The Dunedin consultancy that’s leading change

"Sustainability is what we do", says Dr Niki Bould, senior consultant at Ahikā. "It's what our company is all about."

The Dunedin-based company was founded by Rhys Millar in 2007. Today, it employs 12 people who all share a common goal – to make the world a better place.

"It's a prerequisite to think along those lines in order to be able to do the job that we do," says Bould. "We've got experts in energy management, carbon, waste, ecology, biodiversity, conservation, forestry, food, farms, fresh water, carbon cycles, and community development. We bring together all these specialties to make a difference. We take a multi-pronged approach; we don’t focus just on one sector. This allows us to see opportunities across businesses and between projects."

That passion for change is paying off. The consultancy was nominated in four categories in the 2020 Sustainable Business Awards for the work they do helping New Zealand businesses to reimagine their approach to sustainability. Some of their projects include Predator Free Dunedin, the Low Carbon Maori Business project, and the Hunua Forest Restoration project.

Energy efficiency and emissions

One of the businesses that Ahikā works with is Prime Range Meats (PRM), who they've provided with sustainability services since 2018, including an energy audit of the site to quantify potential savings and costs.

“When we do an energy audit we go into a business with a fresh set of eyes,” says Lloyd McGinty, a Director of Ahikā and self-confessed energy geek. “We ask a lot of simple questions like ‘Why are you doing it that way?’ or ‘Why can’t we do it this way?’”

“‘We've always done it this way,’ is a common answer. Usually it’s not ignorance or a reluctance to change that holds a company back. The companies we work with are open to trialling new initiatives and they’re often surprised at how simple the solutions can be.”

“For example, with Prime Range Meats we're doing a lot of water conservation work with them. There are strict hygiene and sterilisation regulations in the meat industry which means hot water is running all day every day. We're talking 200,000 litres a day, so it is a significant volume of water. Our audit found that using smart sensors on their hand washers will have a 75 percent reduction in water usage.”

Energy efficiency can lead to significant savings for a business and pave the way for other sustainable initiatives.

“Energy efficiency is all about reducing carbon emissions,” says McGinty. “Once we’ve worked with a company on reducing their carbon emissions, we can look at other ways to decouple the business from carbon. For example, the risks around the price of carbon. It depends on the business and what area they want to tackle first. But whether it's a conversation about energy, reducing waste, biodiversity, or whatever else, it is all about reducing carbon emissions.”

Partnering with others

Not only does Ahikā identify opportunities within businesses to improve how energy is used and how to reduce onsite carbon emissions and waste, they also look at how they can change the way they do things to regenerate our shared resources. The company offers different services to different organisations and approaches sustainability issues from a number of different angles, reflecting their team’s technical expertise.

As well as working with central and local government, iwi, NGOs, and community groups, Ahikā also works with big business, including a mining company and a food conglomerate.

“We work with some big corporates that may be doing damage, but that’s the reason we work with them. They want to do better and working with companies like that can make a big difference. We provide them with guidance and the tools to repair some of the damage they’ve done, and to then do more. We always push for an outcome of net positive gain.”

Working alongside a company like Ahikā is a high-impact way for businesses to make positive changes when it comes to sustainability, energy, and climate change. There are other tools businesses can use to make changes too. One of those is the Climate Action Toolbox, which is designed to help small to medium businesses assess their impact and take specific climate actions to reduce carbon emissions.

Learn more about the Climate Action Toolbox(external link)

Walking the talk

In terms of their own business processes, Ahikā recently invested in electric vehicles and e-bikes. They do practically all their client meetings via Zoom and the team uses sustainable forms of commuter transport, such as walking, cycling, or using the bus.

The office is paperless and has a zero-waste philosophy and the company is well on the way to achieving B-Corp certification. An Energy Manager assesses the company’s carbon emissions annually and any remaining emissions are offset via direct riparian protection on a nearby regenerative farm.

“I do a lot of work with businesses to try and help them change their behavior, but we're already in that mindset,” says Lloyd. “When you go into a business where people have never thought about catching the bus to work, it's easy to give them different options for some easy wins. It feels like people are starting to awaken to the fact that we need to change the way we do things and I love being a part of the solution with the work we do at Ahikā.”