BUSY JULY

Well that got away from us. We know you are reading this wondering why you monthly V-Quest update didn’t appear, right? July has been a busy month for us here and we’ve missed our Newsletter commitment by a week. It’ll be worth the wait though.?

We keep pushing forward despite obvious set backs from the New Zealand Government.?

COLLABORATION

Last month we announced there was an exciting collaboration in the works. We can officially announce that V-Quest has secured one of eight places on the Trimble Inc. Trimble 0-60 Challenge, US accelerator. We were picked from over 1,000 applicants world wide and made it to the last eight.?

Trimble Ventures have seen the potential that V-Quest has and the impact we can have on the US market and will collaborate with us, helping leverage their worldwide expertise, customer base and investment networks. This is huge for us. We have always had a global scale mindset, solving a global problem but this is both the recognition and opportunity to speed this up.?

The US market is huge and its carbon emission legislation is advancing quicker than any other region of the world. There are currently 3 states that have live carbon measurement and reduction standards, California, New York State and Washington State. There are a further four that have pending legislation, North Carolina, Oregon, Illinois and Colorado.?

We get to take part in a 12 week accelerator program, preparing us for a US entry, which culminates in V-Quest presenting at the Trimble Dimensions global conference in Las Vegas, Nevada in November.?

If you are an investor and are interested in being a part of this opportunity and helping us scale into this market, please get in touch.?

SUPERHOMES TOURS

On Saturday 20th of July V-Quest was present at the Superhomes Movement Tour. The Superhome Movement ?Charitable Trust?is a non-profit, group creating transformative change in the New Zealand building industry through education, supporting good business & lobbying for change. Their goal is to raise standards so that all new homes are healthier and more energy efficient, while also promoting environmental, economic, and socially sustainable practices.?

Featured on the tours were recently completed Superhomes as well as an under-construction exemplar to explore the behind-the-scenes details.

Our Co-founder Barry, spoke at the 10 Balmoral Lane, Christchurch Home. A ground breaking home in Christchurch, using high performance envelope and CLT and LVL structural framing. He spoke on the basics of what carbon is, why its important to reduce it and how we can make little changes our new houses to reduce both embodied and operation carbon.?

NZ NATIONAL CARBON RESOURCE

Last week the New Zealand Institute of Architects, BRANZ, and Masterspec announced that they are developing a free online resource with carbon data for construction materials to help reduce the carbon footprint of buildings. Supported by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, this initiative aims to aid the industry in making environmentally responsible decisions and supports New Zealand's zero-carbon targets.?

No specific details were provided on the format but we will speculate that it will be a online searchable EPD data base of NZ available materials. With a bit of luck it may also be provided as a design Application Plug-in (API) making it easier for designers to access carbon data.?

For more details, you can read the full article?here.

The US is moving at pace, California has now joined New York State & Washington State in releasing carbon driven building standard changes.?

The CALGreen building code updates that took effect on July 1, 2024, introduced several significant changes aimed at enhancing sustainability and reducing carbon emissions in California's construction industry.

1. Embodied Carbon Reduction: The new regulations mandate that new non-residential construction and major renovations exceeding 100,000 square feet, as well as state buildings and schools over 50,000 square feet, must include whole-building life cycle assessments (WBLCA). These assessments need to demonstrate a 10% reduction in global warming potential compared to a baseline building, focusing on materials such as glazing assemblies, insulation, and exterior finishes?(VCA Green)?(One Click LCA).
2. Life Cycle Cost Assessments: Projects over 100,000 square feet are required to produce a life cycle cost assessment report. This report must show a reduction in embodied carbon for building enclosure components, specifically in glazing assemblies, insulation, and exterior finishes?(DCI Engineers).

These changes reflect California's commitment to reducing the environmental impact of the construction industry by addressing both operational and embodied carbon emissions. The updated CALGreen code will also serve as a model for other states looking to implement similar sustainability measures?(AIA California)?(One Click LCA).

GLOBAL CLIMATE NEWS

It was a tough month in New Zealand, where V-Quest is based. Our new government seems to be weakening its climate response resolve, potentially rolling back some great building standard advances we have made in the last few years. With 98% of the industry against this roll back, it seems?bonkers.?

Some other news stories that tweaked our interest from around the world in July.?

• Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced more ambitious climate targets, pledging to cut carbon emissions by 43% from 2005 levels by 2030. This commitment is part of Australia's broader strategy to address climate change and aligns with global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (BDO Australia | Audit | Tax | Advisory).
• Bonn Climate Talks: The UN climate conference in Bonn focused on global efforts to cut emissions and protect people from climate hazards. Key discussions included climate finance, loss and damage, adaptation, mitigation, and just transition. The conference highlighted the urgency of agreeing on a new global climate finance goal by COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan (Carbon Brief).

• Global Status Report for Buildings and Construction: The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (GlobalABC) published an annual report outlining the significant contributions of the buildings and construction sector to global greenhouse gas emissions. The report emphasizes the need for increased decarbonization efforts to meet the Paris Agreement goals (UNEP - UN Environment Programme) (Global ABC).

• Nine Solutions for Cities to Cut Carbon Emissions in Construction: The World Economic Forum highlighted innovative solutions for cities to reduce carbon emissions in construction. Examples include adaptive reuse projects in Los Angeles, electric vehicle programs in San Diego, and material reuse initiatives in London. The report showcases various approaches cities are taking to reduce embodied carbon emissions from construction practices (World Economic Forum).

• Carbon Emissions from the Israel-Gaza Conflict: A study revealed substantial carbon emissions resulting from the Israel-Gaza conflict. The research estimated emissions from preparatory construction activities and other conflict-related factors, highlighting the broader environmental impact of geopolitical events (Carbon Brief).

That's all for July.

Wrap up warm and hope for some sense from the New Zealand Government.

The V-Quest Team.