Nine environmental and community projects throughout the country have been announced as finalists in the Retirement Villages Association (RVA) Sustainability Awards.
The projects range from national programmes to individual village sustainability initiatives in Auckland, Hawke’s Bay, Rotorua, Tauranga, Clyde, Kaiapoi, and Nelson.
The projects include the first aged care homes constructed to a globally-recognised 6-Star Green rating, a project to upcycle and refurbish used bikes for children, schemes to reduce carbon emissions and transition from fossil fuels, reducing waste and increasing recycling, creating flourishing vegetable gardens and a community orchard.
Michelle Palmer, executive director of the RVA, said the awards recognised sustainability in building, design, landscaping, grounds and activities.
“This is becoming more and more important. Many retirement village operators and their residents are working hard to create a sustainable future for their village and the community around them and that has been demonstrated by the high calibre of entries and finalists for these awards,” said Palmer.
“The RVA is pleased to again be recognising and rewarding the best of these initiatives.”
Finalists in the APL Operator-led Sustainability Award are: Metlifecare for its Six x 6 Green Star care homes; Oceania Healthcare for A Pathway to Energy Decarbonisation; and Summerset Karaka for its Leading the Way Off Gas project.
The Resene Resident-Led Sustainability Award finalists are: Arvida Glenbrae, Rotorua, for the Recycled Bikes Initiative; Heritage Lifecare Stillwater Village, Nelson, for its Recycling Initiative; and Oceania Healthcare Eversley Retirement Village, in Hastings, for the Waste Not, Want Not project.
The Bunnings Trade Resident-Led Gardening and Landscaping Award finalists are: Aurum on Clutha village, Clyde, for its Residents’ Community Garden; Metlifecare Papamoa Beach Village, Tauranga, for a Community Orchard; and The Sterling Kaiapoi village in Canterbury for The Sterling Garden Group: Growing a Thriving Village Garden from Scratch.
Metlifecare is the first retirement village operator in the country to design and build care homes to achieve 6-Star Green accreditation. Three care homes, the Weiti Care-Gulf Rise Village at Red Beach on the Hibiscus Coast, Pōhutukawa Landing at Beachlands, Auckland, and Oakridge Care in Kerikeri are already operational and occupied. Three more in Auckland are under construction or nearing completion.
The nationwide initiative by Oceania Healthcare to significantly reduce carbon emissions in its operations includes installing LED lighting, fitting low-flow showerheads and water-efficient tapware, installing high-efficiency electric hot water pumps, designing new villages without utility gas, installing solar panels and phasing electric and hybrid vehicles into their fleet and phasing out diesel.
Initiatives by Summerset to phase out gas use have been successfully piloted at its Karaka village, with thermal and heat pump systems identified as the most effective solution, balancing performance, sustainability and resident wellbeing.
Refurbishing old bikes at Arvida Glenbrae has become a ‘real social activity’ with the upcycled bikes helping meet the needs of children in the Rotorua community. The group has set a target of donating 100 bikes this year through organisations including Women’s Refuge.
Over three years, residents from the Garden Group at The Sterling, Kaiapoi have worked to transform a bare plot of land and eight empty raised beds into a flourishing, sustainable garden filled with vegetables, herbs, and flowers for the whole village to enjoy.
Residents at Aurum on Clutha village have turned an unused lawn into an abundant vegetable and herb garden, with a series of large planter boxes and a tunnel house providing produce for villagers. Every villa is now also offered a planter box and villagers run a popular ‘spud in a bucket’ growing competition.
At Metlifecare Papamoa Village, the resident-driven project to establish a community orchard has seen plum, nectarine, peach, mandarin and apple trees and grape and passionfruit vines planted, alongside the residents’ vegetable gardens.
Eversley Village recognised that many of its residents had lived through eras where ‘waste not, want not’ was a core part of daily life and harnessed that focus for its co-designed community-wide sustainability initiative. This includes eliminating single-use plastic bags, reducing landfill waste and normalising recycling and reuse across all levels of the village.
The Heritage Lifecare Stillwater Village recycling programme set a goal of cutting the amount of waste sent to landfill annually by 50kg per resident, with the ultimate aim of creating zero waste. Successful initiatives have included a workshop, expanding recycling beyond the standard kerbside collection with additional recycling streams and enhanced collection points and collecting aluminium tear drops for a children’s charity.
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