Andrew Eagles
on building healthier places

For Andrew Eagles, sustainability is deeply personal. Raised in Taranaki and shaped by experiences across the globe, Andrew brings a unique perspective to his role as CEO of the New Zealand Green Building Council. His mission? Healthier buildings, healthier people.

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“Sustainability, to me, is like a feijoa tree - adaptable, beloved, and nurtured with aroha,” he says. That same care underpins the work he leads: transforming how New Zealand designs and builds its homes and communities.

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Andrew’s background spans economics, policy, and housing - skills sharpened through years working in the UK and now applied to driving change at home. Under his leadership, NZGBC is pushing for green-certified buildings that reduce emissions and improve wellbeing. “The built environment is responsible for 20% of NZ’s emissions - we have the tools to fix that now.”

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His call to action is simple but powerful: “Everyone has a role - officials, businesses, voters. We need to stop waiting and start pulling together.” That belief is echoed in his favourite whakataukī: “Ehara! Ko koe te ringa e huti punga.”

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Andrew champions practical solutions - like encouraging banks to clearly promote green home loan discounts, or requiring simple overheating checks at the design stage. He also draws inspiration from kaitiakitanga, praising iwi who embed sustainability through robust green certifications.

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His advice to rising changemakers? “Make sure your solution stacks up commercially - sustainability must thrive in a business setting.”

One seed of change he’s planting: Fast-tracked building consents for green-certified homes. “Let’s reward climate-smart design. It’s better for people, the planet, and our future.”

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His challenge to us all: “Next time you’re looking at office space, ask: does it have a green rating? That one question can drive big change.”

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BLOOMING  Sustainability Questionnaire

Name: Andrew Eagles

Company & Title:  CEO, New Zealand Green Building Council

Website & LinkedIn Profile:  www.nzgbc.org.nz  www.linkedin.com/in/andreweagles/

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​* Guiding Values | Kaupapa 

If sustainability were a flower blooming in your life, what would it look like? What nurtures it?  

If sustainability were a blooming plant in my life it would be a feijoa, a plant that has been nurtured and developed across multiple different countries and beloved in New Zealand.   We nurture our feijoa tree with tonnes of aroha and are rewarded with delicious kai.

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A quote, personal motto or whakataukī that reflects your vision:  

Ehara! Ko koe te ringa e huti punga  Yes.  Yours is the arm best suited to pull up the anchor.

 

For me this reflects that we all need to pull in the direction and drive change.  Rather than talk about it we all need to drive change, all firms, all officials, all consumers and voters.  We need people all of us pushing for change.  

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If you could mentor a rising change-maker in Aotearoa, what advice would you share?  

To ensure your solution has a business case and will thrive in the business setting.​

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* Leading Change | Arataki

A key moment in your journey that shaped your path:  

Travelling the world teaches you how special NZ is- with all the wonderful experiences nature brings; going on multi night tramps, swimming in our oceans, enjoying our mountains. Lets reduce environmental impacts so we can preserve this.

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What’s the main challenge you face in driving sustainability within your sector?  

Banks often provide lower interest finance offers for developing green certified buildings or homes.  Most of the sector is not aware of this.  There is a huge opportunity for banks to make this clear by providing more compelling discounts, training up their front line staff on those offers and actually marketing the offer out to consumers.   

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An area you need more support with:  

Currently some build homes are often overheating. We would encourage designers to check if their home is likely to overheat at the design stage.  This is a simple check with modelling tools.  This is especially important for terraced homes and apartments.  Our suggestion is that we move to do this at the consenting stage.

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An Indigenous perspective you admire and want people to be mindful of:  

I like that many iwi have a focus on kaikiakitanga. The key is ensuring that this vision is actually delivered through to completion on building projects.  That is where many iwi use green certifications.  This ensures kaikiakitanga is actually delivered right through the project in a robust way. 

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Your best approach for engaging stakeholders in meaningful dialogue about ESG: 
Focusing on how delivering on ESG helps reduce pain points, increase growth or reduce costs.

 

What do you think is Aotearoa’s superpower in creating a sustainable future? 
Innovation – kiwis are super innovative, whether putting rockets into space or great digital services.

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​ * Surfing the Green Wave | Kakariki

Books, podcasts, courses or other resources that profoundly shaped your approach to sustainability

Humankind a hopeful history – great book by Rutger Bregman showing actually people are

 

Podcasts

• Cleaning up- leadership in an age of climate change

• Let me sum up – a great summary of the most influential climate change research in Australia

• When the facts change

• This climate business 

• Seeds by Steven Moe

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Events in Aotearoa or globally that you think are must-attend:  

• Green Property Summit – 7th August Auckland

• Climate Change and Business Conference by SBC

• Transform – a leading conference by the GBCA- it is inspiring each year

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A sustainable initiative or project in Aotearoa that deserves more attention:  

The amazing One Tree Hill trade academy project where trade apprentices take a derelict house and convert it into a healthy warm 7 star Homestar house.  All trade academies could be taking this ahead.  It is a great way for students to complete a whole house. 

 

If your work could plant one seed of change for the future, what would it be?  

The built environment is 20% of NZs emissions.  We have the technology available right now to deliver tens of millions of tonnes of emissions savings.  If we want lower carbon healthier buildings let’s change our systems to incentivize this.  Lets deliver

• faster building consent for green certified buildings

• homes and buildings that are on the fast tracked process should need to be green certified

These types of incentives will help deliver less construction waste, less energy use, healthier places and a more resilient energy grid.

 

The leader(s) you endorse for a future edition of Blooming Sustainability: 

• Kate Kearney – she is building low carbon healthy homes for Community Housing providers

• Arthur Lee is doing the same in Queenstown.
   

* One actionable takeaway for our readers to make a change today for a brighter tomorrow:

When you are considering new premises for your office, ask the following question when you go out to the tender.  Please confirm if the building has a green rating. When tenants start asking the question landlords will start delivering lower carbon healthier buildings.