Arthur Williamson

With his 80th birthday just around the corner in May and after seven years on the SIFT Board of Trustees, it is time to say good bye to Arthur Williamson as a SIFT trustee. Arthur has a breadth of knowledge which has seen him play an integral role in over-seeing the governance of SIFT and our many and varied projects over the years.  As the former head of Chemical and Process Engineering and Dean of Engineering at the University of Canterbury, as well as being the founder of one of New Zealand’s leading manufacturers of solar heating equipment, Thermocell Limited, Arthur not only has a valuable science background, but also holds a vast knowledge on what it takes to successfully run an environmentally sustainable business.

We spoke to Arthur to find out about his favourite SIFT projects, what he hopes for Canterbury’s sustainable business future and what his plans are for his retirement years.

Do you have a memorable SIFT project that you enjoyed working on the most?
The Waste 2 Energy (W2E) project that we have on at the moment because it has developed so much over time and the project itself presents some very interesting opportunities.

Is there a particular environmental issue facing Canterbury that you like to see tackled by a local business?
Not specific to Canterbury, but the country needs to get onto overall renewable fuels and transport systems; otherwise we will be in trouble in the very near future.

Do you have any specific hopes for Christchurch’s central city rebuild?
I hope that a group will get together that will produce an integrated sustainable development programme for the city.

What are your plans for the future, now that you have retired from your position on the Board of Trustees?
Do a few more things that I want to do!

Many thanks to Arthur from the Sustainable Initiatives Fund board of trustees and management for his advice, support, expertise and excellent engineering and energetics knowledge that have been very useful. We hope that you enjoy doing all that you now wish to do.

Prof. Emeritus Arthur Williamson

Long time SIFT Trustee, Professor Emeritus Arthur Williamson is our Green Collar Job Q&A for this week. Arthur Williamson is the founder of Thermocell, one of New Zealand’s leading solar water heating manufacturer and also former head of Chemical and Process Engineering and Dean of Engineering at the University of Canterbury. He has conducted extensive research on thermodynamics, industrial energy management and solar energy (and taught others on the subjects) for over 30 year. He is a wonderful source of information, expertise and insight to the science, technology and business management  of  SIFT projects. You can read more about Arthur here.

1.    What do you do to live more sustainably (with a low impact) in your life?
I try to reduce my domestic energy consumption by using efficient methods of doing things around the house like heating, lighting and refrigeration. I have solar water heating installed in my home. I also avoid fashion and trends so I wear my clothes until they are worn out – some of my items of clothing have patches especially on the elbows.

2.    How do you live more sustainably at work?
I try to minimise my use of paper but not very successfully and am conscious of the waste produced and turn my computer off when I am not in the office.

3.    What do you  think is the biggest environmental issue we need to deal with in Christchurch/New Zealand?
What relates to Christchurch are things that are of global significance such as vehicle fuel use – our use of fossil fuels for transport. And our expansion of the major ruminants in the interests of economic development which leads to excess water use, waterway pollution and the evolution of large amounts of extremely bad greenhouse gas called methane.

4.    What makes you smile?
Jokes based on incongruity, which most are.

5.    What is your biggest pet peeve?
My biggest pet peeve would be our obsession with monetary evaluation of all decision making processes.

6.    What is your favourite colour and why?
Red because that’s what colours Ferraris are.

7.    Do you have a favourite place in the world? Describe why?
My two favourite places are our holiday home in Bealey Spur and our house in Christchurch.

8.    What’s your connection to SIFT?
I am a long time SIFT Trustee.

9.    Do you remember your favourite teacher and why they were your favourite?
My fourth form science class teacher at High School (Hutt Valley High) because she encouraged me to become a scientist.

10.    What do you want to leave behind?
Your real immortality is your children and your grandchildren.
Whatever else you do is going ephemeral and will fade – almost all of the science I have done has been surpassed and is now out of date. I would like to think I have left behind some things that will influence the country for a better future, what those are I don’t know.

11.    What do you think the future will bring?
I think the future will bring a recognition that we do need to reduce the population of the planet, it’s a major part of sustainability. Whether we can achieve that without killing each other off in resource wars will be a matter for the politicians.

12.    Who is someone you really admire and why?
Bob Scott, one of my former bosses, is probably one of the most honest, clear thinking people I know.

13.    What is happening outside your window right now?
The sun is shining.

14.    What is your favourite breakfast?
Cup of tea, toast and marmalade.

15.    What is the best piece of advice you can give us?
Just keep trying.

The new second hand Sift Board Table

When Sift moved to its new premises in Christchurch a couple of months ago we were determined to fit out the office with as much second hand office furniture as possible. Our Trustee member and keen bargain hunter Arthur Williamson mentioned that a great glass board table was up for auction at Bryan Andrews Auctioneers so we checked it out and thought it would be perfect as our new board table. The next day Linda won the auction and the table was set up in our new offices. It is a steel, brass, glass beast of table but exactly what we were looking for and at a great price.

We discovered that the board table used to reside at PricewaterhouseCoopers.  Warren and Mahoney Architects bought the table in 1990 for the fit out of the PricewaterhouseCoopers building and then the black leather chairs were imported especially from Western Australia (they will come up nicely with some tlc).

While discovering the background of the glass board table and chairs we also discovered that PricewaterhouseCoopers has a commitment to the environment, sustainability and the communities they impact on. Good to know that the table has come from a good place!

So here’s a bit of info on the sustainable business practices of PwC:

• They are committed to ethical business practices and were a  founding member of the New Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development (they are also a member of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development).
• They are one of the key sponsors for Sustainable 60 (an award series that recognises sustainable business practice excellent) and are also involved with the Sustainable Business Network.
• Internally, they have a team called PwCGreen, who are responsible for driving internal efforts to reduce PwC’s carbon footprint (which they have fully measured over the past two years using the appropriate protocols), including recycling, eco-friendly sensor lighting, turning off signage lighting where possible, paper waste reduction, video-conferencing as an alternative to air travel and other sustainable business practices.
• For clients PwC has a climate change team dedicated to advising businesses on a range of services relating to climate change including greenhouse gas data management, reporting and verification, benchmarking and accounting for carbon credits.
• The leader of their climate change team was a member of the New Zealand Government’s Leadership Forum on climate change.
• PwC also financially supports a number of charities (chosen by staff) with the PwC Foundation and offer staff a paid day of volunteer leave for the charity of their choice.

You can find more information on PricewaterhouseCoopers here.