14 | REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT DETA T T Bernadette Cooney Working to reduce carbon footprints DETA’s core mission is to remove two million tonnes of CO2 emissions from the business supply chain by 2030. DETA are experts in energy efficiency and sustainability, working with businesses across New Zealand and Australasia, to reduce carbon footprints and improve sustainability benchmarks. As energy management engineers, and sustainability experts, their primary goal revolves around optimising business operations, implementing energy improvement projects into existing sites and devising innovative process improvements for savings in cost and resources. Over a span of nine years, DETA has evolved from a modest team of three into a force of 60 spread across four key locations: Christchurch, Wellington, Tauranga and the Sunshine Coast. The core mission of DETA is ambitious yet achievable – remove 2 million tonnes of CO2 emissions from the business supply chain by 2030. Their dedication to the cause has garnered recognition – being named as finalists in the 2023 Sustainable Business Network Awards in the Climate Action Leader category. While the award eluded them this time, the acknowledgement affirms the collective importance of striving for carbon neutrality, says DETA co-director and manager of business development and strategy, Jeff Smit. “The other finalists came from a broad range of sectors, all impacting their individual industries in a positive way. “As the only consulting firm to be nominated for this award, it shows recognition that there is a huge opportunity for collaboration in the quest for reaching net-zero.” Despite challenges such as the abolition of government grants including the Government Investment in Decarbonisation in Industry Fund (GIDI) the impetus for decarbonisation remains strong, particularly in international markets like the EU, which New Zealand heavily relies on for exports. ”Our free trade deal with the EU states its expectations of our exporters to act on reducing carbon emissions. Many of these exporters are taking action to continue their ability to access those markets.” DETA is actively engaged in aiding businesses to optimise their operations with a clear lens on energy and sustainability. This might be developing and executing energy management audits and plans, process optimisation, decarbonisation roadmaps, water and wastewater reduction strategies, or advising on corporate sustainability strategy” says Jeff. “The difference with DETA is we have the expertise to also support the client through the implementation of a plan, and we do this through our project teams and partnerships with suppliers and contractors who make the reality happen.” DETA has already left a significant imprint on the sustainability targets of several large New Zealand industries including meat processors like ANZCO Foods, Timaru Hospital, and Venues Otautahi. “At ANZCO we facilitated greater energy efficiencies by redesigning and retrofitting heat recovery plants, recovering free heat from the refrigeration system which is then boosted to produce hot water they can use throughout the plant.” DETA helped Timaru Hospital (South Canterbury DHB) eliminate its reliance on coal fired boilers, installing air-source heat pumps, which future proofed the hospital with more efficient heating and hot water systems and nil reliance on coal. “For Venues Otautahi we completed a multi-site sustainability roadmap that addresses carbon and waste reduction, energy efficiency gains and improved supply chain engagement.” With new climate reporting requirements set to impact 200 companies across New Zealand from October this year, DETA’s services are poised to witness increased demand. “As larger businesses start reporting on their emissions, particularly with new reporting standards coming into effect – there will be pressure on SMEs to react, respond and reduce their emissions because they may be directly impacting the emissions of the larger business. “In our experience, the place to start is looking at what you have and working on efficiency first. That step alone often yields significant results.” “The difference with DETA is we have the expertise to also support the client through the implementation of a plan, and we do this through our project teams and partnerships with suppliers and contractors who make the reality happen.” Airtech was proud to partner with Deta Consulting on the recent Timaru Hospital decarbonization project. To achieve the carbon savings identified by Deta, Airtech designed and then installed heat pump based systems for the space heating and domestic hot water. This work coincided with Airtech designing and installing the new theatre ventilation, chiller upgrade, emergency generator and main electrical switchboard upgrade. Deta is a skilled and valuable partner in identifying and certifying carbon savings. Well done on your recognition and achievements. www.airtech.co.nz
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