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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...

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...

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...

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.

In our new Q&A series we're putting the spotlight on some of Aotearoa's leading sustainability professionals who’re transforming the way we design, build and operate our buildings and homes.

BRANZ has updated tools and resources to help building designers meet and exceed the recently updated acceptable solutions and verification methods for energy efficiency in the Building Code.

In our new Q&A series we're putting the spotlight on some of Aotearoa's leading sustainability professionals who’re transforming the way we design, build and operate our buildings and homes.

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...

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.

Over the past few months, our Green Star team have travelled across Aotearoa, meeting with many industry organizations and reaching out to stakeholders to hear what you think about Green Star Buildings NZ, the next iteration of the Green Star new buildings tool.

In our new Q&A series we're putting the spotlight on some of Aotearoa's leading sustainability professionals who’re transforming the way we design, build and operate our buildings and homes.

Josefin Bloom has recently joined the Green Star team as a Technical Coordinator, bringing with her a real passion for environmental and social sustainability. Josefin is Swedish and has moved to Aotearoa after falling in love with the lifestyle and abundance of nature here.

Anyone with half an eye on current affairs in Aotearoa will know that there’s only one show in town at the moment. It’s full of talk about right wing, left wing, who’s taking control of the important centre ground. There’s big set pieces, off-the-cuff moments that swing momentum, and keenly...

There will be many political hustings/political panels ahead of the October election. With climate a key issue, and our sector providing a huge untapped opportunity to slash emissions, there remain major gaps in the political conversation.

Government and Council funded home improvement schemes have helped deliver thousands of healthier homes over the years and, alongside the recent development of healthy home loan top-ups from banks, a much needed part of the funding solution if we are to achieve net zero emission homes.

The Housing Summit 2024 will be the biggest ever, packed with hundreds of passionate and influential people who want New Zealand homes to be better, healthier places.

Photo by Elliot Blyth on Unsplash The New Zealand government has removed Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) on public transport, bikes, ebikes and scooters, opening up greater incentives for employees to use more environmentally friendly transport.

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...

Photo by Irina Iriser on Unsplash It’s about 17 years since the Stern Review on the economics of climate change was published. Sweeping up headlines around the world, it clearly concluded that “the benefits of strong and early action far outweigh the economic costs of not acting.”

In six months, on 1 January 2024, we will have just six years to halve climate polluting emissions. When we have achieved this, it will be the greatest success ever for our industry, and you’re going to be a key part of that success.

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....

Get ready - consultation on the latest version of Green Star is coming this July.

Hours before the Budget was announced – always one of the biggest and busiest domestic news events of the year, which hoovers up journalists’ attention and the bandwidth of media outlets – the government released their response to the Commerce Commission’s investigation into the broken residential...

Economic outlook The recovery from COVID-19 continues to exceed expectations following the global financial crisis (GFC), with economic activity now 6.7 percent ahead of the pre-COVID-19 peak.

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.”

Leading experts in the construction and property sector have today released three comprehensive climate change scenarios to guide the industry on how they assess and report on what climate change means for their business.

Another sign of industry confidence in ECCHO as an online energy modelling tool for Building Code energy performance compliance.

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...

The government has just received new advice and recommendations from the Climate Change Commission, intended to guide Aotearoa to a healthy, zero carbon country by 2050.

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.

Following our recent webinar on ventilation and airtightness, we received some feedback that I think is important to share.

We're delighted to announce this year's Future Thinker of the Year shortlist: Ruby Crooks, Maggie MacKinnon, Luis Medrano, Emily Newmarch, Oludolapo Olanrewaju, Rana Abdollahi Rizi, Nola Smart, Maria Walker, and Alexander Wierzbicki.

At our 2022 AGM we had the opportunity to farewell and thank Steve Aschebrock. Steve has stepping down after a brilliant nine years on the NZGBC board, including four as chair. In that time there has been a huge shift in the way New Zealand designs and builds our homes and buildings. We’ve expanded...

The latest IPCC synthesis report makes for bleak reading, but there remains a few rays of hope. As the authors say, ‘if we act now, we can still secure a livable sustainable future for all.”

Brendon Dwyer takes over the reins as New Zealand Green Building Council Board Chair after being formally voted in at the February board meeting. He has been acting chair since Steve Aschebrock retired from the board late last year.

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...

The requirement for Homestar projects to calculate and report on their embodied emissions is being expanded to cover all standalone homes.

This past month saw hundreds of New Zealanders scrambling to prepare for yet another deluge. It's been a devastating time for New Zealand in which we lost loved ones, homes and possessions.

A new report by consultants Aurecon, with costings by quantity surveyors Kwanto, provides a detailed review of the various requirements and specifications to achieve a 6 Homestar v5 rating, and how that compares with the necessary steps to meet NZ Building Code’s H1 Energy Efficiency clause.

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...

Photo by Ethan Hooson on Unsplash The New Zealand Green Building Council has brought together industry leaders to identify key issues for those disclosing their climate-related financial risks.

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!

We’ve just finished up the first round of consultation on some of the biggest changes to Green Star yet. Green Star Buildings will replace Green Star Design & As Built NZ v1.1 when introduced in late 2023.

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.

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,...

Amidst the panoply of presentations, the keen conversations, and the forging of friendships, three key themes chimed loudly throughout the day at the packed Housing Summit held just days ago.

With greater density and urban intensification New Zealand has seen a surge in mixed-use buildings. Ground floor shops under apartments, apartments and offices in the same tower block – we’re increasingly seeing both commercial and residential buildings being built together. However, for those...

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...

We are in a global climate emergency that requires all sectors of society to understand their obligations, and to act to ensure New Zealand can achieve the emission reductions to stay within 1.5-degrees of warming as required under the Paris Agreement.

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.

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.

There was a trilogy of big climate change stories over the last few days, all of which have an impact on our mission to deliver healthy, less polluting, low carbon homes and buildings for all New Zealanders. The first two were big New Zealand government set pieces widely trailed and eventually...

Following the second round of judging, we are delighted to present this year's four Future Thinker of the Year finalists Eloise Blewden, Megan Burfoot, Jasmine Fletcher, and Kim Mi Yeoh. They all demonstrate fantastic leadership and are doing some exciting work in the sustainable building space.

The one year extension to the Warmer Kiwi Homes programme announced in today’s Budget has been called ‘literally the least the government could do’ by the Green Building Council.

April kicks off the start of a major shift in government building.

Twelve of Christchurch’s most innovative and sustainable homes are opening their doors to the public in June to highlight smart technologies and modern building methods.

We are thrilled to announce the six shortlisted applicants for this year's Future Thinker of the Year. There was a brilliant pool of applicants this year with some incredible passion on display, and mahi being done out there in our universities, institutions and workplaces.

Earlier this month, the United Nations’ key climate science outfit warned that there must be ‘rapid, deep and immediate’ cuts in carbon pollution.

2022 is a huge year for all councils in Aotearoa. Every local authority will be having elections this year, on 8 October. That’s all our local and regional councils. They all do important work and work that can help – or sometimes hinder – green buildings, healthy homes and resilient communities.

It's been a busy start to the year, and we're thrilled to welcome a host of new talent to the NZGBC, including some exciting new roles.

Climate change is going to be headline news again in just a few days.

On Friday the 24th of August, the New Zealand Institute of Building (NZIOB) will hosting the 25 th edition of their annual awards programme. They are marking this milestone by undertaking a significant refresh of the event, including giving the awards it’s new name and introducing some new focuses.

Just a little over two years ago, we unveiled a plan to slash carbon pollution from buildings and construction. This plan, the zero carbon roadmap for Aotearoa’s buildings, has since become the defining document outlining the milestones of progress that, together, we are making.

We are thrilled to welcome Isabelle and Robbie to the NZGBC whānau. Over the next few months they'll be supporting our Green Star and Homestar teams, and getting involved in NZGBC and Future Thinker events

Photo by Chang Duong on Unsplash Green Star is booming. More New Zealanders than ever before are working in, learning in, creating businesses in, creating memories in Green Star buildings.

COP26 – Together for Our Planet remains our last, best chance to ensure a functioning and healthy planet for future generations. Kicking off in Glasgow on October 31st the meeting aims to;

We are part of a global movement of Green Building Councils, spanning continents, cultures, timezones and languages. Together, we are focusing on the biggest issue facing the world: climate change.

A few staff changes, and some new positions have us expanding the NZGBC team. We're thrilled to welcome Bobby, Zara, Bhumika, and Pam to the NZGBC whānau!

We are thrilled to be partnering with one of Aotearoa's largest home energy retrofit companies, Brightr, to help improve our country's woeful quality of homes.

In the building sector we often speak about good design, cost, and affordability. More recently the conversation has also turned to environmental responsibility, and the fact that 50% of New Zealand’s waste to landfill comes from construction. However, we're frequently failing to speak to how these...

In the coming weeks, one of the most important international events for several years will take place, and – hopefully – it should have some real world impacts on our sector.

Photo by Baptiste Marconnet New Zealand's largest companies face a shift in how they consider climate and our transition to a low carbon future.

Homes and buildings are arguably in a unique position. While a major contributor to our climate emissions, we know that solutions exist now. Other sectors face a ramping up of not just behavioural change, but technological and scientific development if they’re to transform their sectors. The...

Photo by @tokeller on Unsplash One of my favourite parts of being part of the team here at the Green Building Council is meeting people who are working to create better, healthier, greener places for New Zealanders to thrive in.

02 September 2021

What’s new in our most ambitious Homestar version yet? There are some big changes with V5 at a crucial time. If we're to create a zero carbon future and meet our climate change targets we have to ensure our homes are playing their part.

Photo by AR on Unsplash Recent weeks have seen temperatures in western Canada soar to a record-breaking near 50 degrees Celsius. Germany has been hit by huge floods, devastating entire villages. A year’s worth of rain fell on the Chinese city of Zhengzhou, home to over 10million people. Wildfires...

What a difference a number makes.

Over the past weeks, we’ve been working with Registered Master Builders Association across Aotearoa to raise awareness of recent developments in sustainable building and increase understanding of Homestar in raising the standards of our new homes.

Photo by AR on Unsplash Thanks to all of our members, sponsors, and supporters for what has been a momentous year for green buildings and homes in Aotearoa. In the financial year just ended, working together, we’ve put New Zealanders health at the heart of thousands of homes and buildings, old and...

We are thrilled to welcome Matthew Cutler-Welsh back to the Green Building Council. Matthew joins us in the role of Business Development Manager – Residential where he will be helping those building new homes and managing existing homes, rental properties and home owners to achieve lower carbon,...

From 1 July, landlords have 90 days from when a tenant moves in to show the rental has good heating, ventilation, insulation and other features, collectively known as the Healthy Homes Standards.

Original photo by Sulthan Auliya on Unsplash Our Meet the Member series is a chance to hear more from those joining the NZGBC and learn about their ambitions for the future. We asked Lisa Hopfengartner and Shane Wyatt, both members of the team at Tech Coatings, about the work they are doing.

In the two years since the launch of Green Star Design and As Built NZ, and Interiors NZ rating tools we’ve enjoyed increasing levels of interest evidenced by registrations and certifications across both private and public sector projects, from Healthcare and Retail to Industrial.

Photo by Jamie Street on Unsplash

This month we are sad to say goodbye to Susan Blayney, our long-serving industry engagement manager. In her place, we welcome Marie Klokova who will be supported by Kate McLeod.

Our Meet the Member series is a chance to hear more from those joining the NZGBC, and learn about their ambitions for the future. We asked Phoenix Metal Recyclers owner and Commercial Manager Hilary West-Reeve about the work they're doing.

As hundreds and hundreds of green building enthusiasts packed into the Aotea Centre last week for the biggest ever Green Property Summit, I couldn’t help but hum the tune of a celebrated New Zealand song.

Manaaki whenua, manaaki tangata, haere whakamua.

As part of the annual Building Code update process, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) is asking for feedback from Kiwis about what changes we need to make our homes and buildings healthier and more efficient. MBIE wants to know how far changes should go, and how fast they...

Right now is the most important time ever for the green building movement.

After impressing the judges with her passion and clear vision for the future of the built environment in Aotearoa, urban strategist Meredith Dale has been named the New Zealand Green Building Council Future Thinker of the Year for 2021.

Image courtesy of Baptiste Marconnet, 1st place winner of NZGBC Photo Competition 2020 The results from our annual membership survey are in. This is a crucial piece of work to understand just how we are doing in the eyes of our most important stakeholders – our members.

It's always a pleasure to attend Green Speak Waikato. This time was a special treat, with a look at Bupa Foxbridge Retirement Village and Care Home's newest Homestar apartments.

The NZGBC Future Thinkers held their first event of the year in early February. This covered a range of topics, focusing on the future of our cities here in Aotearoa following the government’s announcement of the climate emergency. A panel session was held at Mott Macdonald’s office in the 6-star...

Thanks to the heaps of feedback and recommendations we received during the consultation, we’ve been working on the next tool update for Homestar.

Photo by Sulthan Auliya on Unsplash Our elected politicians make promises during election campaigns to try and persuade you and me to vote for them. It’s hugely important that they then deliver on these promises.

Last month the Facilities Management Association of New Zealand (FMANZ) hosted a nationwide series of events showcasing NZGBC and in particular the latest on the carbonzero building operations tool, which is currently in pilot phase. This was a chance for a key group of people to see what...

Future Thinker of the Year is back for 2021 and we're thrilled to announce this year's finalists!