Tennent Brown Architects has adopted a Sustainability Action Plan (SAP) aligned with the American Institute of Architects (AIA) 2030 Commitment, committing to reduce both operational and embodied carbon across all projects, not just those explicitly labelled as sustainable. Drawing on our experience with the Living Building Challenge, we attempt to embed sustainability as standard practice — focusing on early design decisions, energy efficiency, low carbon materials, water stewardship, health and wellbeing, and long term adaptability. Our approach recognises that achieving carbon neutral buildings by 2050 will only be possible if every project meaningfully improves on business as usual, even within real world constraints.
Alongside this, we are actively working to educate and influence clients, helping them understand the long term value, resilience, and risk reduction that come from better environmental performance. Internally, we are building shared capability across the practice, ensuring sustainability is understood and applied at all levels — from concept design through to delivery and review. We are hopeful that (and advocating for) the NZIA will soon adopt a similar national framework encouraging all practices to develop and apply a Sustainability Action Plan, so that climate responsive design becomes the norm rather than the exception.