This road map sets out the steps that New Zealand needs to take to get all buildings zero carbon by 2050 and all new buildings zero carbon by 2030.

This report explains that building owners, developers and tenants need to shift and signal their commitment to zero carbon in the following ways:

• Building owners to start certifying their existing buildings to zero carbon in 2020 and have all their buildings zero carbon by 2030.
• Building developers construct their new buildings to zero carbon, and 20% less embodied carbon, by 2025.
• Tenants inform their landlords in 2020 that they will be seeking zero carbon-rated buildings in their leases by 2025.

The report also states that the Government needs to make the following changes:

• Set a 10-year trajectory to ensure new buildings are zero energy under the Building Code by 2030. To achieve this we propose three updates to the Building Code in 2022, 2026 and 2030, including restricting fossil fuel combustion in new buildings by 2026 and eliminating their use in new buildings by 2030.
• Require energy-efficiency labelling on existing buildings (residential and non-residential of more than 1,000m2) when they are sold or leased by 2024. Government can also lead with procurement declaring that, from January 2021, NABERSNZ energy-efficiency ratings will be required on the base buildings in leases of buildings of more than 1,000m2 for government agencies or ministries, rising to require 4-star NABERSNZ from October 2024.
• Ensure that the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, New Zealand Defence Force and Department of Corrections lead an all-of-government shift to verify their new buildings as sustainable and having lower embodied carbon from June 2020.