Our 2021 Sustainability Report

In his introduction to Britomart's Sustainability Report 2021, Cooper and Company NZ’s chief executive Matthew Cockram (below) discusses a year of new sustainability initiatives.

One of the objectives of creating this, our third annual sustainability report, is benchmarking goals against which we can hold ourselves accountable. Click through to read about the sustainability goals we set ourselves for 2020, with commentary on how we’re tracking to meet them. 

Successful sustainability approaches back aspiration up with externally audited data that provides a clear benchmark and achievable targets. Britomart Group uses three tools to help set and achieve sustainability goals: The Green Star Performance Tool from the NZ Green Building Council, the NABERSNZ energy efficiency ratings system, and Toitū Envirocare's Carbonreduce certification programme. You can read more about these programmes and our ratings at this link. 

Britomart’s focus on social sustainability includes a programme of events that run in Takutai Square and elsewhere in the precinct throughout the year. All of these events are designed to build connection with Britomart’s unique sense of place, its history and that of the city around it. This post details some of our highlights, including Toi Tū Toi Ora: Contemporary Māori Art at Britomart, our Matariki celebrations, and our annual giveaway of native trees. 

Our Seven Plans for a Better Planet interview series in April 2021 asked members of the Britomart community to talk about their sustainability efforts, and how their organisations are hoping to shape the future. Click through for interviews with EY's Pip Best on how companies are speeding up efforts to price in climate costs, Toi Tū Toi Ora curator Nigel Borell on how sustainability lies at the heart of the Māori world view, kingi's Tom Hishon on sustainable fishing, Westpac's Kate van Praagh on her organisation's multi-faceted sustainability initiatives, Toitū Envirocare's Helene Pacalin on helping companies set emissions reduction targets, Allbirds' Hana Kajimura on their world-leading sustainability initiatives, and Maggie Hewitt on creating a regenerative fashion label.

Three years ago, Britomart was the first property company in New Zealand to sign up to the New Zealand Green Building Council's Green Star Performance Tool, which measures the performance of the buildings in Britomart across nine different criteria. As well as that, we've committed to making our new development projects meet Green Star standards. Read more about our latest Green Star projects, The Hotel Britomart and the refurbishment of the heritage Barrington and Sofrana buildings in this post. 

Each year we conduct an annual survey of Britomart community members as part of our reporting under the Green Star Performance Tool. This covers aspects like thermal and acoustic comfort levels, lighting and air quality in buildings. This time we also included questions related to wider environmental issues to establish a benchmark for future surveys. You can read the results at this link.