Levy funding awarded to 22 research projects
Every year, the Building Research Levy is invested into industry-led contestable funding for universities, industry groups and researchers to deliver practical solutions to reduce costs, lift quality and improve resilience and sustainability in Kiwi buildings.
This year’s funding has been awarded to four projects led by universities, six by industry and Māori research groups, two PhD studies and seven by BRANZ, as well as three sector resources by BRANZ that turn academic research into practical guidance that designers and builders can use on the job.
Decisions on where to invest the Building Research Levy are guided by the Research Investment Advisory Group, an independent panel of sector experts who ensure every dollar tackles the biggest challenges in building and construction.
Making it easier to build affordable granny flats
Open-source housing: The granny flat
Lead: University of Auckland
BRANZ’s investment priority: Affordability
Timeframe: 18 months
Funding: $220,000
FY26/27 funding: $166,000
New government reforms are making it easier for New Zealanders to build small, self-contained granny flats under 70m² – with no resource or building consent needed. This opens up new possibilities for families, seniors, and anyone needing flexible, affordable housing.
The University of Auckland’s Open-Source Housing: The Granny Flat project, led by architect/Professor Anthony Hōete and backed by $220,000 Building Research Levy funding, will deliver a nationwide set of adaptable, code-compliant design resources. These guides and tools will suit different sites, budgets, climates, and cultural needs, and include standardised templates, cost calculators, and practical design guides.
A strong focus on Māori and Pasifika housing needs, accessibility, and sustainability ensures the designs support whānau, aging in place, and resilient communities. By streamlining design and compliance, the project aims to reduce costs, speed up builds, and enabling more Kiwis to add value and space to their properties.
As new legislation is introduced in 2026, this project will help New Zealanders make the most of these changes – easing rental pressure and supporting better intergenerational living.
Lead: Pūrangakura
BRANZ’s investment priority: Affordability
Timeframe: 2 years
Funding: $280,000
FY26/27 funding: $136,734
New Zealand’s housing crisis heavily impacts Māori youth and their families. One in three Māori live in damp housing, and nearly one quarter experience overcrowded housing. With new granny-flat legislation making it easier to build minor dwellings, this project will create a practical model to help rangatahi and whānau access more secure, affordable, and intergenerational housing.
Led by Pūrangakura and backed by $280,000 Building Research Levy funding, the Whakamarui i te Rangatahi model provides step-by-step support — from financial planning and land feasibility to minor dwelling designs and streamlined build processes. It’s designed to make the complex housing system easier to navigate, supporting whānau to make informed decisions and unlock more homeownership on both general title and Māori land. It will include:
- Financial roadmaps to help families access loan finance
- A toolkit for maximising building opportunities on suburban sites
- Modular, culturally appropriate minor dwelling designs (30, 60, and 70 sqm) – that can be built without resource or building consents
- Support for the entire build process, from site assessment and design to completion.
Collaboration is central: the project seeks to work with Māori housing providers, iwi, hapū, social services, financial institutions, and councils to ensure solutions are practical and widely usable. The model is adaptable for other communities facing similar barriers.
By creating a practical pathway, the project aims to reduce youth homelessness and overcrowding, build financial resilience and housing literacy, support intergenerational living and healthier homes for Māori youth and whānau.
Using AI tools to design more affordable housing
Lead: University of Auckland
BRANZ’s investment priority: Affordability
Timeframe: 2 years, 4 months
Funding: $200,000
FY26/27 funding: $110,206
Auckland is growing fast — but housing isn’t keeping up. With some of the least affordable homes in the world and a target of more than 400,000 new builds by 2050, councils and developers need smarter tools to make the right decisions on what and where to build.
Led by the University of Auckland and backed by $100,000 Building Research Levy funding and $100,000 industry co-funding, this project will develop practical, AI-powered solutions for Auckland’s housing market. Over two years, the research will:
- Identify and validate the key factors that drive housing prices, drawing on lessons from Auckland, Melbourne, and London, and integrating Māori perspectives through hui and wānanga.
- Build AI-enhanced Hedonic models (tools that predict house prices based on things like size, location, and nearby services) to guide decisions on what and where to build, focusing on two Auckland areas: Maungakiekie–Tāmaki (central) and Franklin (peripheral).
- Work closely with councils, iwi, developers, and industry partners to test the models, identify barriers, and develop a practical web-based dashboard, GIS tools, and clear guides for delivering affordable homes.
By creating better evidence and practical tools, this research will help planners, developers, and policymakers deliver the right affordable homes in the right places — creating better outcomes for communities across Auckland.
Lead: Te Wānanga o Aotearoa
BRANZ’s investment priority: Affordability
Timeframe: 2 years
Funding: $349,000
FY26/27 funding: $129,124
Many homes in Aotearoa are built from standard, European-based plans – leaving many whānau, especially Māori, living in houses that don’t fit their cultural needs, tikanga or ways of living. For Māori, this means homes that support collective and intergenerational living, accessibility for kaumātua (elders), hosting manuhiri (guests), and caring for tūpāpaku (the deceased) – all of which make a real difference for cultural wellbeing and daily life.
This 2-year project, led by Te Wānanga o Aotearoa and backed by $349,000 Building Research Levy funding, aims to make whānau-centred home design more affordable and accessible by combining kaupapa Māori engagement methods with AI-powered design tools.
The research will:
- identify where AI tools can improve efficiency and affordability in housing design and build
Co-develop whānau-centred design briefs for new builds, alterations, and papakāinga (collective Māori housing) - create and test an AI tool that quickly turns kaupapa Māori design ideas into multiple visual options for families.
- provide open-source, practical AI-tools and engagement methods for architects, housing providers, and policymakers.
Collaboration is essential: whānau, architects, designers, Māori housing providers, and policymakers will work together to ensure solutions are practical, culturally grounded, and widely usable.
By combining cultural knowledge with digital innovation, this project will help make culturally responsive design a reality for more families, and position Aotearoa as a world leader in indigenous-led AI tools for high-quality, affordable housing.
Increasing resilience and safety in our buildings
Lead: BRANZ Ltd
BRANZ’s investment priority: Resilience
Timeframe: 4 years, 6 months
Funding: $3.11m
FY26/27 funding: $724,300
Aotearoa New Zealand’s buildings and communities are increasingly exposed to floods, extreme storms, and other natural hazards. Despite recent disasters, there’s still no clear, consistent guidance to help people, councils, and communities prepare for and recover from these events — making recovery efforts slow and costly.
Supported by $3.46 million Building Research Levy funding, RESCUE (Resilience via Evaluation, Science, Climate Understanding & Engineering), brings together experts from BRANZ, CRESA, Natural Hazards Commission Toka Tū Ake, the Insurance Council of New Zealand, several major universities and other researchers.
Working closely with insurers, councils and the building industry, RESCUE will deliver:
- New evidence to help inform which building materials to use and where, and retrofit solutions for hazard-prone areas — including affordable retrofit options and insights into the impact of saltwater exposure and rising groundwater.
- User-friendly tools and resources to guide homeowners, communities, and councils through preparedness and recovery.
- Training and guidance for the sector to ensure building work aligns with insurance claims advice and embeds resilience into everyday practice.
- Better coordination between community, building industry, insurers, councils, emergency services and homeowners to ensure building solutions are relevant and widely adopted.
By bridging research and real-world needs, RESCUE will help reduce stress and financial burden for homeowners and communities, support faster and safer recovery, and build a more resilient future for all New Zealanders.
Lead: Heavy Engineering Research Association (HERA)
BRANZ’s investment priority: Affordability
Timeframe: 1 year
Funding: $83,000
FY26/27 funding: $83,000
With more New Zealanders adopting medium-density apartment living, it’s essential that, as well as being safe, the apartment is affordable, sustainable and fire resilient.
Right now, low to mid-rise steel-concrete apartments (3-6 storeys, with escape heights under 25m) aren’t required to have sprinklers under C/AS2. This means designers must choose between installing sprinklers or relying on passive fire protection. Each option comes with different costs, risks, and environmental impacts, but there’s no clear, New Zealand-specific evidence to guide these decisions.
Led by the Heavy Engineering Research Association (HERA) and co-funded by the Building Research Levy, this one-year project brings together engineers, architects, regulators, academics and housing providers to fill that gap. Using a real apartment building as a case study, the team will:
- Compare fire protection strategies for upfront costs and for long-term impacts like repair needs after a fire, carbon emissions, and how quickly residents can return home.
- Create practical, evidence-based guidance for apartment design and approval. This helps building designers and fire engineers justify their choices with evidence, avoiding both over-specification and under-protection.
The goal is to deliver safer, more cost-effective apartments, support fit-for-purpose regulations, facilitate fairer insurance premiums, and make a real difference for communities across Aotearoa.
Lead: BRANZ Ltd
BRANZ’s investment priority: Resilience
Timeframe: 9 months
Funding: $70,600
FY26/27 funding: $70,600
BRANZ Maps is a free, easy-to-use tool that brings together council and independent data for any New Zealand address – including climate zones, earthquake risk, rainfall, corrosion levels, and more. With over 11,000 views per month, it’s a trusted resource for designers, builders, councils, and homeowners to meet compliance and make decisions about building safety and resilience.
However, some of the core datasets — like wind and corrosion zones — are now out of date, risking confusion as standards and climate risks evolve. Responding to industry requests, this $70,000 BRANZ-led project will refresh these critical data layers and explore new ways to keep the tool accurate and user-friendly.
Collaboration is at the heart of this work. BRANZ is working with researchers, industry, councils and iwi to integrate the latest science and real-world needs - including new corrosion mapping from the University of Auckland, funded by the Building Research Levy. The result will be clearer, more reliable maps that support safer, more resilient buildings for all of Aotearoa.
Retrofitting homes to cut energy bills and improve comfort
Lead: Centre for Research Evaluation and Social Assessment (CRESA)
BRANZ’s investment priority: Affordability
Timeframe: 18 months
Funding: $315,000
FY26/27 funding: $189,000
In New Zealand maintaining houses is often seen as expensive. But when essential repairs are put off, it leads to unhealthy, unsafe living conditions and rising costs — especially for low- and modest-income households. In 2023, researchers estimated that 90% of New Zealand homes needed maintenance, with a national bill of $27.3 billion.
Hosted by the Centre for Research Evaluation and Social Assessment (CRESA), this $295,000 Building Research Levy project aims to make home maintenance easier and more affordable by:
- Measuring the real costs and risks of delayed maintenance for households
- Developing practical solutions and tools to lower lifetime maintenance costs.
The 18-month project brings together experts from BRANZ, Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington, Community Housing Aotearoa, Rātā Foundation, iwi organisations, housing providers, architects, government agencies, and community groups.
Working with builders, regulators, and households, the team will create clear data, easy-to-use guides, and new tools. It aims to reduce long-term maintenance costs and help more New Zealanders live in safer, healthier, and more affordable homes, now and into the future.
Lead: BRANZ Ltd
BRANZ’s investment priority: Quality
Timeframe: 4 years
Funding: $2.308m
FY26/27 funding: $610,000
Too many New Zealand homes are cold and damp in winter, overheated in summer, and expensive to run. Damp and mould alone cost the country about $8.7 billion each year in health and productivity losses. Overheating and interstitial moisture (hidden moisture between building layers) are also growing concerns.
Why? Because current compliance pathways and wider industry design practice don’t dive into the detail of how people actually live in their homes. Both design and daily use matter – and they need to work together for a comfortable, dry home. We need a better, integrated methodology to help deliver this in practice for all New Zealanders.
Led by BRANZ, this four-year project will deliver next-generation modelling techniques and practical compliance pathways to keep homes comfortable, dry, healthy, and affordable. It’s backed by $2.34 million in Building Research Levy funding and support from MBIE, industry groups, and global experts from the Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics.
Key outcomes include:
- Real-world modelling: Creating new indoor climate models and occupancy profiles (patterns of how people use their homes) based on BRANZ’s long-term monitoring, so housing designs reflect the real, different ways people live to deliver drier, healthier homes.
- Better compliance pathways for internal moisture: practical, easy-to-apply risk matrix for Clause E3/AS1 to guide design decisions on heating, ventilation and thermal performance, including thermal bridging.
- A Verification Method for E3/VM1, co-designed with MBIE, to help designers chose advanced moisture-control strategies tailored to real conditions.
- Future impacts for energy and ventilation: Insights and data to inform updates to energy efficiency (H1) and ventilation (G4) clauses, supporting improved tools for cost effective, people-focused design choices.
- Best-practice guidance: Tools and training to make modelling workflows easier to use — supporting design, assessment, and retrofits that deliver genuine comfort, health and cost benefits.
- A focus on retrofitting: Durable, innovative approaches so that home upgrades improve living conditions, reduce liability risks, and lower long-term costs.
By building on BRANZ’s 60 years of expertise in building quality, this project will help designers create homes that truly work for Kiwi families — healthy, resilient, and affordable for future generations.
Lead: Massey University
BRANZ’s investment priority: Affordability
Timeframe: 2 years, 2 months
Funding: $186,804
FY26/27 funding: $81,741
Thousands of Kiwi families live in homes that are either too cold and damp or too hot, which means high power bills and uncomfortable daily life.
Retrofitting these homes is essential. But every home is different, and for DIYers, figuring out the best upgrades can be confusing. Households need practical, easy-to-use guidance that fits their needs and budgets.
Massey University is leading a $186,805 Building Research Levy project to create a simple, web-based DIY tool to help New Zealanders make smart, affordable decisions to improve their homes. Over two years, the tool will:
- Use expert research and real-world data to build a decision engine
- Let people enter details about their homes and get tailored, low-cost retrofit strategies
- Help compare options by budget and plan staged upgrades over time.
Developed with government, BRANZ, iwi, energy groups, and community partners – including people facing energy hardship – this tool will make home improvement planning accessible and practical. It aims to lower energy bills and help Kiwis create healthier homes, the DIY way.
Lead: BRANZ Ltd
BRANZ’s investment priority: Quality
Timeframe: 2 years
Funding: $428,740
FY26/27 funding: $238,740
New Zealand homes play a big role in how we use energy, keep warm, and stay healthy. BRANZ’s Household Energy End-use Project 2 (HEEP2) collected one of the most detailed national datasets on residential energy use and indoor conditions in hundreds of homes between 2022 and 2025.
This data provides real insights to improve housing quality, cut energy costs, and support a lower-carbon future. It’s had strong interest from government, industry, manufacturers, financiers, community groups, and researchers across Aotearoa.
To make sure this valuable information is easy to access and use, this BRANZ-led project will work with these groups to:
- Turn findings into clear, practical resources — like policy briefs, community guides, interactive tools, videos and easy-to-read summaries — so insights reach decision-makers, industry, and households.
- Create a sustainable, long-term model for data access, so researchers, businesses, and communities can keep using it to make informed decisions and solve real-world problems.
By making HEEP2 insights simple to find and apply, we can help people make better choices about their homes, support innovation and new solutions, and tackle challenges like energy hardship and climate change. This project turns data into action — helping create healthier, more affordable homes and a stronger, more sustainable New Zealand.
Lead: Te Āhuru Mōwai
BRANZ’s investment priority: Quality
Timeframe: 2 years
Funding: $470,000
FY26/27 funding: $330,000
Measuring how solar power in social housing can reduce energy costs, and improve comfort, affordability and daily life for Māori whānau.
Lead: BRANZ Ltd
BRANZ’s investment priority: Quality
Timeframe: 18 months
Funding: $182,000
FY26/27 funding: $100,000
New Zealand’s homes are changing fast, and our data needs to keep up. To create a clearer picture of what kinds of homes we have, how many need upgrades, and to plan for population change, BRANZ is leading research to update the national housing typology.
A housing typology categorises homes based on things like their style, age, materials, and how they’re built. For example, a 1920s villa is very different from 1960s multi-unit housing. These categories help governments and planners decide where changes are needed, forecast future housing needs, and track progress on making homes healthier and more affordable.
Back in 2008, 10 categories were developed for New Zealand homes – but our housing has changed a lot since then. Today, medium-density housing, modern apartments, high-performance homes, Māori-led developments, and more are all grouped in a catch-all “other” category. This makes it hard to realistically evaluate and improve New Zealand’s housing.
Led by BRANZ, and backed by $182,000 Building Research Levy funding, this collaborative project will:
- create an updated typology, with new categories for homes built in the last 20 years
- give better estimates of how many and which homes need retrofits
- provide a clearer picture of housing supply and future needs for New Zealand.
This collaborative, data-driven effort will deliver lasting benefits for New Zealand’s housing future. BRANZ is working with government, Stats NZ, Māori housing providers, research organisations and experts to make sure the new system fits real New Zealand homes and help make better decisions for healthier, resilient, affordable and sustainable homes.
Supporting the sector with practical resources
Lead: BRANZ Ltd
BRANZ’s investment priority: Affordability, quality, resilience, sustainability
Timeframe: 12 months
Funding: $445,000
FY26/27 funding: $445,000
The sector needs trusted, evidence-based tools to deliver affordable, resilient, and sustainable buildings for Aotearoa. BRANZ provides essential digital resources — such as the H1 Hub, Build Insights, Build Online, BRANZ Maps, MyBRANZ Knowledge, and the House Insulation Guide.
This funding ensures these tools are maintained, supported and continue to deliver real value. Widely used by builders, designers, councils, and government agencies, they play a critical role in better decision-making, compliance, and building quality across Aotearoa New Zealand.
Continued investment in sector resources is essential to deliver real impact. Together, these resources drive smarter, more cost-effective decisions, reduce mistakes and rework, and help deliver high-quality, affordable, resilient and sustainable buildings.
Lead: BRANZ Ltd
BRANZ’s investment priority: Affordability, quality, resilience, sustainability
Timeframe: 12 months
Funding: $230,000
FY26/27 funding: $230,000
BRANZ Bulletins and Guidelines are trusted go-to resources for New Zealand’s building sector – and are relied on by builders, designers, and regulators for practical, research-backed technical guidance. But their current static format limits their full potential.
This project will replace slow, hard-to-find documents with an online technical guidance platform. Builders, designers, and regulators will be able to quickly search for up-to-date answers, keep pace with changing rules, and make smarter decisions on the job. By drawing on real industry questions, BRANZ will ensure the content is always practical and relevant, helping avoid costly mistakes and delays.
Creating new technical content will mean builders, designers, and regulators can quickly find trusted answers, stay on top of changing rules, and make smarter decisions on the job. By using real questions from the industry, BRANZ will keep the content practical and relevant, helping everyone avoid costly mistakes and delays.
The result? Faster, better decisions and a sector ready to adapt to new regulations or emerging challenges. This project puts BRANZ’s research directly into the hands of the industry, ensuring the right knowledge is always available to deliver cost-effective, higher-quality buildings.
Continued investment in sector resources is essential to deliver real impact. Together, these resources drive smarter, more cost-effective decisions, reduce mistakes and rework, and help deliver high-quality, affordable, resilient and sustainable buildings.
Lead: BRANZ Ltd
BRANZ’s investment priority: Affordability, quality, resilience, sustainability
Timeframe: 12 months
Funding: $755,000
FY26/27 funding: $755,000
The building sector faces pressure to deliver affordable homes without compromising quality or sustainability. Smarter, faster decisions are critical — reducing rework, avoiding overdesign, and choosing the right systems first time. Yet, essential knowledge is often hard to find or arrives too late.
This programme turns BRANZ’s trusted research into practical, timely guidance that builders, designers, and consenting officials can use every day. It includes developing “how-to” videos and short social clips that unpack technical issues, explain trade-offs, and provide clear, actionable advice.
Our focus is on the topics stakeholders struggle with most — new products, regulatory changes, technical tips — helping the sector build safer, better-quality homes and avoid costly delays. By making this content easy to use and find, we enable evidence-based decisions that boost efficiency, productivity, and confidence across Aotearoa’s building industry.
Continued investment in sector resources is essential to deliver real impact. Together, these resources drive smarter, more cost-effective decisions, reduce mistakes and rework, and help deliver high-quality, affordable, resilient and sustainable buildings.
Delivering cost-efficient, quality builds
Lead: The Urban Advisory
BRANZ’s investment priority: Affordability
Timeframe: 12 months
Funding: $286,675
FY26/27 funding: $286,675
Developing a practical, step-by-step toolkit for iwi-led mixed-tenure housing to deliver more affordable, culturally responsive housing options for Māori communities.
Lead: Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington
BRANZ’s investment priority: Affordability
Timeframe: 2 years
Funding: $305,583
FY26/27 funding: $159,189
Aotearoa New Zealand's construction sector faces persistent challenges with cost overruns and delays, which cost billions of dollars each year and directly impact housing affordability and project viability.
Traditional project management methods used by the sector often lack the flexibility to adapt to disruptions like material shortages, weather, coordination issues, and decision bottlenecks.
Led by Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington and backed by $305,583 Building Research Levy funding, this research will adapt Agile Project Management practices for construction. Agile methods, proven in industries like IT, healthcare, and manufacturing, have been reported to boost efficiency by 30–50% and improve financial performance by 20-30%.
The project will run workshops in five regions (Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Tauranga, Queenstown), bringing together construction professionals, Māori and Pacific practitioners, and industry leaders. Participants will experience both traditional and agile planning tools, co-designing a practical, evidence-based hybrid project management model tailored for New Zealand’s construction environment.
Key outputs will include:
- A practical, evidence-based hybrid project management model
- An easy-to-use implementation guide for industry.
Collaboration is central, supported by national bodies like the Project Management Institute of New Zealand, the Building Institute of Aotearoa, the New Zealand Institute of Architects, Engineering New Zealand, NZ Institute of Quantity Surveyors and expertise from project managers, architects, and researchers. The project’s open-access practices and guides will help teams reduce rework, improve coordination, and deliver projects more efficiently.
By empowering the sector to adopt more flexible project management, this research aims to make construction more affordable, productive, and responsive for Aotearoa New Zealand.
Lead: BRANZ Ltd
BRANZ’s investment priority: Affordability
Timeframe: 12 months
Funding: $646,500
FY26/27 funding: $646,500
Build Insights is BRANZ’s sector intelligence tool, changing how Aotearoa understands building and construction and improving decision-making across the system. It brings together trusted data from every stage of building — demand, planning, design, construction, and operation — into one interactive platform. This single source of truth helps spot challenges early, supports smarter decisions, and drives better outcomes for everyone.
With Build Insights, the sector can reduce costs by forecasting demand, tracking workforce trends, predicting build delivery and consenting times, monitoring changes, and gain insights into how New Zealanders live. It also highlights affordability pressures, construction activity, and regional variations — giving government, industry, finance, and community groups the insights they need to plan, invest, and innovate with confidence.
Since its launch in May 2025, Build Insights has attracted strong media attention and sparked important conversations. It makes complex data accessible to everyone, while providing researchers with a robust foundation for long-term studies.
Working with partners, including MBIE, Signify, Third Bearing, EBOSS, and data suppliers, this project will keep Build Insights running and evolving. It will add new datasets, maintain data quality, and publish regular insights.
On-going funding is essential to ensure this trusted resource continues to shift the sector from reactive fixes to proactive planning — driving affordability, resilience, and sustainability. Ultimately, Build Insights helps create better homes, stronger communities, and long-term value for Aotearoa.
Lead: Thomas Jones, University of Canterbury - PhD scholarship
BRANZ’s investment priority: Affordability
Timeframe: 3 years
Funding: $120,000
FY26/27 funding: $40,000
Many New Zealanders find that quotes for the same building work can vary wildly — even simple jobs can have a price difference of 25% or more.
This price variance confuses homeowners, undermines trust in the industry and drives up costs for everyone. It also creates instability, with hundreds of construction companies going out of business each year due to risky pricing.
This three-year PhD study by Thomas Jones, University of Canterbury, will uncover why such large differences in tender prices exist in New Zealand’s residential construction sector. By working closely with builders, designers, housing providers, and industry bodies, the project will gather real-world data and insights.
The goal is to pinpoint the main causes of price variance and recommend practical changes — like clearer contracts, better procurement practices, and more transparent pricing. Improving tender practices help support stability in the sector, reduce business failures, and make building work more affordable for New Zealanders.
Lead: BRANZ Ltd
BRANZ’s investment priority: Affordability
Timeframe: 16 months
Funding: $357,100
FY26/27 funding: $255,100
Good housing data matters for the future of New Zealand homes. It helps us understand how homes are affecting health, comfort, and costs — and how we can tackle big issues like energy hardship, climate change, and housing quality.
For nearly three decades, BRANZ collected trusted, longitudinal data on a range of housing-related topics which have influenced policy and regulation changes. These data collections have included major studies on housing conditions, energy use, materials, and homeowner satisfaction. But traditional data collection can be costly, slow, and can create inconsistencies.
This BRANZ-led project will take a fresh look at how housing data is collected and shared. Working with government, Stats NZ, industry, researchers, and community groups, it will develop smarter, more collaborative ways to collect and share information. Together, we’ll co-design a clear plan for reliable, consistent, accessible housing data that supports better decisions, stronger policies, and healthier homes.
By filling gaps and improving how data is shared, we can help everyone — from policymakers to homeowners — make informed choices that save money, improve wellbeing, and build resilience for the future.
Lead: Oliver Cadrain, University of Canterbury - PhD scholarship
BRANZ’s investment priority: Sustainability
Timeframe: 3 years
Funding: $120,000
FY26/27 funding: $40,000
Every year, around 6.4 million tonnes of construction and demolition (C&D) waste goes to landfill in New Zealand - even though much of it could be reused. Recycling just 10% of this waste could create an estimated 100,000 tonnes of new construction materials at minimal cost.
This PhD project by Oliver Cadrain, University of Canterbury, aims to turn waste into valuable resources by developing new types of concrete and masonry products made from recycled C&D materials. These low-cost, low-carbon building materials could be used in both structural and non-structural parts of homes, like foundation slabs and walls, helping to improve energy efficiency and reduce environmental impact.
Working closely with industry partners like Fletcher Building, along with academic experts and sustainability consultants, the research will identify, collect, and test different types of C&D waste, develop new concrete mix designs, and assess their strength, durability, and thermal performance. The project will also explore how to process and use these recycled materials at scale, aligning with national sustainability standards like Green Star and Homestar.
The collaborative project aims to reduce landfill waste and lower construction costs, supporting a more circular, sustainable, and affordable construction sector for Aotearoa New Zealand.