Chief Executive's Upfront
Concrete Roadmap to a Low Carbon Future

It seems as if we have already moved-on from the global pandemic, but a moment’s reflection reminds us that Omicron arrived in January 2022 to present a new set of challenges.

Rob Gaimster, Chief Executive

However, experience had equipped the construction sector with the necessary skills to adapt and overcome at short notice, after which restrictions were gradually reduced so that by mid-2022 the vaccine pass was no longer needed and we had settled into the Orange setting with little, if any, impediment to work.

During 2022 Concrete NZ’s path has mirrored that of the construction sector as it rode the diminishing wave of COVID-19 disruption to deliver on its Business Plan and set out a sustainability focused future work programme to guide members’ net zero carbon objectives and promote their success.

CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY
Always a go-to metric for construction activity, and general economic health, ready mixed concrete production (all quality assured) for the 12-months up to and including the September 2022 quarter increased approximately nine percent on the previous 12-months.

Even accounting for the inevitable bounce back in construction activity following Auckland’s lockdown during August and September 2021, the quarterly production totals for December 2021 as well as March, June and September 2022 were all historic highs, with the former being a record at 1,290,076 cubic metres.

In terms of regional and metropolitan output, the abovementioned recovery in production across greater Auckland during the last quarter of 2021 is the standout, although annual growth to the September 2022 quarter was evident almost across the board, with only Wellington city being the exception.

Other construction metrics were equally as healthy for the year ended September 2022 compared to the previous 12-months, with the actual number of new dwellings consented up 7.0 percent, and the value of non-residential building work consented up 19 percent.

Yet some commentators have identified a “flattening” in construction, with activity effectively tracking sideways, particularly in the residential sector, as on-site labour resource constraints and continued supply chain disruptions have an effect.

BRANZ forecasts show residential consents for new builds falling over the next few quarters while commercial consents are predicted to stay at record levels for the next two years – meaning 2023 will likely see one sector balance the other to achieve a likely steady state.

ASSOCIATION ACTIVITY
As 2022 progressed the global pandemic became just one part of the association’s escalating outreach efforts across technical, policy and sustainability topics.

Technical Guidance
On the back of a very productive 2021 in terms of new Concrete NZ technical publications, 2022 has seen several updates to the New Zealand Concrete Masonry Manual, as well as a soon to be published review of CP 01:2014 Code of Practice for Weathertight Concrete and Concrete Masonry Construction.

In a similar space, our Learned Society offered Concrete Materials and Precast Walls & Connections seminars, which along with the Concrete NZ conference in Rotorua during October, ensured demand was met for face-to-face knowledge transfer.

This is an area of work Concrete NZ will continue to focus on in 2023, with Assessment and Retrofit of Precast Floors (Recast) and Fundamental Concrete Design seminars set to go ahead in the first half of the year, while Dual Displacement Based Design and Diaphragm Design Examples seminars are scheduled for the second half of 2023.

Government Relations
Concrete NZ’s role in helping members better understand external issues and contribute their experiences in support of effective lobbying and favourable policy outcomes, has gained additional importance over recent years.

This is illustrated by the volume of government discussion documents that Concrete NZ has answered, with submissions sent to ministries, departments and entities as diverse as the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities and the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission Te Waihanga.

A standout piece of work involved responding to the Commerce Commission’s Residential Building Supplies Market Study: Preliminary Issues Paper. Concrete NZ called for the current abnormal market drivers affecting housing affordability to be considered, as well as product durability, embodied carbon (in terms of a full life cycle assessment) and environmental impacts.

Climate Change
Supporting and communicating the New Zealand concrete industry’s decarbonisation journey has and will continue to occupy Concrete NZ resource as the association prepares to embark on a multi-faceted project to tell concrete’s low carbon story.

In liaison with our Sector Groups and the Learned Society, Concrete NZ will shortly launch a 2050 Industry Roadmap for Net Zero Carbon Concrete that identifies and weights the ‘levers’ (e.g., alternative cement kiln fuel and design/construction efficiencies) which will be used to decarbonise the concrete industry.

At the same time a data collection exercise is underway to allow industry to report against the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) across different material topics such as CO2 emissions, waste management and cement replacements.

Future Construction
New Zealand, along with the rest of the world, has emerged from the global pandemic to face a new set of challenges that require a considered response from government and business to enable economic resilience and intergenerational wellbeing.

There is no doubt that construction will be part of the solution. The built environment enhances living standards, promotes a robust economy, fosters vibrant cultural and social activity, and protects our environment.

Concrete NZ is therefore firmly focussed on telling concrete’s low carbon story to create a better understanding amongst decision makers within government and the construction sector.

The story will feature manufacturing advancements and benefits in use, to ensure that the world’s most widely used material plays a significant role in realising a net zero carbon and resilient future for New Zealand.

From Contractor Perspectives 2023