Photo by Amin Hasani on Unsplash
We went out pretty hard last week when news broke that Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk was considering rolling back much needed improvements to insulation standards. An early interview on RNZ’s Morning Report from a freezing car while on holiday in Queenstown provided the opportunity to point out the short-sightedness of decreasing the standard of New Zealand’s already poor housing. It’s times like these where we take our role of holding the government to account seriously, and it’s essential our elected officials are aware of the tremendous amount of support, research, and knowledge there is in Aotearoa for better building and healthier homes – not to mention the lengthy consultation undertaken at the time.
Since the news broke, I’ve had a huge number of members and industry reach out both personally and publicly, supporting the H1 requirements and rebutting the concerns raised about cost and overheating. There’s been great commentary across the media landscape including from our mates at Certified Builders, Passive House Institute New Zealand, IAONZ, and BRANZ. Leading experts like Philippa Howden-Chapman and Lucy Telfar-Barnard have provided considered pieces like this one for The Post drawing on years of research and data supporting the benefits for our whānau and tamaraki. Thank you to everyone in our community who has rallied behind the standards, and ensured the Minister recognises the importance of insulating our homes well.
We continue to meet and work closely with officials, the Minister and his office on how to deliver quality affordable homes for NZ. I believe there’s genuine interest and opportunity to support industry to design great buildings, and better model and implement the standard. H1 isn’t perfect, but there are some easy, available solutions to support industry to make it a success and save costs. I'd recommend checking out some of our latest resources - particularly our new Homestar Design Guide.
In some ways the timing of this news has been fortuitous, highlighting the support for energy efficient, warm buildings the day the government announced its second emissions reduction plan (ERP2).
EPR2 as it stands is quite tenuous - relying heavily on planting, and carbon capture and storage technology that has repeatedly failed to hit targets overseas. However, we know property and construction offer a great lifeline for government. Steps like energy labels on buildings reduce running costs for Kiwi businesses, improve the resilience of the grid, and lower carbon emissions. They're being taken forward by the majority of the OECD, are well proven, and great at reducing inflation. New Zealand is up for it and proactively calling for it. As shown in our recent report Closing the gap, construction and property can deliver millions of tonnes of emissions savings
Unfortunately the proposed plan effectively snubbed ERP1 and the massive role buildings can play in our response to climate change, with two lines about property and construction: ‘The Government intends to support green building practices in New Zealand, and work to establish a clearer picture of this is underway. We’re interested in exploring this topic further as part of ERP2.’
While vague, the optimist in me likes to consider those lines leave the door open for more action.
That's why if you’re not already, make sure you join us at Green Property Summit in August to hear direct from the Climate Change Minister Simon Watts about what that actually means. We’ll have our submission available in the next week or so. I’d encourage you to get involved in the ERP2 consultation and ensure, like with H1, the government knows the industry stands ready to deliver climate savings and better buildings.