Summerset wins RVA Sustainability Award

We are delighted to announce that we have won the ‘APL operator-led sustainability programme’ in the Retirement Village Association of New Zealand’s Sustainability Awards. These awards have a primary focus on elevating sustainability standards throughout New Zealand's retirement village sector. Their emphasis lies in recognising and promoting environmentally conscious practices related to construction, design, landscaping, grounds maintenance, and activities.

Our entry centred on our Think Green programme and the huge amount of work we’ve done over the last 5 years to reduce our carbon emissions. We set out to achieve a target of a 5% reduction in carbon emissions intensity which we smashed – achieving 16%!

The Think Green programme focused on reducing our environmental impact in the key areas of energy (electricity and gas), waste, paper, fertilisers and travel. A key achievement is the implementation of our construction waste avoidance programme which is delivering benefits right across the organisation. The judges of the award were looking for clearly measurable projects that demonstrate genuine benefits to residents and the community. The judges noted how environmental considerations are embedded across Summerset, and how we are delivering on bringing the best of life to more than 7,500 residents.

The judges were impressed with how much we’d learned, how we had embedded sustainability across the organisation, how we have taken residents on the journey with us, and our commitment to do more. We are delighted to be recognised by the industry for our work in this area. Sustainability is a journey, and our Think Green programme was what kickstarted ours. We have a responsibility as a kaitiaki, to act as guardians for future generations and care for our environment.

Right across Summerset we have very passionate people working hard at thinking green to find innovations and solutions to create a sustainable future for all.

For more information on our Sustainability work to date see our ESG reporting pages