Designing Responsibly – Our Reflections From Auckland's Offset | Reset Conference

The Property Council of New Zealand’s Offset | Reset conference empowers designers and property professionals to act on the global movement for better environmental, social and governance (ESG) objectives, and champion innovation in the way we plan, design, and develop our environment.

Held in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, the conference was attended by our local Green Star professional Samuel Tang, and Associate Daniel Eiem. For the pair, the conference affirmed the responsibility we have as designers and architects to positively influence ESG outcomes for our clients.

A key trend for the conference was Embodied Carbon and Life Cycle Assessments (LCA). As architects, knowing how to reduce embodied carbon, balance operational and embodied carbon, and how we can use LCA as a design and project tool will become an important consideration for our design approach.

“ESG. It’s more than just ‘sustainability’; it has a leadership role and sets more specific criteria regarding scope, benchmarking, and data disclosure to ensure the built environment is better prepared for the future.”
Sam Tang, Project Lead & Greenstar Accredited Professional | Cottee Parker Architects

Cottee Parker’s Associate, Daniel Eiem expresses his belief that “…the core factors of ESG should be embedded into everything we do as a norm. When more of us start to appreciate that everyone has a role to play, and shares the responsibility, we start to create better built environments and a better future for the generations to come. With 20% of New Zealand’s carbon emissions coming from the building and construction sector alone, the property industry has an essential role in reducing emissions.”