Dean Riddell has been appointed chairman of the New Zealand Green Building Council (NZGBC).
Mr Riddell, the previous vice-chairman, replaces Rob Lang who has stepped down from his leadership of AMP NZ Office Trust (ANZO) and, with it, his chairmanship of the NZGBC.
Mr Lang was chairman of the NZGBC for two years and a Board member for three. During this time he guided the council through a significant growth period, seeing the NZGBC become New Zealand’s leading industry voice on sustainable green building.
The council drives the development and adoption of market-based green building initiatives, and setting standards of best practice through the adaptation of the Green Star rating tools.
Mr Riddell brings a wealth of property experience and knowledge from his role as principal of global property and construction consultants Davis Langdon. He is an industry leader in project procurement, cost management and project management, and is part of Davis Langdon’s International Sustainability Group.
Mr Riddell says the NZGBC’s particular focus in 2010 and beyond will be continued improvements to the Green Star rating tool to meet industry needs, as well as encouraging retrofitting existing buildings, developing a performance tool and a residential tool.
“Green Star has successfully provided a common language, quickly becoming an established and widely supported system for increasing the sustainability of new and existing buildings,” Mr Riddell says.
“We look forward to developing this platform further for the benefit of all involved — owners, tenants, residents, designers and builders.”
New Zealand has 37 projects certified by Green Star NZ, including the first two “world leadership” standard 6 Green Star buildings — Geyser in Parnell and the Christchurch Civic Building — proving a tangible commitment to the value and the potential of green building principles.
The NZGBC’s membership base of more than 400 organisations represents a broad spectrum of interests, including central and local government, universities, architects, engineers, consultants and building owners.
At the NZGBC Annual General Meeting in November 2009 two new Board members were voted on by their peers — Tim Hooson from Jasmax and Scott Pritchard from Goodman.
• Meanwhile, Alex Cutler has been appointed chief executive of the NZGBC.
Ms Cutler has a strong background in sustainable business practices, having spent the past 12 years consulting on the subject. Most recently she was associate director at PricewaterhouseCoopers New Zealand, responsible for building and leading the sustainability practice.
Prior to PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ms Cutler worked for strategy consultancy and think-tank SustainAbility Ltd. She specialised in developing sustainability strategies for large multinational companies in a wide variety of sectors, including the construction industry.
“We’re delighted to have Alex Cutler on board,” NZGBC chairman Dean Riddell says. “She has the knowledge, experience and drive to lead the NZGBC through the next phase of its development.”
The immediate focus for Ms Cutler will be to address the improvement of existing buildings for higher levels of environmental performance, introducing the residential rating tool, and driving continued improvements to the Green Star suite of tools.
“The development of a Green Star performance tool this year will mean the industry can assess energy and environmental performance of the majority of New Zealand’s commercial buildings so they can be benchmarked, managed, rated and improved,” Ms Cutler says.
“The residential rating tool has the potential to drive significant change for all New Zealanders by assessing the comfort and performance of New Zealand’s new and existing homes,” she says.
Ms Cutler replaces Jane Henley, who has taken on the mantle of chief executive of the World Green Building Council.
“I’m excited to be building on the great foundation that Jane has already laid, and look forward to furthering our relationship with the World GBC through this connection,” Ms Cutler says.
