Our Movers and Shakers series is spotlighting Aotearoa's leading sustainability professionals transforming the way we design, build and operate our buildings and homes. These are the people leading the charge for a more sustainable built environment throughout Aotearoa.
Kate Butterfield
Ōtautahi-based Kate is national sustainability advisor for Southbase and at the forefront of injecting sustainable change into operational activities in our construction industry. Her specialisations include environmental management systems, carbon management and environmental monitoring.
What inspired your university studies in environmental management and policy? I think for me inspiration came from within uni. I loved the ocean and the environment, I knew I wanted to make a difference in the world and had seen that people with planning degrees were working in sustainable development which really appealed. I wasn’t the most academic student – it wasn’t anyone’s fault but at high school I was made to feel that way - so going in I really didn’t know I would do well.
When I started at Lincoln I had an incredible lecturer, Dr Lloyd Carpenter, senior lecturer in Māori Studies, who took the Treaty of Waitangi course in my first year. This was my inspirational starting point for believing in myself and going on to do my Masters.
Was a career in sustainable development and construction your gig from the get-go? Growing up I wanted to be a farmer which is quite funny if you know me! At Lincoln I was on a Global Challenges Scholarship – you had to make a video of how you wanted to use your degree to solve a global challenge. I was going to do this through sustainable development - but in reality my planning studies meant I’d be a town planner – not what I wanted to be!
So at the end of my first Masters year I changed to environmental policy and management. It was a turning point. Later at Environment Canterbury I worked with incredible people who pushed and supported me to work in areas I’d never considered. My career in construction started a few years later when I was approached by Southbase.
How can we ensure Māori tikanga and Te Tiriti o Waitangi are visible in our construction industry? Southbase has been delivering projects with cultural narratives for years but like a lot of contractors we’re still missing the part where we transition the narrative into the construction process. Now we’ve identified this issue and are actively developing a strategy to progress in this space. I’m really excited Southbase has recognised this opportunity and can’t wait to keep everyone posted.
I’m a strong believer that to ensure Māori tikanga and Te Tiriti o Waitangi are visible in our construction industry this cultural knowledge needs to be initiated and paid for by the construction company or client. And it should be directed by iwi in the area of the particular project and the outcomes they wish to prioritise.
Having an internal resource to manage this process is great but even though I’ve studied Tikanga Māori and Te Tiriti o Waitangi, I’m Niuean/European, not Māori, and having an academic background in this isn’t the same as having the lived experience and connection to a culture and its people.
What challenge would you like to see in the sector in 2026? A bit of a wish list!
- A continued commitment to increasing women across the construction sector. We need to make space for women on building sites and in the rooms where the decisions are made.
- Sustainable construction at the top of the agenda and funding for innovation in this space.
- More collaboration rather than finger pointing at the high polluters in the sector.
- Robust and transparent waste management systems across the country.
- Idealism perhaps but a bipartisan approach where all parties put differences aside and make a plan for sustainability and environmental management in Aotearoa.
The recent Construction Waste Week slogan was ‘Plan out the waste. Nail the build. How are we doing? Change takes time but there is momentum. The Sustainable Business Network and WasteMINZ are doing incredible work spreading the message about designing out waste and providing practical solutions.
It’s an area Southbase has really been nailing recently with its use of off-site manufacturing. It shows with smart design and the utilisation of technology you can efficiently deliver an amazing building with minimal waste generation.
Possibly the biggest challenge we’re seeing is in waste reporting- forecasting waste and getting estimates for accurate waste planning for future jobs. A lot of what we’re seeing is mass balance reporting even when we’re doing on-site waste separation - which discourages site teams and isn’t useful from a data perspective either. It’s a problem we need to work on.
Is our construction industry keeping pace with best green building practice overseas?
No. I’ve recently been learning about construction happening in Australia where projects are being won because of the low carbon and sustainable design options presented in a tender - which is incredible. It feels like most jobs here in New Zealand are won based on price and if there are multiple contractors in the same price range with similar work programmes then maybe sustainability might be looked at.
How do you encourage sustainable outcomes on-site with construction workers and contractors with diverse agendas? The best way I’ve seen is through having these outcomes specified in the contract. Green Star is one way we’re seeing this happen. I find the more people understand the ‘why’ the more people get on board.
I’ve also been working on ways to make sustainability easy. My current project is automating all our carbon reporting so sites don’t have to touch it - they can just look in on it when they need it.
Your favourite green building in Aotearoa or anywhere in the world? I’m going to be a bit biased and say Te Rangihīroa – the new 450 bedroom student accommodation college (6 Star Green Star Design & As Built NZv1.0 Design rating) at the University of Otago. This was a Southbase project and the first Green Star project I visited.
If I’m not being biased, I’m a big fan of the Atlassian Central building in Sydney.