Accord Environment Roadmap released

In January 2021 the Construction Sector Accord commissioned BRANZ to progress the Roadmap as the key output for the Environment workstream. The Construction Sector Environment Roadmap for Action has now been completed and it was published in the BRANZ publication Build on 1 February.

Read the Environment Roadmap for Action [PDF - 1.7MB](external link)  - buildmagazine.org.nz

The Roadmap identifies priorities and associated actions which can be taken towards New Zealand's long-term goals of zero-carbon construction, a circular construction economy, and regenerative construction.

The four priorities are:

• Changing mindsets by improving awareness of and commitment to addressing, accounting for and improving environmental outcomes
• Scaling up the sector's capability and capacity in environmentally sustainable construction
• Incentivising and aligning to ensure environmentally sustainable building practices are facilitated
• Demonstrating impact by measuring construction sector progress in contributing to Aotearoa New Zealand's climate and environmental goals.

As BRANZ Chief Executive Chelydra Percy says in her foreword, "the size and scale of what is being asked of us is HUGE. It will take determination, steadfast commitment and courage to achieve the level of change required. This roadmap lays out preliminary steps to empower us as a sector to begin working collaboratively in a coordinated way to reach the radical goals we have in sight. It is a pragmatic document that sets out a starting point for coordinated action."

All actions will require further detailed scoping to be implemented and resourced, and specific lead organisations identified.

The Roadmap will be the foundation of the Planet workstream currently envisaged as part of 'Accord 2.0', the next iteration of the Accord's Transformation Plan. The existing plan comes to an end on 30 June 2022 and work is well under way on the new plan to build on the progress across the current Plan.

"The Construction Sector Accord Steering Group is grateful for Chelydra Percy's role in leading the Environment Workstream of the Transformation Plan. The Roadmap reflects the Accord Principles of being bold in our ambition and acting with collective responsibility to achieve our sustainability and environmental outcomes across the construction sector. The next steps to develop the implementation plan are being progressed through the Accord 2.0 Plan design process," said Accord Steering Group co-chair Chris Bunny.