Climate change is going to be headline news again in just a few days.
At the end of February, the scientists from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change will be publishing their latest report. It’ll focus on ‘climate change impacts, adaptation and vulnerability’. The report will be an updated assessment of what possible future may lie ahead if we don’t take action.
The impacts that climate change may have on our cities, buildings, homes and infrastructure will feature in the report. And the details, and resulting news coverage, may make for uncomfortable reading.
Some of it may sound a bit repetitive perhaps, an echo of all the warnings we’ve heard before. But it’s important because it’s the very latest assessment of where we may be headed, and it’s upon such assessments that policy makers and government must make decisions.
And when making those decisions, they must take into account that our homes, buildings and cities have a vital role to play in making sure that the warnings unveiled in the IPCC report are not realised.
The built environment is responsible for 20 per cent of New Zealand’s climate change pollution, and the impacts of climate change are happening right now. But our sector, working together, can help to ensure that Aotearoa makes the deep carbon cuts necessary to stay within the Paris Agreement 1.5 degrees of warming limit.
We are working in many ways to make sure our sector, and our homes and buildings, can lead the way to a healthier, zero carbon Aotearoa.
One way we’ve been doing that is by regularly reviewing and updating Homestar and Green Star, to put carbon reduction more firmly at the centre of these increasingly popular certifications.
The latest version of Homestar, released last year after an extensive consultation, is the most ambitious version ever, and has a much greater focus on carbon reduction.
For operational energy use and carbon emission calculations, the new Homestar includes for the first time ever an online Energy and Carbon Calculator for Homes (ECCHO). It’s the first comprehensive energy and carbon modelling tool designed for mainstream New Zealand homes, and brings some of the robust methodology and science of the Passive House Planning Package (PHPP) calculator to designers and assessors across Aotearoa.
ECCHO can also help builders get a more accurate understanding of their homes and how they perform, and helps to highlight where improvements can be made on key issues like thermal bridging, air tightness, and ventilation. It is being really well received.
ECCHO has also been listed as an approved modelling tool under the changes to Building Code clause H1 that were published late last year, and that become mandatory from the end of 2022.
Builders building homes to Homestar will get valuable experience in building above the current Building Code, and ready themselves for the big new requirements of the enhanced Building Code, which is heading down the slipway.
Improving Green Star and Homestar, in ways like this, formed part of the important feedback we heard from you at events, in person, over Zoom and the phone, in emails and in our annual survey.
Besides the Homestar updates, we’ve recently finished consulting on updates to Green Star, and we’ll be announcing those in the next few weeks. (And these tools address climate change adaptation too – which will also be a focus of the upcoming IPCC report.)
You’ve also told us you’d like us to increase our advocacy efforts – something which we’ve very much increased in recent years, and is now a key focus for us. This is delivering results, most recently the government’s commitment to build their own buildings to Green Star, and energy efficiency improvements to the Building Code.
Your feedback has also led us to allocate resources to create an improved digital experience. We’ve got projects underway right now which will improve our website, and make it easier and more enjoyable for you to use.
The IPCC report due to land in a few days will focus on climate impacts. We’re focusing on the impact we can have to help make sure much of those impacts don’t happen – the key issues and areas, the pieces of work we can deliver that will most significantly shift us towards greener, healthier, less polluting buildings and homes.
That means that this year you won’t be seeing an annual member survey landing in your inbox. We’ve decided to focus on making real progress across the areas you have already highlighted to us.
We’re always happy to hear your questions and suggestions, so do please get in touch with the team here with any queries and feedback.
Ngā mihi nui
Andrew