Building a Low Carbon Future Together
For 60 years, Jasmax has been at the forefront of sustainable and bicultural design in the Pacific. As outlined in our Manifesto, we treasure and respect the natural environment as a source of wellbeing and identity and embrace innovation.
We see reducing life cycle carbon emissions as the new frontier and a key challenge for our industry to address.
We have set industry leading targets to achieve net zero emissions across all Jasmax-designed projects by 2030 and have established a Carbon Consultancy to support Aotearoa New Zealand’s transition to a low carbon future.
Carbon Research
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 Carbon Consultancy
As recognised leaders in low carbon design, Jasmax is advising government and industry regulators on the most effective ways to reduce construction carbon in Aotearoa New Zealand and can support businesses develop future-fit low carbon assets.
With anticipated changes to legislation and commitment from leading organisations and institutions around the country to respond proactively to the climate crisis, we are seeing increasing demand from clients for information on how to reduce carbon in buildings and across investment portfolios. Jasmax’s Carbon Consultancy makes sense of the complex challenge of assessing and reducing construction carbon.
Our Carbon Consultancy provides assessments for buildings and the supporting infrastructure, that can be used to report whole-of-life carbon, test and compare design options, and support a range of sustainability certification systems including Greenstar, NABERSNZ and others.
We support our clients in making the best decisions for their projects during the design phase, drawing on building systems, product and materials data relevant to Aotearoa New Zealand.
“Starting with the big picture, I like to work closely with clients to help make sense of their carbon obligations across their entire property portfolios. Typically through face-to-face discussions, we explore how to integrate carbon reduction approaches at both the organisational and portfolio levels. This is not only great for the environment and business culture, but it can also unlock major competitive advantages in an increasingly carbon sensitive world. Once the big picture thinking is established, focused planning to achieve goals over time can occur.” - Dr Paul Jurasovich.
Please get in touch if you are interested in discussing further.
Above: Members of Jasmax’s Carbon Consultancy (L-R): Chris Scott, Madison Fleming, Sue Marshall, Dr Paul Jurasovich, Jerome Partington
Net Zero Carbon Design
Jasmax’s innovative Pathway to Net Zero Carbon Design outlines a roadmap to achieving net zero emissions 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 achieving our 2030 target for net zero embodied carbon and are close to achieving net zero operational carbon and energy. 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.
Above: Jasmax’s Pathway to Net Zero Carbon Design targets, updated August 2023.
Adaptive Reuse
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.
Innovative Timber Design
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.
Carbon Neutral Operations
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.
Managing Climate Risk
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.
Accreditations
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 15th 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.
