More staff, less energy - consecutive NABERSNZ ratings a winner for NDY tenancy

With NABERSNZ ratings dating back to 2016, Norman Disney & Young’s Wellington office demonstrates what’s possible.
Their back-to-back tenancy ratings reflect constant improvement and a reduction in energy use.
Norman Disney & Young Wellington Office case study [PDF 737 KB]

A success story
Over the past four years NDY has added 50 percent more staff to its Wellington office but has reduced its energy usage by nearly 5 percent in the same workspace. NDY says upgrading desktop computers to energy efficient laptops and small-scale behavioural changes by staff have been instrumental in ramping up its energy smart performance.
"Small actions are delivering positive results. All lights are turned off and laptops are shut down at night, if someone comes in early in the morning they’ll only turn on the lights they need, and we unplug equipment from the wall during holiday periods. When any appliance requires replacement – like the fridge in the staff kitchen – we’ll opt for the most energy efficient product."
Julia Thompson, NABERSNZ accredited assessor and NDY senior project engineer
Read the full case study(external link)
Background
The tenant – Norman Disney & Young
Norman Disney & Young (NDY) is a global building services engineering consultancy with a presence in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. It has offices in Auckland and Wellington.
The location
NDY occupies around 400 square metres of central Wellington office space in the Podium at No.1 The Terrace, opposite the Beehive and Parliamentary precinct. Comprising a section of ground floor, a mezzanine space and shared bathrooms with a neighbouring café, NDY’s workspace is open plan, comfortable and spacious. Ceilings feature exposed structure and services including energy efficient chilled beams. All lighting and small electricity used by NDY is recorded by a check meter at the tenancy distribution board.
The team
Approximately 33 people work in NDY’s Wellington office. NDY supports flexible working so a handful of staff may be working from home on any given day.
Key numbers
Annual NABERSNZ tenancy ratings are driving constant improvement.
Since 2016:
- staff numbers increased by 22
- energy consumption reduced by nearly 5%
- current energy use 102 kWh/year/m2
- NABERSNZ rating improved from 3 to 4.5 stars
NDY’s Auckland office has achieved a 4.5 star tenancy rating in its former premises – it’s currently seeking a NABERSNZ tenancy at its new office.
NDY has three accredited NABERSNZ assessors and one trainee assessor across its New Zealand operation.