I hope 2017 has been kind to you. From my first year in the role I really appreciate all those that have provided input, sat on working groups, advocated and continued to champion verifying the quality of buildings and homes.
And so we’re reaching the end of the year. A year with some big gains.
Twelve months ago, in the members’ survey, you asked us to focus on two key items: influencing policy makers and delivering more practical lower cost tools. I’d like to provide a bit of an update on how we have sought to deliver on that for you.
Influencing policy makers
At local government level a New Zealand tour was undertaken informing lawyers and planners about mechanisms available to incentivise better buildings and homes. This lead to various councils considering changes they could make to incentivise Green Star buildings and Homestar homes. We continue to support them in this work.
At national level, meetings with officials of Ministry of Health, MBIE, Ministry for Environment, Ministry of Education, EECA and politicians have taken place throughout the year. One outcome from these meetings is the impact on housing policy.
Following the New Zealand Green Building Council stating on Radio Live that KiwiBuild should be built to Homestar and that the building code could be improved, Hon Minister Phil Twyford confirmed, that day, that KiwiBuild would be built to a standard higher than the Building Code and that the Building Code is to be reviewed.
The public commitments made by 23 CEOs this week towards verifying the performance of offices and buildings sends a strong message that the market is ready to measure New Zealand’s commercial building performance. Measuring is the first step towards improvement. It is also an important step to understanding New Zealand’s energy carbon use in buildings.
Delivering practical lower cost tools
Side by side with gains from advocacy, this year has been defined by two new offerings by NZGBC. The re-writing of Homestar has been well received. The new tool for homes, Homestar Version 4, has helped catapult uptake to 20,000 homes.
Yesterday’s Auckland launch of Green Star Performance tool was so popular we could have held two events. The positive response by attendees was encouraging to our team who have worked hard to bring this transformational tool to New Zealand. Green Star Performance targets existing buildings and enables, for the very first time in New Zealand, a health and productivity check for any kind of building, from offices, to hospitals, from industrial units to schools.
It will help owners, operators and occupants take practical action to improve their buildings. If you missed the launch, today at midday you can watch the 40 minute intro to Green Star Performance live webinar. We will be releasing an edited version of yesterday’s event in a few weeks. More detail about Green Star Performance is on our website.
A final action for you to help propel NZGBC into next year: tomorrow is the last day to vote for our new board members and to return proxy votes to vote on business items at the AGM. One vote per member company, the voting forms and AGM notifications are on the governance pages of our website. Forms must be received by email or mail by 5pm on 1 December.
And if you are in the area, do join us to the AGM and end of year drinks, open to all members. It’s a great way to recap on the year and meet the faces behind the names at NZGBC.
Thank you once again for your support. Your feedback has been an essential guide in directing progress at NZGBC and creating lower carbon, better buildings for New Zealanders.
Ngā mihi o te tau hou
Andrew