Winery wins EECA SME Business Award

Yealands Estate won the award for Small to Medium Businesses and was commended in the Innovation category at the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Awards, held by the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) in Auckland.

The Marlborough winery opened in August 2008; the award comes just two months after the winery received CaboNZero certification.

“The wine business is hugely energy intensive, but this award goes to show that sustainable wine production is not only possible, it is commercially viable on a large scale," said owner and founder Peter Yealands.

"Our mission is to become New Zealand’s most sustainable winery and this accolade is a great acknowledgement of that."

The award judges acknowledged the wide range of energy-efficiency initiatives that were incorporated into the design of Yealands Estate.

The judge’s report specifically mentioned the installation of solar panels, insulated tanks and wind-powered electricity generators but other initiatives include harvesting stormwater to irrigate the vineyards around the winery and developing more than 20 wetland areas to preserve native species and attract native birds.

Mike Underhill, EECA Chief Executive, describes the awards as a way to clearly show the value that good energy management can deliver to businesses.

“If every one of New Zealand’s 346,000 businesses took the same approach then we would see massive energy and emission reductions worth billions to our economy,” Underhill said.

The EECA Awards feature New Zealand businesses and individuals who have achieved great things in energy efficiency or renewable energy projects. There are nine category awards and one Supreme Award.