Local and regional government initiatives and incentives for sustainable design in the commercial built environment of New Zealand

Abstract

Concern for all aspects of environmental sustainability is growing considerably as the scientific evidence of an anthropogenic genesis for potentially devastating climate change is mounting. As the author has a particular interest in the New Zealand commercial built environment the role played by local government via initiatives and incentives for environmentally sustainable design was considered topical. An extensive international literature search was undertaken to identify what initiatives and incentives have been trialled. A survey in the form of an electronic questionnaire was then designed to gauge the degree to which any of these incentives and initiatives have been implemented in the New Zealand local government arena. All territorial authorities, that is city councils, district councils and unitary authorities, were invited to respond as well as the regional councils. Of the 73 territorial authorities in New Zealand (the Chatham Islands Council was not included) responses were received from 34 different authorities and five of the twelve regional councils. A low degree of implementation was reported by the respondents that contrasted with a high level of willingness to try more initiatives and incentives. A number of reasons are proposed for this. High amongst the reasons is a lack of both financial and human resources to effect implementation. This, combined with a lack of clear long-term goals or an integrated set of sustainability policies across the different levels of government, heavily influence this low implementation rate.