As the world faces the urgent challenge of reducing carbon emissions, Fletcher Building has taken a bold step towards a more sustainable future with the official launch of LowCO, a groundbreaking residential project designed to reimagine home construction in New Zealand.

Homes are one of the largest contributors of carbon emissions meaning we must build differently to achieve a low-carbon future. Fletcher Building is uniquely positioned to drive this transformation by leveraging the materials and building expertise from across our different businesses.

“On average, the lifespan of a home is 90 years. We did some research and found that over that time homes emit 7x more carbon than acceptable if we are to keep global warming within the 1.5-degree Celsius limit,” said Steve Evans, Chief Executive of Fletcher Building’s Residential and Development Division. “Fletcher Living wanted to show this doesn’t have to be the case. To prove it, we set about designing and building a number of different house typologies that use 7x less carbon than the average home. Called LowCO, these homes, redefine the standards of modern living by using less carbon along with significantly reducing energy consumption and water usage,” he continued.

The recently completed first LowCO build, at Fletcher Living’s Waiata Shores development, includes a 3-bedroom detached home plus a three-unit terrace block. Both builds fit within New Zealand’s 1.5 degree carbon budget for new built homes.

To minimise carbon emissions considerable planning went into which combination of systems and products will reduce the embodied carbon of a home plus minimise the ongoing operational carbon that day-to-day life emits. “Fletcher Living initiated the project but bringing it to life took a full team effort from Fletcher Building. Uniting around a singular goal to build better, more sustainable homes for future generations of Kiwis has been a powerful motivator. Together we’ve created a blueprint for sustainable housing, where future residents can anticipate healthier, more comfortable living with reduced expenses,” said Mr Evans.

“We often get asked what it costs to build a high-performance home such as LowCO. While there are slightly higher upfront costs when building, from the point of view of the lifecycle of the home, it will cost less overall due to the reduction in electricity and water consumption,” said Mr Evans.