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Find the latest sustainable building news and New Zealand Green Building Council developments.

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Green Property Summit: Beyond the Why

Tē tōia, tē haumatia Nothing can be achieved without a plan, workforce and way of doing things. It’s with huge thanks to Rui Peng from Critical who raised the roof with more than 300 of you joining us in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland for the annual Green Property Summit. We often hear feedback on our...

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ERP2: Let's not wait until it's too late!

The built environment presents huge opportunities to slash emissions quickly, and cost-effectively. With the draft ERP2 containing just a line or two about buildings, there's a large gap to fill. Suffice to say, our response is a whole new chapter in itself. Our key recommendations include:

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3 Must Reads on Sustainable Finance

The world of sustainable finance, green finance, green bonds, sustainable loans is moving fast. No matter whether you’re in Treasury, project finance, business lending, developers, investors, or heads of sustainability, it’s hard to keep up. So here are our top three reads released over the last...

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Movers and Shakers Q&A with Jo Woods

Our Movers and Shakers series is spotlighting Aotearoa's leading sustainability professionals transforming the way we design, build and operate our buildings and homes. These are the people leading the charge for a more sustainable built-environment throughout Aotearoa. Jo Woods Jo Woods is the...

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New sustainable finance guide launched

As lenders and borrowers increasingly look to cut emissions and support others to do the same, the New Zealand Green Building Council has released an important guide to help the market answer the question ‘what is a green building?’ and “how can I evidence my green portfolio for finance.’

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Movers and Shakers Q&A with Dave Annable

Our Movers and Shakers series is spotlighting Aotearoa's leading sustainability professionals transforming the way we design, build and operate our buildings and homes. These are the people leading the charge for a more sustainable built-environment throughout Aotearoa. Dave Annable Dave is a...

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New Zealand’s largest property, construction and business organisations call on Government to improve buildings as part of upcoming Emissions Reduction Plan

A letter to Climate Change Minister Simon Watts and Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk is urging the government to commit to energy labels on homes and buildings – similar to those required on domestic appliances, and to commit to MBIE’s Building for Climate Change programme aimed at...

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CEO update: Heating up

As we hunker down and wrap up warm, on the other side of the world there’s an alarming reminder of the urgent need for climate action. In the past days and weeks, communities worldwide have mourned lives lost to extreme temperatures – More than 1,300 people died during this year’s Hajj pilgrimage...

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Farewell and thank you to Emma Bijleveld

Over the past three years many of you may have worked with Emma Bijleveld, our Professional Development Manager and integral part of the NZGBC team. We are sad to announce that Emma is moving home to the Netherlands, but equally excited for her next adventure.

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Movers and Shakers Q&A with Danica Holgado

Our Movers and Shakers series is spotlighting Aotearoa's leading sustainability professionals transforming the way we design, build and operate our buildings and homes. These are the people leading the charge for a more sustainable built-environment throughout Aotearoa. Danica Holgado Danica is...

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CEO update: A massive month

The day after budget day and I’ll be honest, it didn’t make for pleasant reading. Instead of cracking on with awesome pollution-busting, cost-saving measures like energy efficiency and the expanded Warmer Kiwi Homes Programme, our government has scaled back climate initiatives and failed to fund...

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Movers and Shakers Q&A with Amanda Bryan

Our Movers and Shakers series is spotlighting Aotearoa's leading sustainability professionals transforming the way we design, build and operate our buildings and homes. These are the people leading the charge for a more sustainable built-environment throughout Aotearoa. Amanda Bryan Amanda is NZ...

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Housing Summit 2024 Recap

What a day! Thanks to the 300 plus people who joined us at Housing Summit 2024, supporting New Zealand’s journey to a low-carbon future and better homes. The packed room mirrored the packed schedule – it was a big one with lots to digest. Here’s our attempt to unpack the day and some of our key...

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CEO update: Getting on with it

2024 is passing as a blur – it’s been all go with events and courses, our team is working through a mountain of registrations and new certifications, providing new training such as air tightness webinars, we’re updating tools and improving our new website and systems, and more broadly we’re...

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Movers and Shakers Q&A with Abbey Pickering

Our Movers and Shakers series is spotlighting Aotearoa's leading sustainability professionals transforming the way we design, build and operate our buildings and homes. These are the people leading the charge for a more sustainable built-environment throughout Aotearoa. Abbey Pickering Abbey is an...

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Movers and Shakers Q&A with Bridget Pyć

Spotlighting Aotearoa's leading sustainability professionals who are transforming the way we design, build and operate our buildings and homes. These are the people leading the mission for a more sustainable built-environment across Aotearoa. Bridget Pyć Bridget is centre stage in the push for...

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CEO update: The heat is on

It’s getting hotter. 2023 was the warmest on record thanks to human-cause climate change and boosted by El Nino weather event. 200 days of the year saw new daily global temperature records for that time of year according to the BBC.

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CEO update: Collective action

Photo by Hunter Cosford on Unsplash This week years of industry action, advocacy, and collective change contributed to something I think is pretty awesome. The latest Construction Industry Council key design guidelines. Sure, it didn’t dominate the news cycle or enter into many office watercooler...

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New carbon reduction requirements coming 1st January

Since October 2022, all new Green Star projects have been registered under Design & As Built v1.1. One of the main changes from the previous version (v1.0) was the introduction of the Conditional Requirement for minimum Upfront Carbon reductions. This new requirement was included to emphasise the...

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ECCHO reaches its 7000th home milestone

A basic, but vital step is for our industry to measuring our impact, and the performance of the homes we create. In the latest iteration of Homestar, version 5, we introduced new carbon accountability requirements for homes aiming for certification. Alongside these requirements, we created the...

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Meet our interns

We are thrilled to have three fantastic interns joining the NZGBC whānau for the summer, Melika Rabbani-Khah, Bhavya Jasti and Vincent Heijnen. They will be supporting our Green Star and Homestar teams and getting involved with Future Thinker events.

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CEO update: The next chapter

Hopefully over Labour weekend you had an opportunity to relax, enjoy the sun, and perhaps crack into that book that’s been sitting on the bedside table for months. If you were able to finish it or are after something new, I’ve got your next bit of light reading all lined up… the International...

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CEO update: The need for a vision

Photo by Tim Marshall on Unsplash There’s barely a day that goes by when I don’t have cause to speak to, or reflect on, our vision for all homes and buildings in Aotearoa to be green and sustainable, making healthier, happier New Zealanders.

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Blower door testing: What is it and why should you care?

We’re seeing increasing demand for high performance building envelopes, with blower door testing an essential tool to ensuring great results. But while it’s common practice in many parts of the world, we’re yet to see this important practice taking hold here in Aotearoa New Zealand. With demand...

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CEO update: A huge opportunity to make a difference

As the election draws ever closer, our sector has an incredible opportunity. In the face of a climate crisis, of which our sector is a major contributor, we also have the means right now to significantly reduce our emissions while also reducing living costs and improving the health of our people....

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CEO update: Everything, everywhere all at once

Earlier this year, UN secretary general António Guterres issued a stark call to “massively fast-track climate efforts by every country and every sector and on every timeframe. Our world needs climate action on all fronts: everything, everywhere, all at once.”

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CEO update: Our greatest challenge

We're facing the greatest challenge our industry has ever faced. Recent figures released by the Ministry for the Environment show that the carbon pollution associated with construction is soaring. Under the Paris Agreement, New Zealand has committed to reduce carbon emissions to 50% below 2005’s...

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Haere rā Lena Albrecht

Many of you have come to recognise and rely on Lena Albrecht who has worn many hats for us during her seven years with the Green Building Council. Lena has been instrumental in the growth of our events and professional development programmes.

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Update on Green Star Buildings NZ

Green Star Buildings - the latest version of Green Star, is being adapted for the New Zealand market. Following last year’s consultation, we have been working with our colleagues at GBCA, our Green Star Advisory Committee, local technical experts and this week finished our last session with our...

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CEO update: New year, same resolution

Photo by Mark de Jong on Unsplash Happy new year. I hope you are well and had a fantastic break. Last year saw tremendous steps forward with major commitments to drive lower carbon healthier buildings through changes to the building code and energy labels on buildings. Government procurement also...

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Welcome to our summer interns

We are grateful to be joined by Yash Bhatia and Zoey Zheng for the next few months as part of our summer internship programme. They’ll be helping our Green Star and Homestar teams as we process a record number of new projects coming through. Please join us in welcoming Yash and Zoey to the team!

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CEO update: Seven steps we need to take by 2030

Photo by Aaron Birch on Unsplash While there’s only a few frantic weeks left before our office closes, our recent AGM has me in reflection mode already. It’s been a massive year for us as an organisation, for New Zealand generally, and importantly, for our efforts to address climate change.

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CEO update: Your voice is important

Together we’re re-shaping the built environment, the way we plan, design, build, and operate our homes and buildings. Together we’re pushing for real change, driving improvements to our Building Code, and embedding sustainability into our regulatory systems and policy. Together we’re learning,...

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CEO update: Supply, solutions and a spectacular summit

Photo by Matthew Henry on Unsplash Not for the first time this winter, New Zealand’s electricity supply struggled to keep up with demand. Transpower yet again announced to generators that power cuts were at risk unless supply was increased. Driving the demand on cold winter mornings and evenings...

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CEO update: Our climate

Aotearoa now has a plan for how we adapt to the effects of climate change. Released this week by Climate Change Minister James Shaw, the National Adaptation Plan aims to provide a blueprint for more climate resilient communities.

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Another winter showcasing our cold, unhealthy homes

Every year the weather turns and we’re reminded yet again about the sorry state of our homes. Every year charity drives ramp up to support whānau to stay warm, dry and healthy, while our health system battles with preventable illness exacerbated by homes that fail to provide a healthy environment.

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