White Associates strengthens shareholder structure to support growth

This time last year we announced that at a time of growth we were adding a new director and three new associates.

One year on, it is with great pleasure that on our 18^th birthday as a company we are coming of age and announce a new progressive company milestone that is all about further strengthening our leadership and shareholding structure, developing our people and supporting the continued growth of our business into the future.

We have added three new shareholders

Traditionally, White Associates has been owned by shareholding directors. For the first time, as part of our succession planning and our work to provide more opportunities for our team, we have added three minority shareholders who are staff but not directors.

In this first intake, Company Associates Richard Moore, Elliot Smith and Justin Bearne have bought into the business and have become shareholders. All three are well-recognised people within our business, and we are excited that they see a long-term future here.

Konrad says: “Adding new shareholders from within our own ranks is a hugely exciting step for White Associates. We have been talking consistently over the past year about how we set ourselves up for our next steps in our business growth, strengthening our structure and processes while providing a clearer pathway for our people to progress within our company. It is important to note that we will continue to look at our structure as we grow to provide further, future opportunities for people within our business to buy into it. This is not a one-time-only activity.”

“We want to build a strong, stable and rich working environment for our team as we grow, and enable our directors to work on the business as well as with our clients so we can develop and grow further still.”

The dollar has been unchallenged at the head of the budget table since its inception, but is that about to change?

As the voice of embodied carbon gets louder, one question starts to emerge into the foreground: could a carbon budget overthrow the monetary budget in our near future?

In our view, it could – for two reasons.

Firstly, our Government has passed legislation that makes climate-related disclosures mandatory for some large financial market participants from financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2023. Although this requirement is due to be phased in gradually – and currently only applies to large publicly listed companies, insurers, banks, non-bank deposit takers and investment managers – not only will it widen to other sectors over time, but it will also have an early trickle-down effect into the development and construction sectors that constitute substantial proportions of their lending and insurance books.

Secondly, many large developers and constructors in New Zealand and overseas have responded to their government and other clients’ desire to improve environmental project performance – increasingly weighted in procurement processes – by creating strategies to move ahead in this area. Then they look to publicly disclose their intent and progress in annual sustainability reports. In turn, these reports are being increasingly scrutinised for vague or unfulfilled claims, in some instances leading to a rise in so-called ‘greenwashing’ lawsuits. In fact, the London School of Economics’ Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment announced late last year that there are more than 2,000 climate change litigation cases underway around the world, more than double those taking place in 2015.

The effect of these two factors is clear

Unambiguous embodied carbon targets are rising in importance. So, although we have seen them enter the conversation on projects but not yet taking precedence over dollars, we ask: could we be approaching the tipping point?

Government clients are increasingly requiring the first steps along this path. A late-2022 Ministry of Education (MOE) release extract (below) shows how the Ministry is introducing carbon assessments for new builds, a natural first step that will no doubt be followed by additional steps. And the MOE is by no means alone in this area.

The Ministry of Education put out a news release late last year saying:

Carbon assessment for new build projects

As part of Te Mahere Taiao – The Environmental Action Plan for School Property – we are progressively implementing embodied carbon and operational carbon assessment requirements and targets for Ministry-led new builds.

Upcoming requirements:

Ministry-led new build projects contracted after 1 September 2022, with a capital value over $8m, will be required to conduct Life Cycle Assessments. It is optional and encouraged for all Ministry-led new build projects to opt-in and conduct Life Cycle Assessments.

Our intention is to progressively incorporate carbon assessment into business-as-usual processes and our design standards (within DSNZ) at a pace that the industry is capable of accommodating.

We are starting with high value projects, embodied carbon calculations, and simplified energy use calculations. Next year, we will progress to lower value projects and include whole-of-life operational carbon reporting. We will keep design teams updated with timelines and any changes to our requirements.

As public and private sector clients become more environmentally conscious and demand more sustainable building practices, becoming increasingly aware of the carbon footprint of building projects, they will prioritise low-carbon materials and construction methods. This will put pressure on the construction industry to prioritise carbon budgets over financial budgets in order to meet client demands.

Private companies and individuals are already taking steps to reach the targets that Government departments are striving for. This work applies not just to the big construction companies but also consultancies, subcontractors, suppliers and other smaller companies further down the supply chain, all of whom are being / going to be asked by their Tier 1 contractor clients to do more too as time progresses.

One thing is for sure: carbon budgets are emerging into importance, and it is possible that overall carbon budgets for a project might even overtake financial budgets in the construction industry of New Zealand – as the financial budget might end up by being just a component of the carbon budget, rather than the other way around.

The construction industry will need to play its part in reducing emissions, and carbon budgets will be an essential tool in achieving this goal.

How might this process work in practice?

Historically, clients come to us with a question of either, ‘here’s what we want to do. How much will it cost?’ or ‘I have a budget of $x, what can I do with it?’

This conversation is evolving into to, ‘here’s what we want to do. What is a reasonable embodied carbon target?’ Or ‘I have an embodied carbon limit of x. What can I do with it?’.

We are already helping clients by analysing embodied carbon on different options for designs to see which is the most efficient/lowest carbon option. This type of option engineering is just one way we can work alongside your design team to determine the most efficient embodied carbon option.

Companies looking to make the most of this process should come and talk to us. The construction industry has operated for a long time with dollars defining budgets. We’re entering a fast-paced period of change over the next decade, and the winners will be those who respond well.

Last month Olivia, our most recently graduated cadet, was featured in Open Polytechnic’s Student Stories.

Looking for a change from retail management and marketing, Olivia de Rooy found the “numbers side” of studying quantity surveying through Open Polytechnic | Te Pūkenga the perfect fit.

Olivia, who is based in Queenstown, recently completed the New Zealand Diploma in Construction (Level 6) (Quantity Surveying)  through Open Polytechnic | Te Pūkenga.

The 26-year-old is pleased she decided to switch from marketing and retail management to quantity surveying in November 2020.

“With a marketing degree and a 10-year background in retail management I found the financial and numbers side of business the most interesting,” Olivia said.

“When COVID-19 hit, the fast-paced environment of retail diminished so I began looking for something else. As I loved the numbers side of retail management, and have always had a love for buildings, I decided to go down the route of Quantity Surveying.”

Olivia’s career switch from marketing and retail management to quantity surveying

Olivia completed a Bachelor of Business, Marketing and International Business degree from Griffith University in Queensland, Australia in 2018.

But while she enjoyed studying marketing, it was tough to find her dream job.

Olivia had thought that getting a degree in marketing would lead her straight into a corporate marketing role with standard business hours.

Instead, with plenty of competition for marketing jobs, she found opportunities in retail management, with varied work hours and days. And while she loved her career in retail, this was not what she had envisioned.

But a conversation with a friend in late 2020, nine months after she moved to Queenstown, changed things.

Her friend suggested that she should consider studying quantity surveying.

“I looked into it and thought, this is the perfect fit for me – the construction industry is fast-paced and exciting. And that’s how I decided to go back and study,” she said.

Another benefit of moving into quantity surveying was the opportunity to get practical experience, by combining on the job training with her study.

Olivia managed to get work while she was studying, as a cadet in the Queenstown-based office of White Associates, who are property and construction consultants and quantity surveyors.

“Having experienced multiple career changes, from marketing to retail management, I was really committed to finding experience as a quantity surveyor before finishing my studies, to ensure that this is exactly what I wanted to do,” she said.

Throughout her studies, Olivia worked part-time and studied full-time, and upon graduating, she moved into a full-time Junior Quantity Surveying role. While she is still relatively new to the industry, having the New Zealand Diploma in Construction (Level 6) (Quantity Surveying)  through Open Polytechnic | Te Pūkenga has helped.

“Because of the foundations set by Open Polytechnic, I wasn’t a nuisance the first day in my job. I had somewhat of an idea of what I was doing,” she said.

“Construction is so complicated, there is so much more to quantity surveying than you realise. I think having the foundations through studying has definitely helped.”

According to Olivia, the company she is with now (White Associates), likes to promote from within their ranks and they are really supportive of current employees, so she knows there will definitely be future opportunities to come.

“They were very good throughout my studies. If I had any questions I would go straight to them,” Olivia said.

“There are four other cadets at the moment, so they do support students going through their study stages and then going full-time at the end of it.”

Studying with Open Polytechnic | Te Pūkenga

For Olivia, who has been living in Queenstown for three years, the decision to study through Open Polytechnic | Te Pūkenga was easy.

It provided her with the flexibility to complete a qualification online, from home, without having to travel to other cities regularly.

“As long as I met my deadlines for my assignments, it really suited my lifestyle, rather than sitting in a lecture and having to be there, it was great to be able to set time aside whenever I could fit it in.”

“I was quite efficient with studying and doing assignments at the same time. I could go through the modules as fast as I wanted to and do the assignments on the days that suited me and my work schedule, rather than waiting each week for what the lecturer puts out, like traditional face-to-face study.”

There are 16 courses in the diploma, and Olivia says she particularly enjoyed the ones that covered measurement and estimates as well as construction.

“The quantity surveying courses give you a really good foundation for measurement and rate build ups,” Olivia said.

“The general construction courses were also really helpful for someone like me, who doesn’t have a construction background. They gave me a good foundation about what goes into a building, from residential to commercial builds.”

Open Polytechnic | Te Pūkenga support

Studying online can have its challenges says Olivia, particularly if a student isn’t sure about what they are learning and has questions. In this situation, she found it could sometimes be hard to explain a question through the forums provided in the online learning platform. Olivia found in this situation it was important to make the most of the support provided by lecturers.

“My lecturer, Marius, was golden,” Olivia said.

“He was so supportive, always quick to reply to students, he was quite good at explaining if you weren’t sure what was going on with an assignment or a certain topic in the course.”

“I really appreciated him throughout the whole diploma.”

Advice for anyone thinking of getting into study

Olivia suggests doing some research into what you want to study beforehand and making sure it’s what you want to do before you commit.

“Obviously there is the financial aspect to it, but you are committing time out of your life,” she says.

“But if you are to study, I would say time management is the biggest thing you need, especially with the diploma being solely assignment based which can take up a lot of time. You need to be able to manage and juggle the workload.”

For Olivia, work and study needs to be balanced with leisure activities.

She keeps active and makes the most of the sports on offer around Queenstown, including skiing, mountain biking, Pilates and hiking, as well as catching up with friends and family.

“I live in Queenstown for the lifestyle, so it was really important to be able to maintain that throughout the two-year course. I think all students should keep a healthy study, work, and lifestyle balance in mind and luckily, studying through Open Polytechnic allows that,” she said.

Future plans

Now that she has completed her diploma, Olivia says she may eventually do a degree, but for now, is enjoying focusing on her job.  Enjoying her work at White Associates, she hopes to progress into an intermediate role, and then a senior role.

“I love White Associates, and there’s a lot happening in Queenstown – it’s definitely growing.  It’s a great place for me to stay career-wise.”