Leading the charge in reducing carbon emissions
The modern-day mantra that sustainability begins at home has been put into practice by Foodstuffs North Island in its new Auckland premises which recognises sustainability as a vital part of caring for its communities, its staff, and the future of Aotearoa.
Foodstuffs Landing Drive is a purpose-built campus near Auckland Airport that houses offices, a distribution centre equivalent in size to about eight rugby fields, and spaces to hold events for up to 300 people. Sustainability is woven into every aspect of the campus, from the 2,880 solar panels on the roof to the rainwater harvesting system.
The New Zealand owned co-operative is on an ongoing journey to reduce its carbon emissions right across its business and CEO Chris Quin says the new premises are part of future-proofing that sustainable journey.
“As New Zealanders we love this place we call home, and one of our promises is we’ll be leaders in sustainability. Foodstuffs Landing Drive is very much a part of that commitment and we’re extremely proud to be calling this place home.”
Simon Wilson of RDT Pacific was the director and sustainable development advisor of the project and says sustainability was at the heart of ideating and building the campus from the very early stages. The building is leased from Auckland Airport and a commitment to sustainability is part of that partnership.
“One way to sum up this project is courage and collaboration,” says Wilson. Foodstuffs North Island worked alongside up and coming Kiwi businesses that delivered the latest in technology, design and safety features.
Significant among those features is the rooftop array of solar panels (technically known as a photovoltaic (PV) array) which directly power the building. Offsetting the electricity will result in estimated savings of 194 tons of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) each year.
Wilson says when planning of the building first got underway more than three years ago, the decision to include solar on such a scale was uncharted territory, and it required close collaboration with Shay Brazier of Revolve Energy, the PV consultant for the project.
“It started off as a conversation as to whether we could make this work and whether the options would stack up,” says Brazier. “Everyone is really proud of it and there was a lot of excitement at Foodstuffs North Island when it went live. The team has access to a live dashboard, which means everyone has visibility and can track how much CO2 and dollars are saved through solar energy.”
Brazier and Wilson agree the solar array and other sustainability features have set a benchmark for other New Zealand businesses.
“Foodstuffs North Island was brave and showed leadership,” says Wilson.
While the distribution centre can hold up to 80,000 pallets of products that are moved by fully electric forklifts and reach trucks, Foodstuffs Landing Drive is also designed to feel like home to the hundreds of “Foodies” who work there each day.
The interior fit-out is on track to achieve Green 5 Star rating by Spring 2021 and has sustainability and employee wellbeing at its heart. There is plenty of natural light, flexible working spaces and communal areas where staff from right across the business can meet and eat together. When Foodies gather for meetings or watch the in-house chefs work on recipes in the Innovation Hub, they sit on chairs that are growing the environment. A tree is planted in Gisborne’s Pamoa Forest for every chair purchased for the building.
Wilson says the fact the average person spends about 90 percent of their time inside is an important statistic to bear in mind in a project like this.
“If you recognise that as an employer roughly half of that time is inside a building you provide for your staff, you can do things like reduce the amount of nasty chemicals, increase the fresh air and generally acknowledge that buildings are machines to look after humans. Landing Drive is a very vibrant place – it’s healthy and feels energetic.”