
Auckland ‘below average’ international study finds
While it may score well on paper, Auckland is behind the curve compared to other cities with better urban planning policies, The Lancet Global Health finds
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New research, published by The Lancet Global Health in a series on Urban Design, Transport, and Health, aims to inform policy directions and planning for more healthy, sustainable cities worldwide. Continue →

New caretaker for communications infrastructure
Chorus has appointed Programmed to manage and maintain the integrity of buildings and infrastructure services that support New Zealand’s critical communications network
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Programmed has won a competitive bid to maintain Chorus’ property portfolio across 2,600 sites in a potential eight year, multi-million-dollar contract. Continue →

A start to solving our poor record on low carbon cement replacement
Swiss based building industry giant Holcim plans to import and distribute lower carbon cement replacement products from a new Low Carbon Cement Replacement Facility currently under construction in Auckland
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The initiative was started well before the New Zealand government released an Emissions Reduction Plan in mid-May this year. Continue →

Powering EVs with trees
As the mobility industry continues to push for full electrification, the need for long-term sustainable battery solutions becomes even more apparent, Movemnt’s Nicole Lumley reports
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Although electric cars are cleaner and more sustainable on the road, we need to be thinking about what powers these vehicles and how suppliers will meet the demands that electrification brings. Continue →

Redwoods could outperform pine as carbon forests
Radiata pine forests are commonly used in New Zealand to help remove CO₂ from the atmosphere, however, the tree’s growth rate and ability to sequester carbon drops after 30 years
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Carbon uptake by rapid planting of new forests is currently the only way New Zealand has to remove CO2 from the atmosphere at the speed required to meet our net-zero target by 2050. Continue →

Wellington council steps in to support businesses
A $2.3m Pandemic Response Plan aims to help Wellington businesses struggling under Covid restrictions and ongoing protests – should other councils follow suit? Continue →

Inflation mitigations for new and existing contracts
As inflation drives up infrastructure delivery costs, consider this advice from the Global Infrastructure Hub
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Infrastructure delivery costs are expected to exceed economy-wide inflation due to rising commodity and energy prices. Continue →

New Zealand roading project wins top engineering prize
Infrastructure Decision Support (IDS), WSP and Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency’s Strategic Maintenance Investment Justification Project won big at the 2022 Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia (IPWEA) Excellence Awards on Wednesday night in Adelaide
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It won the ‘IPWEA Australasia 2022 Excellence in Asset Management’ category and the prestigious ‘IPWEA Australasia 2022 Public Works Medal for Project of the Year.’
Waka Kotahi engaged IDS in May 2019 to answer the “billion-dollar” question around how much investment is needed to maintain the roads and road surfaces within the New Zealand State Highway network over a three-year funding period. Continue →

Polystyrene recycling is difficult but not impossible
Polystyrene’s typically high level of contamination makes it hard to recycle, but recycling companies around the world are proving it can be done with new innovations, Waste Management World reports
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Plastics are one of the biggest challenges for the waste management industry. Continue →

Country still divided on three waters reforms
Some have praised the Government for running with the majority of recommendations made by the Three Waters Working Group while others are demanding the co-governance scheme is stopped now before it is too late
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The Government has ruled out other solutions to New Zealand’s water issues and is dead set on creating four publicly owned water entities. Continue →