September 28, 2021 | By Bronwen Largier
The first of New Zealand’s new generation of convention centres, Te Pae Christchurch has achieved an important environmental certification in a program specifically tailored for New Zealand businesses, as it prepares to open its doors in December.
The centre has been awarded the Toitū enviromark gold certification, working with Toitū since early 2020 to achieve this.
Enviromark Programme Advisor Chris Bailey said at gold level, certified organisations have implemented controls for both regulatory obligations and significant opportunities to improve their performance. Impacts are measured so they can be properly managed on an ongoing basis.
“Te Pae Christchurch chose to proactively implement managing their environmental risks and opportunities,” said Bailey.
“Well before the opening of the Centre, the team at Te Pae Christchurch mapped out their business activities and identified any significant impacts arising from those business partners they might influence. By implementing control systems well in advance of opening, Te Pae Christchurch is managing their risks and opportunities from the start.”
Te Pae’s Venue Presentation Manager, Jason Stewart, who led the certification effort on behalf of the venue said the certification process had a lot of benefits.
“It’s helped us nail down the goals we want to achieve as a business and the improvements needed to be more sustainable and environmentally conscious.
“And by getting every department thinking about what they do and the impact it has, it has solidified our environmental mindset.”
Te Pae Christchurch’s General Manager Ross Steele said the certification was a significant achievement.
“From the outset the Te Pae Christchurch team has been committed to sustainable operations and taking positive environmental action. We are exceptionally proud to reach this milestone in our pre-opening phase, particularly given how challenging the past few months have been.”