Hobsonville Point Secondary School and Hobsonville Point Primary School have significantly different designs to any other New Zealand school for construction quality, building performance and also in terms of their effectiveness as contemporary learning environments. The schools have also achieved a five star Green Star rating indicating New Zealand excellence.

The state-of-the-art schools cater to students from the new Hobsonville Point residential development, but will later accommodate the wider Hobsonville/West Harbour area. With continuously expanding rolls, both schools required a reliable hot water heating system that would be powerful enough to consistently provide hot water all year round while being economical to run.

Ecologically Responsible and Energy-Efficient

In the installation tender document, global building engineers, Aecom specified Hot Water Heat Pumps Limited to manufacture the equipment providing hot water heating throughout the schools.

Kevin Trigg, Sales and Marketing Manager at Hot Water Heat Pumps Limited says, "When engineers at Aecom consulted on the school's requirements, we recommended a Performance Plus heat pump water heater that was powerful enough to constantly provide hot water all year round without costing the earth to run."

A Performance Plus 7GD42-3 heat pump water heater was installed in the primary school to maintain two substantial 1000L water tanks. The tanks are maintained up to 60°C, providing hot water throughout the school. For the secondary school, two 1000L duplex stainless steel insert cylinders (for outdoor use) and one Performance Plus 7GD60-3 heat pump to maintain 60°C water in the cylinders. The equipment was installed on top of both school's roofs by local firm Hanlon Plumbing.

Four years after the heat pumps were installed, they have been put to good use by both schools. Maintenance providers who check the heating systems quarterly for the schools are happy with the performance of the heat pumps, saying that they are still running well and have had no maintenance issues. "The heat pumps extract heat energy out of the air and put it into the water. This means that on average, the running costs for the heat pumps should be less than two thirds of alternative heat sources," explains Trigg.

EECA Evaluations and Savings

EECA is helping to make investing in clean, green, energy-efficient options such as water heating heat pumps used at both Hobsonville Point schools a more practical solution. EECA has investigated the efficiency of Heat Pumps supplied by Hot Water Heat Pumps on a large community pool. They found, "Three months after the new heat pumps started operation the company is on track to cut its energy bill by a third (over $60,000 per annum), while maintenance costs have also dropped steeply." They offer funding and support for businesses that meet their criteria to help make the initial investment more feasible. EECA states on their business website, "Investing in energy efficiency will deliver returns for your business."