The building sector is directly responsible for approximately 20% of carbon emissions in Aotearoa New Zealand. For the sector to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, new buildings need to be at net zero emissions by 2030. With today’s innovative technology and building systems, it is possible to meet ambitious 2030 carbon reduction targets.

Led by Dr Paul Jurasovich (PhD), Jasmax’s dedicated Carbon Research team is leading the practice’s Pathway to Net Zero Carbon initiative, designed to significantly reduce carbon emissions generated through construction and the way we plan our buildings.
Comprised of architects and building scientists, the team is compiling data and testing the efficacy of low carbon design solutions to reduce long-term operational costs and increase asset value for buildings and urban infrastructure.

With an extensive portfolio of projects now assessed and documented, the team is generating robust and internationally verified evidence, helping to demonstrate the most effective ways to reduce construction carbon in Aotearoa New Zealand, today and into the future.

The building sector is directly responsible for approximately 20% of carbon emissions in Aotearoa New Zealand. For the sector to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, new buildings need to be at net zero emissions by 2030. With today’s innovative technology and building systems, it is possible to meet ambitious 2030 carbon reduction targets.

Led by Dr Paul Jurasovich (PhD), Jasmax’s dedicated Carbon Research team is leading the practice’s Pathway to Net Zero Carbon initiative, designed to significantly reduce carbon emissions generated through construction and the way we plan our buildings.
Comprised of architects and building scientists, the team is compiling data and testing the efficacy of low carbon design solutions to reduce long-term operational costs and increase asset value for buildings and urban infrastructure.

With an extensive portfolio of projects now assessed and documented, the team is generating robust and internationally verified evidence, helping to demonstrate the most effective ways to reduce construction carbon in Aotearoa New Zealand, today and into the future.

Jasmax’s innovative Pathway to Net Zero Carbon Design outlines a roadmap to achieving net zero emissions targets for all new buildings by 2030. Our framework responds to the NZ Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Act 2019, Paris Agreement and UN Sustainable Development Goals. It is underpinned by research and reflects ambitious targets set by the Royal Institute of British Architects’ (RIBA) Sustainable Outcomes Guide, adjusted for local conditions.

A growing number of Jasmax’s highest-performing designs are at the carbon emission levels required for Aotearoa New Zealand to reach net zero carbon by 2050. Jasmax designed projects are achieving our 2030 target for embodied carbon and are close to achieving operational carbon and energy targets. These include the B201 Building for the University of Auckland (which has also achieved the highest score for a 6 Green Star rated building design from the NZGBC to date), the Beatrice Tinsley Building for the University of Canterbury, and the A1 Building for AUT.

Ultimately, the most sustainable and affordable building is the one you don’t have to build. A key design strategy to achieve net zero carbon is reusing an existing structure, which can result in reducing carbon emissions by up to 50% (in comparison to an equivalent replacement building) and reducing project costs by 10 – 20%.

Increasingly, Jasmax is supporting property owners in re-evaluating the latent value and design potential in existing built assets or older buildings that once may have been deemed no longer fit for purpose. Conserving these buildings and putting them to new uses can provide a head start when future proofing investments, making property portfolios more resilient whilst continuing to generate great returns.

The B201 Building for the University of Auckland is the most significant adaptive reuse project in Aotearoa New Zealand to date and sets a new benchmark for low carbon design. Upon opening in 2024, B201 will be net zero carbon and use almost a third of the average energy of an equivalent new building, providing a stand-out example of what can be achieved when a high-level carbon reduction strategy is embedded at the outset of a project.

A critical aspect of meeting Aotearoa New Zealand’s carbon targets includes encouraging use of advanced timber construction systems within the built environment. Choosing lighter-weight materials, such as timber, to extend, or build above older structures, also makes retaining existing structures more feasible.

This has been demonstrated by the four-storey Beatrice Tinsley Building, which sits over the foundations of the 60-year-old building which used to occupy the site. The building utilises a ground-breaking engineered Press-Lam post tensioned LVL structural system, the first of its type to be built in the southern hemisphere, which sequesters over 100 tonnes of carbon and demonstrates the seismic potential of timber in one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most earthquake prone locations.

Jasmax has an ISO 14001 certified Environmental Management System (EMS). We are also committed to managing, reducing, and offsetting Scope 1 – 3 emissions and are carbonzero certified with Toitū Envirocare. Until we reach zero carbon operation, we are offsetting by purchasing carbon credits, distributed between New Zealand native forest regeneration (long-term carbon sequestration) and reputable international schemes, with immediate social benefits and environmental impacts in accordance with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Jasmax’s approach to managing climate related risks and opportunities is shaped by our Manifesto, which states our aim ​‘to produce work which is mutually beneficial to society and the environment’. Our (TCFD) Report on Climate Risk to Jasmax is prepared in accordance with the Financial Sector (Climate-related Disclosures and Other Matters) Amendment Act 2021.

See here for our 2021 TCFD report and here for our 2022 TCFD report.

Jasmax is a founding sponsor of the New Zealand Green Building Council (NZGBC) and piloted the Living Building Challenge in New Zealand, with Te Kura Whare becoming the 15^th certified Living Building in the world as well as New Zealand’s most sustainably advanced building.

We are also a signatory of Architects Declare – a network of practices committed to addressing the climate and biodiversity emergency.