Our vision
Creating homes and neighbourhoods that work well into the future and don’t cost the Earth
Our purpose
We are an Incorporated Society committed to transforming New Zealand’s homes and neighbourhoods. We use research and demonstration projects to show New Zealand:
- How our homes can be warmer, drier, healthier, cost less to run, be adaptable for the future, and use less resources.
- How our neighbourhoods can be adaptable, sustainable, and a place where residents enjoy interacting, working, living and relaxing locally.
Our goal
To bring 90% of New Zealand’s homes to a high standard of sustainability
What we can offer your organisation
Research and expertise
We undertake new research to fill the gaps in understanding house and neighbourhood performance.
Beacon has an extensive track record in research, having successfully completed a five year government research contract in sustainable housing and neighbourhoods. We have robust systems to manage the research process ensuring a quality outcome (in full, on time, in spec), that meets your needs, and provides credible results.
We also believe that research is not only about generating learning, it’s about sharing it too. We use workshops, presentations, symposia, articles and blogs to spread the learnings to drive change.
Major research includes:
- The timber content of walls has been found to be much higher than generally assumed.
- We collated cost information to build a realistic picture of where costs lie in constructing new homes.
Use our insight and advice
Our team has extensive experience in the performance of homes and neighbourhoods and can offer technical insight, analysis and expertise to your projects.
Here’s some ways we’ve added our expertise to other organisations:
- We’ve been reviewing the sustainability and resilience for marae, producing a report that suggests both behavioural changes and investments.
Running collaborative and demonstration projects
Beacon has extensive experience in scoping and running collaborative and demonstration projects.
We believe that research has to be tested in the real world. Demonstration projects provide a proof of concept that gives weight and credibility to results. The results of monitoring the Waitakere NOW Home were shared with government and contributed to tightening of the Building Code.
One of Beacon’s greatest resources is our extensive network across the housing sector. We have connections in central and local government, industry, affordable and third sector housing providers, design and construction, and industry associations.
We’re also often aware of opportunities and activities in other parts of the sector and we can put you in touch with the right person to talk to. We can help you to bring partners on board, using our sector-wide network, and to facilitate the partnerships throughout the project.
Some examples
- The Build Back Smarter project -Beacon successfully pulled together funding from EECA, Fletcher Building, Christchurch City Council, Christchurch Agency for Energy, and the Ministry of Science and Innovation
- The HIVE High Performance Home project – Beacon facilitated the collaboration between New Zealand Steel, Resene, InsulPro, Frametek-RFS and Fletcher Aluminium, that developed the Warmframe concept into a building system, tested it, and trialled it in the HIVE High Performance Home.
Applying research through tools
We recognise that knowledge needs to come in a form which can be applied in the real world. Robust independent tools and packaging information in ways suitable for clients or homeowners to use are key to successfully sharing knowledge.
We have developed a number of tools and checklists through our research and demonstration projects. These are all available to other organisations to support their work.
We can offer support in how to use them and will work with you to tweak the tools as you might need for your own project.
Or we can develop a bespoke tool to meet a new need.
Our current tools
- Home Assessment and Prioritised Plan tool – produces a prioritised tailored upgrade plan to help homeowners decide on the steps to take to improve their home.
- Neighbourhood sustainability tools – a New Zealand-specific set of tools that communities and managers of neighbourhoods can use to improve neighbourhood outcomes.
- Medium density assessment tools – assess and guide good practice in medium density developments. They combine expert assessment with developer interviews and resident feedback to show what aspects are successful and where improvements might be needed.
Want to work with us?
We’re keen to partner with you on your projects and offer our knowledge and expertise – collaboration is our preferred way to work!
Get in touch – we’d love to hear from you
Email office@beaconpathway.co.nz or phone (09)889 9166
Our history
Beacon Pathway is a longstanding housing research organisation with a substantial research knowledge base.
The original Beacon – a six year research contract
Beacon was originally formed by five shareholders (Fletcher Building, BRANZ, Scion, Waitakere City Council and New Zealand Steel) to undertake a six year research contract for the Foundation of Research, Science and Technology.
The research aimed to improve the performance of New Zealand’s homes and neighbourhoods and it led to an extensive programme of demonstration projects, collaboration, and the development of practical solutions and tools.
An end-of-term review concluded:
“It was apparent from the Review that ‘sustainable homes’ would not be as high on the agenda of the NZ government, industry and consumers – as demonstrated by level of buy-in across the sector from key stakeholders – without Beacon.”
The Incorporated Society
With the end of the government research contract came a new phase for Beacon – an incorporated society.
Beacon Pathway Incorporated formed in 2010. It started with seven original organisational members: New Zealand Steel, EECA, Certified Builders, Insulpro Manufacturing, Resene, Christchurch City Council, and Fletcher Aluminium. Later, Beacon opened up to individual members recognising that many people across the sector share Beacon’s goals.
As an incorporated society, Beacon has pulled together large collaborative projects, undertaken a considerable body of research for the Building Research Levy, and tackled projects for other organisations.
Want to meet our team?
We’re a small team of committed researchers, communicators and housing experts.
Want to become a member?
Get the benefits of being part of our organisation.