Building Act changes proposed

The Government has announced proposed amendments to the Building Act which will introduce energy ratings for buildings and
waste minimisation plans to support climate change goals.

The changes will give building owners and occupants a new tool to understand energy use and performance, and reduce waste from the design, construction and deconstruction of buildings.

“By enabling mandatory energy performance rating requirements for buildings, and waste minimisation plans for construction and demolition projects, these proposals will help us to build a better future for generations of New Zealanders,” says Minister for Building and Construction Megan Woods.

The proposed amendments to the Building Act will:

• make it mandatory for new and existing public, industrial and large-scale residential buildings (such as multi-storey apartment buildings) to hold energy performance ratings;
• require those intending to undertake certain building or demolition work to have a waste minimisation plan;
• change the principles and purposes of the Building Act, to clarify that climate change is a key consideration.

“Energy performance ratings are already mandatory for some buildings in Australia and are popular with many building owners and the wider sector, because they help improve understanding of energy use while acting as an extra incentive for making better energy efficiency decisions.”

The Bill also proposes mandatory waste minimisation plans being required during building and construction activities.

“By some estimates, construction waste accounts for up to half of all the waste which goes to landfill nationally. Having a reduction plan in place will encourage us to confront the amount of waste produced on-site, design with waste in mind, re-use building materials, incentivise recycling, and increase the uptake of local waste diversion schemes,” Megan Woods said.

“Designing with waste in mind and reducing the overordering of building supplies will also help mitigate short-term challenges such as supply chain constraints as it frees up building materials rather than converting them to waste.”

These amendments form a key part of the building and construction sector’s contribution to the Government's goal of reaching net zero carbon by 2050. They are expected to lessen waste, reduce demand on the energy sector, and help drive the growth of the circular economy to build a better future for New Zealanders.

The proposed amendments to the Building Act also set the stage for wider work through the Building for Climate Change Programme, with additional initiatives being developed that will focus on reducing embodied carbon and improving operational efficiency in new buildings.

As the climate changes, an increase in extreme weather events will impact tenants and building owners. The proposed amendments to the Act will make it clear that it is a core responsibility of the building and construction sector to consider the impact of climate change and the resilience of buildings.

Energy Performance

Having ready access to information on a building’s energy performance will inform decisions by prospective owners and tenants and incentivise current building owners to take action to lift their building's energy efficiency.

Providing building users and owners with an assessment of current energy use and practical options to reduce this will help reduce their energy bills and better manage peak electricity demand. Higher property values and improved rentability could result from a high energy rating.

These changes will be phased in over time and will initially apply to larger public, industrial and commercial buildings and large-scale residential buildings but could be applied to other buildings in the future.

Waste Minimisation

The Government also intends to establish national requirements for waste minimisation to build on the localised work councils are doing in their communities and to help grow the circular economy.

Analysis shows that waste reduction can generate cost savings and help ease supply chain pressures in the construction sector, along with reducing emissions through encouraging more efficient use of materials. Given construction and demolition waste accounts for up to half of all waste in our landfills and can drive a proportion of construction costs, this is an important area to address.

Buildings make up nearly 9.4 per cent of our domestic emissions, through the energy they use directly and from their embodied carbon.

Early analysis indicates that these proposals could support emissions reductions of 12.6 Mt CO2-e between now and 2050. For comparison this equates to nearly 19,000 plane trips between Wellington and Auckland per year until 2050.