspects of compliance with current and impending legislation. This will include the following:

• Climate Change Agreements (CCAs)
• EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS)
• UK Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS)

An Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) is a document which states the energy efficiency of a building based on the standardised way that the building is used. Carbon dioxide (CO2) ratings are shown in bandings from A to G and this has now become an EU Directive that affects every building in the UK.

Auditing

The first step to improving the energy efficiency of your company is to find out where the energy is used. Energy Management Solutions can carry out an energy audit which will show you where savings can be made without adversely affecting the overall performance of the operation.
The results of the audit will vary company to company but will often include suggestions for the installation of new technologies such as Voltage Optimisation, Smart Meters and/or Renewable Energy solutions as well as best practice procedures and energy workforce processes.

Data Management

the green house offers a management service to collate data such as:

• Sophisticated metering, including advanced and SMART meters
• Fast and secure data collection covering consumption, carbon and costs
• Providing valuable data and inputs for use in energy certificates (DECs, EPCs)
• Carbon, energy and CRC reporting
• Bill verification services

Meter Operations

Through a partnership agreement with a leading commercial body the green house can offer its clients a hands-on service of managing the supply of energy to the buildings with services that includes:

• Sophisticated equipment for electricity, gas, water and more
• True nationwide coverage
• Advanced metering, Multi-utility and Sub metering for even more visibility
• Choice of flexible communications
• Expert, highly trained engineers

Energy Intelligence

If businesses don’t put their carbon and energy data into context, they will not gain a true picture of current activity, opportunities available and future direction.

• the green house analytics transform the data into actionable insight.
• Analytics
• Benchmarking
• Recommendations
• Strategy development
• Advanced bureau services
• Complete energy certification support (DECs, EPCs)

Compliance

the green house advises on how to comply with legislation including:

• Emissions Trading Scheme (EUETS) and Climate Change Agreements (CCAs)
• Emission trading scheme application and verification
• Energy Efficiency Accreditation Scheme

Environmental Friends

Environmentally Friendly

    * our products are made from recyclable materials which are more environmentally friendly and also require less conventional energy to manufacture
    * the heart of our solar heaters is the special solar radiation absorber that we developed and which imparts outstanding solar performance to our solar heaters. This solar radiation absorber has a very long service life and is recyclable, this way it does not have a detrimental effect upon the natural environment
    * we use in our workshop less than 0.2 kWh of conventional energy to manufacture one square metre of solar collector - this low consumption is unparalleled
    * our solar heaters protect the environment because less pollution is produced when manufacturing them than when using fossil fuel to supply the energy they would give throughout their working lives
    * the high efficiency of our solar heaters results in smaller necessary equipment and therefore reduced stress upon the natural environment
    * using solar energy does not produce greenhouse gases but reduces them; for example, it is estimated (the Department of Mines and Energy of the Queensland Government) that a good domestic solar hot water system can prevent 2.5 tones of CO2 from being released into the atmosphere each year
    * all aspects of the environmental impact are reduced in the case of our products.


Environmental Impact

There are three main aspects relating to the environmental impact of our society: additional heat, greenhouse gases and heavy metals.
Additional heat

is produced by burning fossil fuels when generating the power or heat needed for domestic or industrial use. This additional heat, that would not be produced naturally, raises the temperature of the Earth and induces changes in the climate that are destructive for both nature and for our economy.

There is no additional heat produced by using solar energy because the solar radiation would otherwise just warm up the ground.

It is very difficult to calculate the total quantity of energy used to manufacture a complex product because of the long manufacturing chain. Additionally, there are large quantities of energy involved in the transport of materials. However, it is well known that the complex process of metal fabrication needs more energy than manufacturing plastics. Generally, the simpler and the lighter the object - the less energy was needed to manufacture it.

Our workshop uses less than 0.2 kWh of conventional energy to manufacture one square metre of solar collector - this low consumption is unparalleled.
Greenhouse gases

(mainly CO2) are produced when generating heat through the burning of coal, oil and natural gas. These gases increase the thermally insulating properties of the atmosphere, thus diminishing the loss of heat of the Earth to outer space; the result is an increase in average Earth temperature and the generation of climatic disturbances.

Very large quantities of greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere when producing heat from electricity because thermal power plants work with low efficiency; about 10 times more coal must be burnt to generate heat from electricity than by producing that heat directly from coal.

The main environmental advantage of using solar energy is that it does not produce greenhouse gases. For example, it is estimated (the Department of Mines and Energy of the Queensland Government) that a good domestic solar hot water system can prevent 2.5 tones of CO2 being released into the atmosphere each year.
Heavy metals

- copper, zinc, tin, chromium, nickel, silver - are amongst the most important pollutants and, unfortunately, are still the materials which are mainly used in the manufacture of solar energy devices. Because these metals are poisonous, health regulations have been enforced to limit the concentration of these allowed in our food and drinking water.

Large quantities of heavy metals result as waste in the process of obtaining copper, brass or stainless steel metals (at mines, smelters, refining plants, metallurgical plants). This waste also results from the manufacturing process of old-type solar energy devices. When the life of such devices ends and they is discarded, their decay continues until they disintegrate and free the heavy metals contained.

A solar energy device protects the natural environment if less pollution is produced when manufacturing it than when using conventional energy to supply the energy it would give throughout its working life.

For decades, solar energy devices were mainly made out of metals with a substantial proportion of heavy metals. Heavy metals are used in the construction of the absorber plates, heat exchangers, the valves and fittings, the hot water tanks and the jackets.

We changed that by using polymers (plastics) as the main building materials of our solar energy devices. Plastics do not corrode and have better mechanical properties than expected. They can be obtained from many organic substances, including renewable substances, and they can be recycled.

Our solar energy devices are very environmentally friendly as:

    * they save large quantities of fossil fuel because they have a good solar energy collecting performance
    * we use small quantities of conventional energy to manufacture our products
    * we use environmentally friendly materials

Environmental Issues and Ecotourism Benefits

The following information was contributed by Alan Wilkinson of Wilderness Ecowalks. Ecowalks enables visitors to learn the local history in the unspoilt bush that surrounds Auckland City.

What are the environmental issues that make this spot an appropriate ecotourist destination?

In New Zealand, we do have many of the same issues that plague all developed countries, such as waste disposal, which in some cities is still just buried in large landfill areas, which as you know comes back to haunt us all with leachates and slumping of the ground. In some of the cities we have large recycling centres and the main area in which I do my tours is regarded as an Ecofriendly city with recycling efforts being developed at all times. In some instances I am aware that tours by the council are provided for interested overseas officials. Waste disposal seems to be a major curse of all developed countries as we tend become a through away society, but efforts are being made in most cities to recycle with the local governments providing specialised bins for each household for plastics, metals, and paper/cardboard. We are also encouraged to put all organic waste into either recycle centres for compost making or to make your own compost.

We are also very aware of the environmental issues that occur with tourism and in the parks many of the sensitive areas are 'fenced off', and are only able to be entered by permits obtained from the powers to be. Other areas have board walks provided to prevent damage to the environment.

What are the specific benefits ecotourism brings to this area and the down sides to it?

Ecotourism is promoted by myself, as I love the outdoors, and believe that if I can make people aware of how fragile the land is and we can easily destroy what we have, then I have succeded in starting to help protect the environment. All the areas that I walk in are designated for tours and I also have the responsibility as a sanctioned operator to report any damage that I encounter whilst in the bush. Like all things that we do we inevitably do damage the environment, but if we can leesen the damge by doing it correctly then it will recover in time, which is one of the reasons my tours/walks are limited to a max. of 6 people at one time.

What are the dangers visitors might face and are there any specific vaccinations and / or medicines required?

We in New Zealand have no wild animals that attack people. We do have introduced animals such as deer, pigs, goats etc. There are no snakes in NZ, and we have only two poisonous spiders one of which was introduced from Australia. To get bitten one has to have been provoking these spiders. No vaccinations are required for people visiting NZ as we do not have many diseases, thankfully. If one is allergic to bees or wasps then one should bring medication as in the Spring/Summer these insects are active gathering pollen etc and will sting if disturbed or interrupted from carrying out their normal tasks.

As NZ is a relatively new country we still have many unspoiled, unsettled, and even some unmapped areas of wild country. We have many natural features that are closely looked after not only for our heritage but also for the world to enjoy

Environmental List

The natural environment comprises all naturally-occurring surroundings and conditions in which living things grow and interact on Earth. These include complete landscape units that function as natural systems without major human intervention, as well as plants, animals, rocks, and natural phenomena occurring within their boundaries. They also include non-local or universal natural resources that lack clear-cut boundaries, such as air, water and climate.

The concept of the natural environment can be distinguished by components:

* Complete ecological units that function as natural systems without massive human intervention, including all vegetation, animals, microorganisms, soil, rocks, atmosphere and natural phenomena that occur within their boundaries.

* Universal natural resources and physical phenomena that lack clear-cut boundaries, such as air, water, and climate, as well as energy, radiation, electric charge, and magnetism, not originating from human activity.

As human population numbers increase and as humans continue to evolve, human activity modifies the natural environment at a rapidly increasing rate, producing what is referred to as the built environment. The potential of the natural environment to sustain these anthropogenic changes while continuing to function as an ecosystem is an issue of major worldwide concern. Key environmental areas of interest include climate change, water supply and waste water, air pollution, waste management and hazardous waste, and land use issues such as deforestation, desertification, and urban sprawl.
More about the environment...

... Parts of the physical environment are at risk because they are fragile: natural habitats,
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Nitrogen stable isotope ( 15 N, 14 N) natural abundance has been much less used than carbon
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