Challenge:
Improving Energy Management Across a Diverse Property Portfolio
Auckland Council faces the complexity of managing a diverse portfolio of more than 3,500 buildings, ranging from large administration offices to public-use libraries, leisure centres, and swimming pools, each possessing highly specific and variable energy use profiles. The operational requirements for these facilities are diverse, involving different occupancy patterns, hours of use, and environmental control needs, making systematic energy management particularly challenging. Efficient asset management is critical for both reducing operating costs and meeting ambitious climate targets, such as a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and net zero by 2050. The council needed detailed, real-time information across its portfolio to inform energy reduction strategies that could be consistently applied despite the complexity, scale, and variety of its assets.
Action
To address these challenges, Auckland Council partnered with BraveGen, an energy management solutions provider, beginning in 2012. The collaborative approach involved:
- Deploying advanced remote monitoring equipment on nearly 70 of the council’s most-used buildings, capturing real-time electricity, gas, water, and temperature data at 15-minute intervals.
- Utilising BraveGen’s cloud analytics platform for automated data aggregation, validation, and analysis, leveraging high-powered AWS cloud computing and machine learning to identify consumption trends and anomalies.
- Benchmarking and categorising sites by region and type—such as administration, ‘wet’ leisure (with pool), ‘dry’ leisure, library, and others—to enable targeted comparison and management at scale.
- Implementing site-specific interventions, informed by analytics and on-site context, including:
- Lighting upgrades (e.g., Remuera Library)
- Air conditioning optimisation (e.g., Papakura Service Centre)
- Chiller unit upgrades (e.g., 135 Albert St)
- Solar power installation (e.g., Wellsford Library)
- Building Management System (BMS) optimisation
- Establishing an alert system to detect, qualify, and escalate faults in utilities consumption for rapid response and rectification.
- Adopting a continuous improvement process with year-on-year energy consumption reduction targets, with a focus on achieving, verifying, and surpassing initial performance goals.
Impact
The systematic integration of BraveGen’s monitoring and analytical tools has delivered measurable results for Auckland Council:
- Energy consumption reduced by 11.73 GWh since project inception, equivalent to the annual usage of approximately 1,035 households.
- Operational cost savings of $1.5 million per year are on track through improved building performance and efficiency measures.
- Carbon emissions reduction of 1,231 tonnes CO₂-e avoided annually, directly supporting Auckland’s net zero targets.
- Targeted further 13.2% reduction in energy use for 2021, with ongoing progress towards long-term sustainability goals.
- Additional benefits have included:
- Improved air quality and lighting, leading to enhanced staff and customer wellbeing.
- Positioning the council to achieve NABERSNZ sustainability ratings for appropriate buildings.
- Enhanced resilience and adaptability during operational disruptions (e.g., Covid-19), with real-time data supporting rapid closure or modification of building operations without waste.
- Creation of a robust foundation for future strategic asset management in line with Auckland’s long-term climate and sustainability plans.
This case demonstrates how leveraging innovative digital solutions and long-term, data-driven collaboration enables large public sector organisations like Auckland Council to overcome the complexity of diverse asset portfolios and make significant progress on climate, financial, and wellbeing outcomes.