Nicola Tagiston
on Building Homes That Perform Over Time
Nicola Tagiston thinks about housing the way a sunflower grows — not waiting for perfect conditions, but turning steadily toward the light, day after day. As Head of Sustainability at Fletcher Living, that patience and direction underpins everything she does.
Her thinking about cities and homes was shaped early, during time spent in Nepal in her late teens. In Kathmandu, air pollution was woven into daily life. Clean water and power were fragile. Whole communities felt the impact when basic infrastructure failed. Those experiences crystallised something she has carried ever since: sustainability is not an abstract goal, but a reflection of how well urban systems perform over time — and the consequences of getting it wrong fall hardest on those with the fewest alternatives.
The challenge Nicola returns to most isn't a lack of solutions. We already know how to build better homes. The difficulty lies in how the housing system is structured — long asset lifetimes, competitive margins, and risk-averse value chains mean that long-term benefits are often invisible to the people making early decisions. "Until healthier, more resilient, lower carbon homes are easier to recognise and value beyond the industry itself, they'll continue to be treated as an add on rather than the starting point," she says.
Her answer isn't to wait for regulation. It's to get louder. Clear signals from everyday people, she believes, shift markets faster than legislation ever does. When people start asking for homes that are comfortable, healthy, affordable to run and future-proofed as standard, businesses respond.
When it comes to engaging stakeholders, Nicola has learned to slow down. ESG conversations rarely start from the same place, and people carry different pressures into the room. "When people feel genuinely listened to and see their reality reflected," she reflects, "conversations tend to soften and progress becomes possible without forcing agreement."
She is deeply influenced by the idea that connection comes before care — a perspective rooted in a Māori worldview but, she believes, universally relevant. When people relate to a mountain or river as a living presence rather than a resource, they are far less likely to harm it.
Aotearoa's superpower, in Nicola's view, is the ability to learn fast and adapt quickly. We don't need to be first — but our systems are small enough to change and close enough to learn from.
If her work could plant one seed, it would be a shift in mindset among those designing and delivering homes: responsibility not just for what is built, but for how it performs over time.
Read Nicola's answers to Blooming Sustainability to explore what it takes to make better housing the baseline — not the exception.
BLOOMING Sustainability Questionnaire
Name: Nicola Tagiston
Company & Title: Head of Sustainability, Fletcher Living
Website & LinkedIn Profile:
* Guiding Values | Kaupapa
If sustainability were a flower blooming in your life, what would it look like? What nurtures it?
Right now, it would be a sunflower, which happens to be my favourite flower. Sunflowers aren’t delicate and they don’t wait for perfect conditions. They grow in tired soil, support pollinators, and as they rise they create shelter and space for other things around them. They’re known for turning toward the light, even when conditions are changeable, and doing that day after day. That feels like a good metaphor for sustainability for me. It’s less about quick wins and more about direction, patience, and steadily improving the conditions around you over time.
A quote, personal motto or whakataukī that reflects your vision:
I often think back to a quote I saw on the wall of One Red Dog on Ponsonby Road when I was at high school: “Some days you’re the dog, some days you’re the hydrant.” It stayed with me because it captures something quietly true about working for change. Sometimes progress can feel slow or contested. Some days bring momentum and confidence; other days, reality pushes back. Neither lasts. Remembering that helps me stay patient and committed to the work, even when the pace isn’t quite what I hoped for.
If you could mentor a rising change-maker in Aotearoa, what advice would you share?
I’d encourage them to take the time to understand the company’s purpose, how capital moves, where is there space to introduce change, and incentives that can shape behaviour. Optimism is essential in sustainability and can often open the door, but it’s fluency that delivers lasting impact. I’ve also learnt that many of the most meaningful shifts don’t happen in formal forums, but through connecting with people in different ways - quieter moments, over coffee, walking the floor, all-in-all listening carefully and building trust one relationship at a time.
* Leading Change | Arataki
A key moment in your journey that shaped your path:
Time spent in Nepal in my late teens has stayed with me and continues to shape how I think about cities and housing today. In Kathmandu, air pollution was part of daily life, influencing how people moved through the city and how healthy it felt to live there. I also observed how vulnerable access to clean water and power could be, where breakdowns in basic infrastructure affected whole communities at once. Those experiences reinforced a view that has stayed with me since: sustainability is not an abstract goal, but a reflection of how well our urban systems perform over time. In urban development, the decisions we make about design, materials and infrastructure have lasting consequences for resilience, wellbeing and equity, particularly for those with the fewest alternatives when systems fall short.
What’s the main challenge you face in driving sustainability within your sector?
We already know how to build better homes. The challenge isn’t a lack of ideas, but the way the housing system is set up to take those solutions to scale. Long asset lifetimes, competitive pressure on margins and risk‑averse value chains can make change harder than it should be. As a result, the people making decisions early in the process don’t always have visibility of the long-term benefits at that stage, and those benefits get pushed down the list when trade‑offs are made. Until healthier, more resilient, lower‑carbon homes are easier to recognise and value beyond the industry itself, they’ll continue to be treated as an add‑on rather than the starting point. That’s why relying on legislation and regulation alone is unlikely to be sufficient.
An area you need more support with:
Noise. We could be a lot louder and more consistent as a group about what already works. Too often, better housing is still talked about as a ‘nice to have’ instead of the baseline people should expect. From what I’ve seen, clear signals from everyday people shift markets faster than regulation ever does. When people start asking for homes that are comfortable, healthy, affordable to run and future proofed as standard, businesses respond. Helping people see the value of better housing and backing that up together with a stronger collective voice, is one of the most effective ways we can speed things up.
An Indigenous perspective you admire and want people to be mindful of:
One perspective I deeply admire is the idea that connection comes before care. When people relate to a mountain, a river or the sea as a living presence rather than a resource, they are far less likely to harm it. This way of thinking reminds us that environmental change isn’t only technical, but also emotional and relational. While it is grounded in a Māori worldview, I believe its relevance is universal.
Your best approach for engaging stakeholders in meaningful dialogue about ESG:
ESG conversations rarely start from the same place. People come carrying different pressures, priorities and views of risk, shaped by whatever they’re dealing with day to day. Because of that, sustainability can sometimes feel distant or out of step with what feels most urgent in the moment. I’m still learning the importance of slowing down and understanding the people side first, before jumping to solutions. When people feel genuinely listened to and see their reality reflected, conversations tend to soften and progress becomes possible without forcing agreement.
What do you think is Aotearoa’s superpower in creating a sustainable future?
We don’t need to be first, but we need to be fast learners. Aotearoa’s strength is spotting what already works elsewhere, adapting it quickly to place, and then moving fast because our systems are small enough to change and close enough to learn from.
* Surfing the Green Wave | Kakariki
Books, podcasts, courses or other resources that profoundly shaped your approach to sustainability:
A few long‑standing influences include Jane Jacobs’ The Death and Life of Great American Citiesand Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth. More recently, I couldn’t put down The Future Embraced by Kobus Mentz. Kobus had a formative influence on my early career compass, and this book distils a lifetime of thinking about cities and systems. I’m currently reading the climate fiction novel The Ministry for the Future.
Courses that have shaped me include SBN and SBC sustainability leadership programmes, and more recently Maurea’s Te Kaa Māori cultural competency programme and Berkeley’s Leading Innovative Change. I am looking forward to the University of Auckland’s Finance for Non‑Financial Managers.
Events in Aotearoa or globally that you think are must-attend:
Grassroots, local volunteering events remain some of the most grounding and energising experiences. More formally, I value the Green Property Summit NZ and the Sustainability Leaders’ Summit for bringing practitioners into the same room.
A sustainable initiative or project in Aotearoa that deserves more attention:
The work Rui Peng and his team at Critical, a Māori‑owned company based in Papatōetoe, deserves far more attention. They take New Zealand plastics that would otherwise go to landfill - fishing nets, medical waste, vaping cartridges, hard hats, and more - and transform them into genuinely beautiful Cleanstone panels that are endlessly recyclable and low‑carbon. I’d love to see more people eating on their tabletops, leaning on their counters, and playing on their slides.
If your work could plant one seed of change for the future, what would it be?
That people designing and delivering homes feel responsible not just for what is built, but for how it performs over time. If that mindset takes hold, better outcomes for people, communities and the climate tend to follow naturally.
The leader(s) you endorse for a future edition of Blooming Sustainability:
So many sustainability superstars come to mind:
· Rui Peng, Critical
· Terri‑Ann Berry, Environmental Innovation Centre
· Craig Pocock, Design Environment
· Jonathan Chambers, Te Whāngai Trust
· Ferran de Miguel Mercader, Fletcher Building
· Kate Meyer, Planetary Accounting Network
* One actionable takeaway for our readers to make a change today for a brighter tomorrow:
Sustainability work carries a high emotional load, so actively seek out the people who remind you why you care. Go and hang out with some sustainability heroes, peers or mentors who energise you, share perspective and help you reconnect with your why.
