New Zealand Green Building Council

14 June 2018

International plaudits for Panuku community plans

Urban redevelopment agency, Panuku Development Auckland, has won international endorsement for its approach to large-scale development projects.

The Green Building Council of Australia today confirmed that Panuku has been pre-awarded credits under Green Star – Communities, in recognition of its practice across all development areas. Panuku is now well positioned to have specific sites independently certified by the Australian and New Zealand Green Building Councils, under the Green Star - Communities rating tool.

Green Star - Communities is an international rating tool to guide best practice sustainable precinct planning and delivery. It takes into account a range of social, economic and environmental factors at the master-planning stage to create liveable, healthy, resilient communities. Certifying projects to a Green Star standard means that they have been independently assessed as best practice (4 stars), national excellence (5 stars) or world leading (6 stars).

Panuku is the first organisation globally to achieve this innovative ‘volume’ approach to assessing standard policies, standards and procedures under Green Star- Communities. The assessment covers excellence in design, planning, community engagement and its approach to site development.

It’s also a first in New Zealand, where Green Star - Communities has not yet been formally applied to any areas.

Romilly Madew, GBCA Chief Executive, said: ‘This innovation in the use of Green Star – Communities is a terrific example of how our tools can adapt and deliver solutions in a wide variety of contexts, not only in Australia but internationally.

‘What Panuku has achieved through its collaboration with us, is to apply the Green Star - Communities rating tool in a highly strategic way that embeds leading sustainability principles and practices at scale and from the very outset of project conception.

‘Pre-awarding relevant Green Star credits on a standard basis across all Panuku’s areas sends a really strong signal about the future sustainability of these parts of Auckland and puts these projects on a clear path to future Green Star certification.

Until now, a Green Star rating has only been awarded to individual buildings in New Zealand.

Roger MacDonald, Chief Executive of Panuku Development Auckland, said: ‘Panuku is charged with the regeneration of 12 significant locations across Auckland, creating new neighbourhoods and communities that need to be fit for the future. We strive to ensure that these places are planned and developed sustainably. Green Star - Communities is an international benchmark that proves we’re doing the fundamentals well. This is an important endorsement of our practice that gives confidence to Aucklanders, and to our partners and developers, that we’re doing the right things to create healthy, resilient neighbourhoods.’

Andrew Eagles, chief executive of the New Zealand Green Building Council said: ‘Panuku has already shown industry leadership by setting standards for sustainable homes. This takes that approach wider, and ensures that the neighbourhoods that these homes are in will be healthy and fit for the future. This is also a great trans-Tasman collaboration, as we’ve successfully adapted the Green Star- Communities tool for the local context. We’re very much looking forward to seeing which Auckland communities will be the first to get a Green Star rating.’

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