Today the New Zealand Green Building Council has released A practical guide to upfront carbon reductions, a vital report to support developers, architects, builders, contractors and the supply chain to tackle pollution.
The guide, adapted with support from Beca from an earlier report by Green Building Council of Australia, Lendlease, Mott MacDonald and others, aims to demystify how projects can identify, reduce and report on the emissions associated with materials and the construction of new buildings.
“Our built environment currently accounts for 20% of Aotearoa’s emissions. Constructing new buildings accounts for around half of that. This guide equips the industry with an understanding of what upfront carbon emissions are, as well as practical steps they can take to make a real difference,” says Andrew Eagles, NZGBC chief executive.
The report includes a comprehensive framework for how to select materials and products to slash a building’s footprint right from the design stage, as well as how to set feasible emissions reductions targets for the project.
“We’ve also analysed the investment benefits, market solutions and international and domestic policies which can help drive even further change and support New Zealand’s building industry when working with clients, property owners, and legislators.”
Launched this evening at Beca in Wellington, with the new Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk present, members of the construction sector had the following to say on the guide;
“It is really important that the construction industry gets on with reducing their embodied carbon emissions. It is something we are really passionate about,” says Craig Treloar, Executive General Manager at Hawkins
“It is great to see this useful guide from the NZGBC which helps the sector understand upfront emissions, how to measure them, how to drive change and reduce these emissions over time,” Craig Treloar says.
Rick Herd, Chief Executive Officer at Naylor Love Construction says, “Embodied carbon emissions are still quite a new challenge for many in the sector. This guide is useful. It sets out the key steps to take and provides some good practical steps to take.”
“Naylor Love are really passionate about reducing upfront emissions. We have been a longtime supporter of the NZGBC. We commend this guide. As a sector let’s get behind this and deliver lower upfront emissions.”
There are already a raft of developers and projects showing the industry the sort of reductions needed for a better future are possible now.
The guide includes valuable lessons and case studies from The University of Auckland’s Building 201 (a refurbishment which reduced upfront carbon by 32.5% when compared to a new building), the all-electric Intergen Building at 80 Willis St, in Wellington (Aotearoa’s first building to undertake a Life Cycle Assessment for Green Star, with the analysis determining a saving of 75% in upfront carbon emissions), as well as Metlifecare’s Weiti Care Home which achieved a 45% upfront carbon emissions reduction when compared to a reference building.