Shaping our Business Strategies

Towards a Sustainable Future

2009-2010 Company Sustainability Report

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 message to stakeholders OUR BUSINESS, OUR PEOPLE Stakeholders Decision Making Priorities performance key performance indicators cO2 footprint stories 2

Welcome Inside our report:

Message to Stakeholders 3
Our Business, Our People 4 What is a CSR?
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is known under
Stakeholders 5 other titles such as sustainability reports, social respon
numerous
sibility
reports, corporate responsibility, corporate citizenship,
Stakeholder Engagement 8 business, sustainable responsible business (SRB) and corpor
responsible
ate social
Decision Making 9 performance.

Priorities 10 Broadly, the intent of these documents is to describe,

evaluate and
explain the impacts, both positive and negative, of a compa
Performance 11 activities and to set out future performance targets.
ny’s

Key Performance Indicators 13 We refer to Chow:Hill’s report as our

CO2 Footprint 15 Company Sustainability Report - Shaping our
Stories 16 Business Towards a Sustainable Future.
Whereas other media report internally on our operating
Key to Interactive financial performance, our CSR details for internal and
and
Navigation external
Stakeholders our performance against specific economic
Throughout this
(Prosperity),
environmental (Planet), and sociocultural (People) goals.
document you will Specifically for Chow:Hill, too, it reports also on the role
see this little popup sustainability plays in our longer term strategic direction
(Aspiration).
icon here and there.  
If you hover over it, Validation
with
something will pop up This, our first Company Sustainability Report, has been
atio n. Go on , guided
more inf orm by 2008 participation in the Sustainable Business Netwo
rk’s
give it a go. ‘Get Sustainable Challenge’. This process involved an
initial
evaluation of Chow:Hill’s baseline of performance and
will be
Similarly, if you repeated in 2010 as a validation of our reported perfor
mance
see this download within this document. Chow:Hill is considering the partici
pation
icon, clicking it of an alternative third-party validation source in future
years.
will take you to
supplementary Reporting Period
documentation on In this CSR we have documented our activities between
our website that you 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2010.
nt.
can download and pri

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 message to stakeholders OUR BUSINESS, OUR PEOPLE Stakeholders Decision Making Priorities performance key performance indicators cO2 footprint stories 3

Message to Stakehold ers

ati on of our business
formation and differenti
a focus on the trans
opportunities in sustaining

Prosperity
sha re wit h the m many of the same risks and
Our clients are our busine
ss and we Chow:Hill as a year clearly
. 200 9 has , the refo re, been characterised for
ourselves through global
recess ion environment. The areas
on com pan y stab ility within a dynamic business y-
set ‘Towards Prosperity’
- a foc us our sustainability strateg
ies hav e bee n spr ead across the four strands of
ss act ivit
of priority for our busine ill, aspiration.
spe rity, peo ple , pla net and importantly for Chow:H

People
pro
and a
ful financial management
has me ant ens urin g Cho w:Hill viability through care the eve ryday
Our focus on Prosperity ed and embedded into
s. A num ber of bus ines s tools have been develop ir par ticu lar
focus on building busines and and respond to marke
t impacts on the
ble our people to underst stment in the professional
life of the company to ena tinu ed inve
com pan y pro fita bility. It’s also been a year of con grammes.
responsibilities and quality of our learning pro
peo ple and we hav e maintained the level and
development of our
nts to understand
nts and staff. With our clie
bee n abo ut eng agi ng more closely with our clie one s. Amongst a range
With People it’s ll as establishing new
ine ss nee ds, to nur ture existing relationships as we d to und erstand the
their real bus found a compelling nee
from a seri es of rec ent client interviews we have ing per cep tibl e value to
of findings the importance of add
our clie nts in bui ldin g enduring relationships and ritie s esp ecia lly com munication
values of has hig hlig hted a number of prio
nt Sur vey
their business. Our Staff
Engage me ping greater engagement
n and lead ersh ip and we look forward to develo of an
needs around company dire
ctio ase and implementation
m cult ure . In our pro gra mme for 2010 is the rele wit h staff.
and reinforcing a shared
tea a company wide review
nce ’ Per form anc e App raisal developed through
enhanced ‘Inspiring Excelle
and
programmes to measure
’ve inv este d in dev elo ping systems and initiating gat her ing and
In relation to Planet we months has seen the
ne env iron me nta l per formance. The past twelve vid e us with a
understand our base-li waste creation to pro
dat a acr oss our elec tric ity, fuel, refrigerant use and uen ces on our
mapping of baseline surprise the greatest infl
our three offices. It is no

Aspiration
ual CO 2 em issio ns for uct ion s in the
snapshot of our ann mmed red
us a clear focus for progra
fuel use and this provides nt,, and we have feature
da
footprint are electricity and bui lt env iron me
are a of gre ate st infl uen ce is in the design of the , thro ugh a bal anc e of
coming year. Ou r able future’ for our clie nts
ject s wh ich con trib ute significantly to a ‘sustain
number of pro
economic benefits.
environmental, social and
ilst ensuring business
vision for the future – wh
, we are hig hly Asp irat ional and hold a positive ign aspirations with a
As always long-term Total Des
we hav e con tinu ed to pursue with our people our nni ng workshop in late
resilience e through a Strategic Pla
ing ’ and refr esh me nt of our vision and purpos of pro gra mmes focusing on the
‘re-fram
the elab ora tion of our plan through a series
2009. Early 2010-2011 will
see other stakeholders.
of our bus ine ss to better serve our clients and

Planet
ntia tion
transformation and differe

Richard Hill, Chair

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 message to stakeholders OUR BUSINESS, OUR PEOPLE Stakeholders Decision Making Priorities performance key performance indicators cO2 footprint stories 4

Our Business, Our People

heart
Operations and Report
Boundary
Context and Purpose - Chow:Hill Architects Lim
ited is a privately owned
t
Our Pursuit of a Better World
We are a
New Zealand company. The limited liability

designtion.
company has seven shareh
tion. We work alongside our older-
We are at heart a design organisa directors: Chien Chow, Ric
hard Hill, Anthony Flanner
ms and projects, anywhere y, Dar ryl
clients in realisation of their drea Carey, Maurice Kiely, Sim
on Woodall and Brian Squ
es involve not only
a
Out com air.
within the built environment.
physical change but transitio
paradigms. Increasingly, as Cho
ns in ope ratio nal, social and cultural
w:Hill develops over time as an
a role in developing solutions
Chien and Richard establis
grown consistently and pre
hed our company in 199
2. We have
sently have a combined staf
f of o r g a n i s a
ideas organisation, we imagine e
seventy within three offi
ces in Auckland, Hamilto
l component at all, and we hav n and Tauranga
which may not have a physica located in the mid-upper
North Island. We work wit
. h clients
experience of this emerging now throughout New Zealand
and on occasion, interna
tionally.
in the real world of a highly
This activity will always remain The professional services
we offer include Strategic
nical and litigious industry, one Design, Urban
competitive and increasingly tech l
Design, Landscape Archite
cture, Architecture, Interior
and regional differences, regiona Design and
which experiences client sector s of
Design Management – fram
ed within the proposition
s and the criti cal influ ence of ‘Total
and national political influence Design’.
omi c tren ds, not the least of which has been the
global econ
ssion. Interestingly, when we
unsparing current economic rece Our 2009-2010 CSR des
cribes our activities underta
n find incredible optimism and ken by
cross industry boundaries we ofte these three offices.
bora te and innovate and it is this
a willingness to share ideas, colla
energy we wish to harness.

tion with regard to this and,

We have taken an optimistic posi
e committed to establishing a
in an evolutionary fashion, hav
of programmes to become a truly
vision, a strategy and a series
a five-year time frame. Not
sustainable organisation within e
People and Prosperity, we hav
limited by the themes of Planet, y and
e towards sust aina bilit
added a fourth strand to our driv
irati on – an attit ude towards innovation and
we call this Asp
differentiation.

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 message to stakeholders OUR BUSINESS, OUR PEOPLE Stakeholders Decision Making Priorities performance
Stakeholders
Our clients… include government sector
education, health, housing and justice
representatives; territorial authorities; commercial
investors and developers; private residential
Clients
communities; cultural, entertainment and other
public institutions.
Our clients have an expectation we will understand
their business and their needs, to have the necessary
skills and experience for their unique projects and
leadership ability in guiding them through the
processes of change. We meet regularly with our
clients, in recent years we have communicated with
clients through and electronic ‘e-news’ bulletin and
have held various client-focussed social events.
Potential clients also view the content of our web-
site.
Our most significant engagement in 2009 was our
interviews with a cross section of clients to better
understand their perception of our performance and
we are continuing with this programme in 2010.
Images of our stakeholders (BD to source)
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key performance indicators cO2 footprint stories 5
Our people… Our team of 60, 36 of whom
are based in Auckland, 16 in Hamilton and 8
in Tauranga, is represented by nearly twenty
nationalities, a third of whom are women and two
People
thirds men, and are aged between 26 and 64.
Our people have an expectation they will be
involved in meaningful and rewarding work, will
enjoy collaborative and communicative working
relationships, and have opportunities for professional
responsibility and leadership. They also wish to have
regular and open communication and consultation
on company matters. Our responsibility as employers
has in turn been to consider their professional
and personal needs and we have encapsulated
this in our Employment Life Cycle Programme.
Communication with our people occurs through
office meetings and forums, workshops, ‘SMART’
communications via e-mail, communiqués such as
our ‘i-news’ and SEED, our quarterly publication on
sustainability matters. While the spectrum is broad it
not as consistent nor as timely as we would like it be.
The three most significant events in 2009 were
our Staff Engagement Survey, company-wide
participation in a review of our performance appraisal
system “Inspiring Excellence” and participation of a
large cross-section of staff in our Strategic Planning
‘Re-Framing’ Workshop.
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 message to stakeholders OUR BUSINESS, OUR PEOPLE Stakeholders Decision Making Priorities performance key performance indicators cO2 footprint stories 6

Stakeholders
Our shareholders… are Chien Chow, Richard Our consultants… and colleagues include Tauranga
Our Suppliers...
suppliers… provide us with both the
Hill (Board Chair) and Brian Squair living in structural and civil engineers, planners, project Catering: Spring
necessary goods StandCafe; Printing:
services Copy our
to supply Corner,
own
Hamilton and Simon Woodall, Darryl Carey, managers, cost managers, acousticians, fire Paper(Plotter),
professional Aarqueoperation
services Graphics;andStationery:
the information
Anthony Flannery (Managing Director) and Maurice engineers, artists, cultural advisors and other Officemax;
on products,Florist: Marg
services andAmor Florist,
systems Passion in
incorporated
Shareholders

Consultants

Suppliers
Kiely living in Auckland. specialists. Flower
our Florists;
project Computer
design work. Our Lease: Allleasing;institutes
professional Car
Lease:
and Honda
others Lease;
supply us Rental cars: Hertz;
with training Groceries:
opportunities,
Our shareholders share the aspirations of our people Consultants and colleagues look to Chow:Hill for City Markets,and
conferences Havana
generalCoffee, Theservices.
support Mill; Cleaning:
within the context of moving the company forward opportunities to work together in ways that will Asset Cleaners; Couriers: NZ Couriers; Poste Haste;
at operational and strategic levels. This higher level support their own businesses and further their Papersuppliers
Our wantAllbrite;
Collection: Rubbishto
to do business Collection:
business and
activity and responsibility demands we communicate aspirations. This applies to ourselves also. They Asset Cleaners; Toners: Elite;
the pursuit of this is primarily throughRubbish
Printer Bags:
relationships
effectively with all other stakeholders. are curious about our organisation and seek to Assetour
with Cleaners; Hotels:
commercial Kingsview;
team and specifiers in ourTrust
Electricity:
Up until the end of the 2009-2010 financial period understand us. Power;teams.
design MobileSuppliers Vodafone;
Phones: expect Phone
to have & Internet:
access to our
Shareholder-Directors formally met monthly in a Communication with them operates on a number of Telstraclear; IT: Pat Paiti, Stephen Woolerton,
people.
dual governance-management role. In the 2010 levels, from the formal to the informal. It can be both Graphisoft, IPFX with
Communication (telephone system);
our suppliers Website:
is mostly Hart
through
period onwards these roles will be split into quarterly relationship-based or opportunity-based, depending Design; Mail:Development
Professional NZ Post; Safety Training: Site
programmes on orSafe, St
off-site,
shareholder meetings and bimonthly Practice on the closeness of existing relationships to our Johns
meetings, product presentations and seminars, or
Steering Group (PSG) management meetings. Out people or the specific skills required for any particular via our web-site. Communication from professional
of these meetings communication plans and actions project. Within this, relationships are not necessarily bodies is more likely to be one-way from them to
have evolved. company-based but are often person-to person. Chow:Hill.
The shareholders have been involved in all the events A significant advance has been the development of 2009 saw our participation in a greater depth of
described for our clients and staff and in commencing ‘client-care plans’ which include a broadening pattern client-centric training for our senior staff in our
the drafting of our next Strategic Plan and it’s of regular communications to include consultants. “Winning Work” programme and in Communication
communication to other stakeholders in the new year. through “The Effect”. It was also the year in which a
major product supplier’s contract was negotiated on
terms that included their environmental performance
and this is featured on our Stories page.

Auckland Hamilton Tauranga

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 message to stakeholders OUR BUSINESS, OUR PEOPLE
Stakeholders
Our community…is the local, city and regional
environments of our three offices in Newmarket-
Auckland, Hamilton-Waikato and Tauranga-Bay
of Plenty.
Community
Our Communities look for support through the
paid project work we do, through donations and
community work. Indirectly we support our business
communities through the transactions we make with
them – from cleaning services to the lunches we buy
every day. Communication with our communities is
often event-based or through day-to-day business
and personal connections.
‘Community Day’ is a concept we introduced
three years ago where we offer our staff a paid
day away from their office to participate in a
community-support activity of their choosing. One
such connection has been with Newmarket Primary
School and their EnviroSchools programme. Other
commitments this year have inhibited the uptake
on this programme and we will be expecting to
encourage and reinforce greater participation in the
coming year. In Auckland in March we collaborated
with two local galleries in a shared exhibition of
recent works for our respective clients and customers,
with a view to supporting and sustaining each others
business in a local context.
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Stakeholders Decision Making Priorities performance key performance indicators cO2 footprint stories 7
Our world... is the greater part of New Zealand
and the remainder of the planet!
It’s our belief those beyond our immediate
World
community are seeking opportunities to engage with
like-minded organisations and we enjoy dialogue
with a number of professionals nationally and
internationally in a common pursuit of knowledge
and future collaborations.
We attend conferences to further this pursuit and in
the past have toured reference sites and visited with
contacts in Australia and the United States. Early
April will see a visit to the latter by our ‘strategic
design’ team.
Through the examples of our project work, the
reputation of our people and our promotion of
sustainability evidenced through our Company
Sustainability Report we seek a broader influence.
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 message to stakeholders OUR BUSINESS, OUR PEOPLE Stakeholders Decision Making Priorities performance key performance indicators cO2 footprint stories 8

agem ent
Stakeholder Eng
us;
their relationship with
Our clie nts are loy al to
and
Ch ow
app
:Hill and want to retain
reciate closer collabora
tive working relation shi ps; prefer Staff
cle arly val ue to und ers tand
would y deal with; we need
sist enc y in the com position of the teams the ent ion to det ail as
con s; we need to pay att
ind ivid ual nee ds of each of their businesse h peo ple the y like ;
the do, like to work wit
big issues; they, as we
well as understand the
le
Are you ab
outcomes.
delight in great project
they love creativity and Is
a
to maintain
vey display significant
The responses to ove r 50 que stio ns in our staff engagement sur
icators and variances in
communication
uals across multiple ind
life
good work
me nt for ind ivid
variability in eng age
scores between peer gro
ups within offices, and
between our three offi
eer
ces. These
dev elopment,
in this
balance?
uni ty, car
nication culture, opport
range across lea der shi p, com mu
mwork and work-life bal
ance. organisation
recognition, reward, tea
programmes? open and
e our CSR and future
How will this influenc sonal and Professional
For our clie nts , it sug ges ts a gre ater emphasis in our Per
ps, communication, des
ign quality honest ?
ent pro gra mm e in the areas of relationshi our staff, we
Developm nt priorities. With
lab ora tion and pot ent ially our future recruitme age ment
and col communication, eng
be foc usi ng on cla rity of company purpose and pro ces ses,
will of work, collaborative
sen ior peo ple wit h tea m members in all areas out com es and a
of , improved design
son al rec ogn itio n and individual development
per
ponsibility.
culture of collective res
What’s
the on
he thing t e
Clients What’s t hat nee
ds
g that to chan
one thin make C e to
g
k e s C h o w:Hill how:Hi
ma
g re a t p lace to a great
place t
ll
a o
work? work?

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 message to stakeholders OUR BUSINESS, OUR PEOPLE Stakeholders Decision Making Priorities performance key performance indicators cO2 footprint stories 9

Communication
Decision Making Not all people are alike - we employ a variety
of means and styles of communication to meet
the needs of our stakeholders...

SUSTAINABILITY BOARD OF stakeholders

POLICY SHAREHOLDERS

COMMUNICATION
PRACTICE STEERING
SUSTAINABILITY GROUP (PSG) stakeholders
STRATEGY Directors and
selected others

SUSTAINABILITY PERFORMANCE MANAGER PERFORMANCE MANAGER PERFORMANCE MANAGER

stakeholders
IMPLEMENTATION (AUCKLAND) (HAMILTON) (TAURANGA)

SUSTAINABILITY • Design Teams • Design Teams • Design Teams

• Commercial Team • Commercial Team • Commercial Team stakeholders
IMPLEMENTATION

COMMUNICATION

Our Values
Adventure Responsibility
At Board level, our Director Maurice Kiely takes overall responsibility for development of our

Creativity Respect sustainability vision and with Auckland-based Associate Bridgit Diprose leads a small team in strategy
and implementation. While policy is discussed and approved at Board meetings, strategy and implementation

Support
is facilitated in a two way - top-down/bottom-up approach where we encourage the ideas, energy and input
of our people. Through two primary publications, internally via our SEED quarterly and now externally and
internally via this CSR we hope to widen our audience network. Our challenge is to illustrate for our people

Trust
a clear, simple picture of this vision and strategy, to be able to map and communicate our progress in a way

Simplicity
which is inspirational, motivational, and encouraging of greater meaningful participation.

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 message to stakeholders OUR BUSINESS, OUR PEOPLE Stakeholders Decision Making Priorities performance key performance indicators cO2 footprint stories 10

Priorities “ our focus is not so much on ‘doing less

‘doing more good’”
-Planet-People-
s across the Prosperity
Setting of our prioritie en driven by internal
Aspiration dimensions
strategic priorities an
of our business has be
d external exigencies
brought about by the
s
harm’ but in
of these priorities ha
l rec ess ion . Im po rta ntly, the structuring RI
globa porting Initiative (G
work of the Global Re
been within the frame ear lier assessment of ou
r
ide line s) an d fur the r influenced by the ‘Ge t
Gu ess Network’s (SB N)
the Sustainable Busin
baseline position by
e’ programme.
Sustainable Challeng
spectrum where our
lie in that part of the
Our significant issues but in ‘doing more
on ‘doing less harm’
focus is not so much ! This focus is powered
ing a viable business
good’ - while remain staff, and the desire
of
ve of our board and
by the aspirational dri
our clients.
en less attention to
one area we have giv
During this period, the reduction of fuel and
major programmes in
is the introduction of d on building base-
con sum pti on . We ’ve concentrated instea
energy other environmental
dat a across the org anisation for these and
line rovement in waste
initial performance imp
indicators, with some ce consumables.
roduction of ‘eco’ offi
reduction and the int

Indicators
‘High’ - these are our most material issues and
you
can read about these on our Performance page
.
‘Medium’ – these contain some of our less mate
rial
issues and you can find them reported on our
Key Performance Indicators pages.
‘Low’ – these contain material issues only
commented on in the full Schedule of Indicators

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 message to stakeholders OUR BUSINESS, OUR PEOPLE Stakeholders Decision Making
Performance
These are the material issues which have taken priority for
Chow:Hill over the past twelve months and the table describes which
stakeholders have been affected and how we’ve performed.
Engaging with our Communities
PROSPERITY Performance 09-10
In Auckland, Miranda Chang continued our long-standing engagement
(ECONOMIC)
in tutoring a Design programme at UNITEC. We collaborated with SEED
Gallery and the The Poi Room in an exhibition of recent works, bringing
together local creative enterprises and clients . In Hamilton we committed to
sponsorship of Hamilton Museum for a major Sustainable Living exhibition.
Staff participation in a day free to work within their communities was down
on previous years.
Performance Targets 2010-11
In addition to maintaining teaching and our sponsorship programmes we aim
to hold one business-to-business event per office. We will be encouraging a
greater uptake by our staff in ‘Community Day’ participation through better
internal ‘marketing’ of the opportunities and benefits.
Healthy Teams
Performance 09-10
The Healthy Team Programme was developed to establish a shared
understanding of what constitutes a “healthy team environment”. The
associated Healthy Team Snapshot helps us monitor the relative health of
teams within the company in respect of business development, project and
business performance and the degree to which core values are exhibited in our
behaviour.
Performance Targets 2010-11
Reporting procedures introduced for 2010 require Healthy Team Snapshots to
be completed and submitted by each office manager as part of the monthly
PSG reporting cycle. Feedback received through these snapshots should better
enable us to focus on and address the specific needs of individual teams as and
when they arise.
Business Stability
Performance 09-10
We have been a profitable company since formed in 1992, with a strong
cash-flow and with our business 100% financed by it’s shareholders. Our
attitude to fiscal responsibility means we pay all creditors in the month
following invoicing and our invoicing regime is based on quality of design,
service delivery and Director ownership by of client accounts and invoicing.
Our net equity position has remained unchanged during 2009.
Performance Targets 2010-11
Our goals in the coming year revolve around developing consistency of
performance across our three office studios and a similar consistency across
our service offerings. Our business stability and a level of profitability to
allow reinvestment in the business will be reliant on careful management and
balancing of revenue, cost of sales and business overheads.
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Priorities performance key performance indicators cO2 footprint stories 11
Our Suppliers
Chow:Hill Stakeholder Key
Our Clients Our Shareholders Our Community
Our People Our Consultants Our World
Staff Appraisal - Inspiring Excellence
PEOPLE Performance 09-10
Our 2007 staff appraisal system ‘Inspiring the Pursuit of Excellence’, a
(SOCIAL) product of R&D by a cross section of staff was a significant improvement
on our previous system, but shortcomings in it’s detail and application led
us to workshop this with our staff. From their feedback we have developed
an enhanced template and refined methodology to assist our people in
managing personal performance against company needs.
Performance Targets 2010-11
We will be introducing the enhancements in early 2010-2001 through staff
training seminars and with one-on-one mentoring. We will be gathering
staff feedback later in the period either as part of a further staff engagement
survey or in a separate process, yet to be decided.
Personal and Professional
Performance 09-10
Our ‘Employment Life cycle’ programme encourages close engagement
between senior staff and team members. This includes understanding of
personal and professional development needs. The challenge is in making this
consistent and meaningful. We’ve now linked and captured data from our
Appraisal documents to build individual and company-wide pictures of these
needs, enhancing info sharing and learning programmes.
Performance Targets 2010-11
Our aim this year is to embed a new Continuing Professional Development
team and to enhance our ability to respond to both individual and company
needs. Our budgets will remain consistent with last year on a pro-rata basis as
we believe learning is a ‘must have’ in maintaining our knowledge base and
competitiveness.
Establishing a Learning Community
Performance 09-10
One of the 5 propositions coming from our 2009 Strategic Planning
workshop was the development of a ‘learning community’, bringing
together staff and stakeholders in learning programmes. Exemplifying this
engagement was the seminar by Carin Wilson, consultant Cultural Advisor
and collaborating Designer on the subject of Maori and Treaty of Waitangi
influences on design. More on Carin Wilson’s presentation.
Performance Targets 2010-11
We plan to develop our thinking and strategy around the concepts of
‘Learning Community’ and ‘Learning Academy’. We’ll be exploring
opportunities of greater shared learning opportunities for stakeholders
and our people. Through this we look to greater engagement and deeper
relationships.
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 message to stakeholders OUR BUSINESS, OUR PEOPLE Stakeholders Decision Making Priorities performance key performance indicators
Chow:Hill Stakeholder Key
Performance
PLANET Understanding our Resource Use
Performance 09-10 ASPIRATION
(ENVIRONMENTAL) After research to identify appropriate tools for Chow:Hill at this time (INNOVATION)
we selected the Catalyst ‘ACE’ software programme to record our CO2
emissions. Recording of data across five key indicators was carried out for the
year to establish a base-line. Staff understanding, commitment and support
of the initiative has been varied and greater future engagement will result in
more accurate data.
Performance Targets 2010-11
This year we’ll be adding other aspects of our travel outputs into our Carbon
Calculator and these include use of private cars and taxis for company
business. We’ll also be confirming a method of recording paper savings.
Optimising our Resource Use
Performance 09-10
Our efforts in this area have skirted the fringes where we’ve focussed on
optimising some of our consumables, looked at waste minimisation and re-
cycling. We’ve encouraged thinking on this topic with our staff and held an
Urban Living Competition - a photo-essay of personal sustainable living.
View Frances Montero’s winning entry.
Performance Targets 2010-11
Our priorities next year will be in the reduction of motor vehicle fuel
consumption and office electricity use. We are targeting reductions of x%
and y% respectively across the organisation. Initiatives to be investigated
include adoption of travel plans, light switching and fittings enhancement,
and mechanical services operation with our building owners.
Optimising our Clients’s Resource Use
Performance 09-10
Chow:Hill’s greatest opportunity to influence change and minimise resource
use is in the design work we provide for clients on their projects within
the built environment. We have been involved in several environmental
design work opportunities but most significantly have developed with the
assistance of consultants EnviroSpec, a set of dedicated ESD (Environmentally
Sustainable Design) construction Specifications.
Performance Targets 2010-11
The Specifications, which represent for us a new minimum base-line of
environmental performance above industry norms will be introduced in early
2010-2011 and will influence all future design and project works. As well as
requiring staff education and mentoring, this initiative will require greater
communication and be part of a learning process with our clients.
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cO2 footprint stories 12
Our Suppliers
Our Clients Our Shareholders Our Community
Our People Our Consultants Our World
Establishing a clear Company Vision
and Purpose
Performance 09-10
The Re-Framing Chow:Hill initiative was designed to help us redefine and
better articulate the company’s Purpose, Vision, Strategy and the Tactics
through which we will achieve them. The exercise comprised surveys and
a range of facilitated workshops involving a cross-section of stakeholders
including shareholders, staff, clients and consultants.
Performance Targets 2010-11
We intend to use the outcomes of the Re-Framing exercise as the basis for
framing and evaluating all strategic programmes in 2010. These programmes
are Design Excellence, Client Experience, Leadership, Relationships, and
Communication. A major focus will be to improve our communication of the
Re-Framing outcomes and to show how our new plans, programmes and
initiatives are aligned with and supportive of our purpose and vision.
Reporting and Communicating with
our Stakeholders
Performance 09-10
We’ve committed to letting our stakeholders know who we are, what we do
and how we perform in our first CSR - it’s been a challenging process and we
aim for continuous improvement. SEED, our internal ‘sustainability’ quarterly
has been an important stepping stone. We continue with office forums and
inter-office ‘Roadshows’ to communicate with staff, recognising consistent
and meaningful communication is one of our greatest challenges - our
surveys confirm this.
Performance Targets 2010-11
2010 will provide an opportunity to gather response to this report from
our stakeholders, to respond in turn and plan accordingly for our next CSR.
Continued gathering of opinion via our programme of client interviews will
benefit in understanding external perspectives on our performance. A new
structure within our company management - our Practice Steering Group
(PSG) - will provide greater transparency in day-to-day company matters for
our staff.
next
 message to stakeholders OUR BUSINESS, OUR PEOPLE Stakeholders Decision Making Priorities performance key performance indicators cO2 footprint stories 13

Key Performance Indicators KEY TO SCORE

NOT MOSTLY
Our KPI’s are taken from the protocols established by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)
Greenhouse gases MET MET
Guidelines which report on Economic, Environmental, Labour, Human Rights and Social
Greenhouse gas me
Sustainability criteria. We have supplemented these with two indicators related to our asures have
been reported in mo
Aspirations: Strategic Planning (AS1) and Communication (AS2) and one related to Labour re depth on
the C02 Footprint pa MET AHEAD

EN 13
Practices: Opportunities for Volunteer Work (LA 15). ge.

EC1 EC10
Environmental Biodiversity -
Habitats protected or restored

Financial Performance Reinvestment in Our Business EN1, EN2, EN22

NO
Materials used, recycled TARGET

EN 29
TARGET TARGET
and/or wasted SET
MOSTLY NOT
MET MET
Commentary:
TARGET
One of the keykey focus
focus areas
areasfor
forour
our
Environmental Impacts
MOSTLY
Commentary: Commentary: MET Landscape Architecture
Architecture team
teamisis
of Transport
Our Commercial Team has developed This year we have continued to Ecological and
and Sustainable
SustainableDesign
Design
and adopted more robust management invest in Continuing Professional including revegetation
revegetation && restoration
restorationof
TARGET
Commentary: of waterways.
accounting and performance Development and R&D such as a waterways. ThisThis
maymay include
include voluntary MOSTLY
forecasting systems, weekly cash flow recent visit to the USA to examine We are a ‘paper-heavy’ company voluntary work protection
in habitat protection MET
work in habitat and/or
planning and budget reviews on a excellence in delivery of healthy and because of our industry-type but  and/or restoration such asPuriri,
Te Rau
restoration such as Te Rau a 247
change to electronic tendering, web- Puriri,
monthly basis enabling decisions to tertiary education services. We have hectarea park,
247 hectare
south headpark,ofsouth head
the Kaipara Commentary:
hosting and other initiatives  of the Kaipara Harbour, purchased
be made based on thorough business migrated to Version 13 of ArchiCAD, Harbour, purchased by the Aucklandby One of our greatest effects on the
analysis. Introduction of Earned Value our computer drawing software, as we will see this reduce over time. the Auckland Regional CouncilDistrict
and
Regional Council and Rodney environment is our use of fossil fuels
methodologies for professional staff continue to maintain optimal systems Not all products in all offices are Rodney District Council in 2006.
Council in 2006. in transportation, both in business use
has resulted in improved project delivery. Our financial management recycled content due to existing 
and in journeying of staff to and from
financial performance. Shareholders has been supported by investment and local supply agreements taking
work each day.
continue to invest in the business significant improvements in reporting precedence.
and profit has been retained to fund and functionality. Due to fluctuations in staff numbers
business growth and development and contract staff we have 
and we continue to donate funds to not calculated averages per person.
appropriate social institutions such as
Waikato Museum, Anglican Trust for
Women and Children and others such
as Trade Aid and the Samoan Tsunami
Relief. Performance
Performance Performance Targets Performance
Targets Targets Targets Related Projects/Events Targets

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 message to stakeholders OUR BUSINESS, OUR PEOPLE
Key Performance Indicators
LA1
Workforce Diversity
TARGET
MET
Commentary:
Our performance in this area is judged
against having flexible working  We are actively promoting our
arrangements for staff - to
accommodate maternity leave, reduced
hours for those studying and  - and
part-time employment  or contract
provisions where we are unable to
offer a full-time position or to meet
short-term service supply demands. In
the 2009-2010 we did not set specific
criteria around numbers.
Performance
Targets
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Stakeholders
LA10
Measure of Staff Training
and Development
TARGET
MET
Commentary:
development towards a ‘Learning
Community’ and within this
Professional and Personal Development
for our people is a given and an
expectation. We budget for an invest
a significantly in providing internal and
external learning opportunities and
resolved to continue this despite the
adverse effects of the recession.
Performance
Targets
Decision Making Priorities
LA15
Meaningful Opportunities for
Volunteer Work: Chow:Hill
Community Day
TARGET
MOSTLY
MET
Commentary:
Our Community Day is an opportunity
for staff to engage with those in
need within their community -
neighbourhood, suburb, city, and/or
region. Giving time to our communities
is a valued and important action and
staff are encouraged to consider what
might suit their individual talents but
most importantly consider what might
make a difference to others lives. The
day can be any working day of the
year and is a paid day away from work.
Performance
Targets
Community Involvement
performance key performance indicators
AS1
Strategic Plan
TARGET
MOSTLY
MET
Commentary:
The Re-Framing Chow:Hill exercise
was introduced in 2009 to help
us better define and articulate our
purpose and vision for the company
and assess how this might enhance
our value proposition for our clients.
Re-Framing surveys and workshops
involving both internal and external
stakeholders reaffirmed support for our
“Total Design Philosophy” but showed
significant divergence in understanding
and appreciation of exactly what
“Total Design” comprised and how it
should manifest itself in respect of our
purpose, our vision, our behaviour,
our project work and the nature and
quality of professional service we offer
to our clients.
Targets
cO2 footprint stories 14
KEY TO SCORE
NOT MOSTLY
MET MET
MET AHEAD
AS2
Reporting & Communication
TARGET
MET
Commentary:
Our first CSR is being delivered
according to a programme set two
years ago and in respect of content
and breadth of coverage exceeds our
expectation. We have delivered four
high-quality quarterly editions of SEED,
our internal sustainability publication.
We have communicated to our staff
the outcomes of our Strategic Planning
‘Re-Framing’ workshop on time and
continue with other internal written
communications and presentations. In
our Auckland office we replaced formal
office meetings with office Forums,
where staff and Directors can share
and discuss issues at a deeper level.
Targets
next
 message to stakeholders OUR BUSINESS, OUR PEOPLE Stakeholders Decision Making Priorities performance key performance indicators cO2 footprint stories 15

CO2 Footprint 6.0

AucklandMonthly
// Monthly
emissionEmission
breakdown Breakdown

5.0
4.0

tC02e
Data Captu 3.0

f
What does a tonne o
re 2.0
We’ve adop
ted CatalystN 1.0
Z’s ACE ‘Cat
t?
C02 emitted represen
determine ou alyst Carbon
r annual carb Calculator’ to
0.0
on an office on emission ol to

April

July

August

September

December
October

November

January

February

March
May

June
by office ba s and have re
sis – allowin co rded this da
targets to re g us to view ta
flect our diff performance
ute suggests: erent accom
The New Zealand Instit
and climatic modation ty an d set
2 per year conditions. pes, regional
NZ are 18.5 tonnes of CO
emissions in differences
* The current per capita ntries
23rd out of 27 OECD cou What have
* NZ currently ranks at Hamilton
Electricity // Monthlyline losses EmissionGas Breakdown
Monthly emission breakdown

ton nes per capita n’t w e measured Coal Petrol Diesel

ed target by 2015 is 15 ?
Waste Flights Refrigerant losses
In the first ye
* New Zealand’s project
6.0
ton ne of CO2 ar of measu
pine trees absorb one and so have re we haven’ 5.0
* Six twenty-five year old pro-rata allo t captured so
me early was
also haven’t cated averag te data
4.0
es from figur

tC02e
t CO2e
captured all es later in the ye 3.0
ults mean? taxi use or bu
…. and what do our res
working on s use on com ar; we
a means of pany busine
2.0
gs; firstly, our people
a highlight two thin doesn’t capt measuring th
is meaningfu ss (w e’re
By extrapolation our dat
1.0
ure our staf lly!) The soft
ile at work for f’s use of pr
their annual emissions wh but we hope ware 0.0
ivate vehicles
expend around 10% of to begin reco for company

July

August

September
May

June

November

February
April

October

December

January

March
the ir workplace rding this da
sonal travel to and from ta from Apr business
Chow:Hill (excluding per uld nee d to set aside il 2010 onw
ly, if we chose, we wo ards.
and work off-site); second year to offset our total
st 650 pine trees each
the equivalent of at lea
of CO2.
emissions of 108 tonnes Tauranga //Monthly
Monthly
Electricity
Emission Breakdown
emission breakdown
line losses Gas Coal Petrol Diesel Waste Flights Refrigerant losses

1.8
1.6

Targets in electricity and petrol-

1.4

ant emission reductions 1.2

We’ve targeted signific ets of 10% and 15%

tC02e
1.0

t CO2e
have set reduction targ
diesel consumption and
0.8

travel planning, zoned 0.6

ough such measures as
for each respectively thr
chanical services operation. How have we performed? 0.4
0.2

lighting switching and me In our first year of measure our annual CO2 emissions for our 0.0

April

August

September

October

November

December
May

June

March
July

January

February
uction of 10% in the Auckland office were calculated at 46.18 tonnes (1.28 tonnes per
rall CO2 emissions red
We’ve targeted an ove person), Hamilton at 50.60 tonnes (2.81 tonnes per person) and
coming year. Tauranga at 10.65 tonnes (1.18 tonnes per person).
Electricity Petrol Waste
Line Losses Diesel Flights
Refrigerant Losses

1x
= 10 tonnes of
C02 emissions
Auckland Tauranga Hamilton
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 message to stakeholders OUR BUSINESS, OUR PEOPLE Stakeholders Decision Making Priorities performance key performance indicators cO2 footprint stories 16

Waikato Hospital
Stories From Darryl Carey’s and Richard Hill’s
attendance at clinical service meetings
in 1999, through delivery of our final

These six stories report on the challenges documents in 2010, to completion of

and opportunities arising within our internal- the project in 2014, Waikato Hospital’s
Service & Campus Redevelopment (SCR
)

external relationships - an important cultural Project demonstrates the value of long

term relationships to Chow:Hill, our
aspect of Chow:Hill. The aim of telling these
stories, whilst addressing our CSR clients and the community. While an

to illustrate examples of both

ongoing challenge has been harnessing
priorities and goals, is and sustaining the contributions of an

our successes and setbacks, and with a clear objective of evolving client- user-consultant team
ed enormous learning and
over a long-term project, this has creat
sharing with stakeholders what this tells us
for future behaviour and n team members and collea gues. Ian Wolstencroft,
development opportunities for our desig iated services has
ral driver for itals and assoc
business activity. In so doing, this supports another key cultu SCR Project Director, says, “Chow Hill’s
understanding of hosp

sustaining of a culture of learning.

ict Healt h Board ’s hospitals.” As
development of this Distr
made a significant contribution to the ing strate gies enables
term, our input into mast er plann
us, the well as improving facilities in the short ering a significantly
in response to futur e dema nds, deliv
the hospital to evolve and renew itself
e to the Waikato community.
improved hospital facility and health servic
Diocesan School for Girls
By winning the Vision Diocesan School Campus Redevelopment project in 2000
Chow:Hill went on to work with the Hamilton school for a further 10 years. Manaaki Whenua
Iterations and refinements of the campus plan have been generated during that Landcare Research
time through regular dialogue and communication with a wide range of stakeholders In 2010, the International Year of
to
including principals, staff, parents, Boards of Management and Trustees. Biodiversity, it’s relevant and important
Man aaki
Together we refined a briefing and design and process characterised by appropriately reflect on our relationship with
skilled, motivated and consultative client user groups working alongside the Whenua Landcare Research and our role
consultant team for each project. These long-term creative relationships developed by in the development of their signature
Richard Hill have underpinned the sustainability of our mutual success and enabled facility in Auckland almost half a decade
e
Dio to maintain a consistency of ago. In all senses of the word sustainabl
approach to redevelopment strategy, - bringing multi ple stake holde rs
even though there have been numerous from Landcare and MAF together in
changes in school representation. collaborative visioning and design
ing with
Individual projects including chapel, workshops, in providing a 100-year build
ional capital cost and reduced
boarding school, administration a low-environmental footprint, at no addit collections
nge given the mixture of laboratories,
accommodation and teaching buildings operating cost. Palpably, a significant challe aspir ation s of
ted. It works towards fulfilling the
were programmed and funded within the spaces and other work areas accommoda rch and a fittin g
isation for environmental resea
guiding principles of the development Landcare as New Zealand’s leading organ es. Abov e all we value
arthropods, fungi and plant speci
plan, supported by robust long-term repository for it’s national collections of ltants , contr actor s
science managers, researcher s, consu
curriculum needs and aligned with the the relationships developed with their
ering, benchmark facilit y.
strategic plan. and others in the development of a pione

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 message to stakeholders OUR BUSINESS, OUR PEOPLE Stakeholders Decision Making Priorities performance key performance indicators cO2 footprint stories 17

Stories
Recycling and Waste Managemen
t
Programme
A coordinated recycling and waste
management
programme may appear to be a daun
ting task
when you consider the physical locat
ions of
Chow:Hill’s offices, however, whe
n passionate
individuals are called in to champion
the cause,
what was impossible becomes poss
ible. Bonnie,
Chryseis and Jennifer from Auckland
, Hamilton
and Tauranga respectively, have been
tasked
to oversee Chow:Hill’s waste man
agement
programme. Last year they impleme
nted cost-
efficient recycling strategies for pape
toners and soon, all offices will be r, batteries and printer/copier
using earth-friendly biodegradable
items for office bin liners, paper towe products instead of regular
ls, etc. General office rubbish is now
and, in Hamilton and Tauranga, orga being segregated Get Sustainable Chall
nic food scraps are composted in worm enge
Buckets. Left over office waste are farms or Bokashi In our Strategic Plan - Tot
weighed then recorded to form the al Design Plan 2007-2010
targets. Admittedly, these methods basis of future reduction for leading the transforma - we stated, ‘We take res
were initially met with scepticism, tion of our environments ponsibility
been won over and have since chan but most of the staff have and followed this up the in the pursuit of a sustain
ged their habits to minimise waste. next year with an approv able future’
The Strategy included an ed Sustainability Strateg
aim to issue our first “C y 200 8-2 010.
2010 and agreement to orporate Sustainability
the setting of performa Rep ort” in
Sustainable Print Procurement Environmental’ strands nce targets across ‘Social
, Economic and
of our business activity.
Background // We were totally locke didn’t have a clear pictur While we had a vision
d into a e of the then-present and of the future we
long-term colour volume print cont Sustainable Business Ne thus developed a relation
ract with our twork and our confirmed ship with the
print/copier supplier. There was no Challenge’. This presen our participation in the
guarantee ted a dual opportunity, ir ‘Get Sustainable
of ever seeing the document that to determine our base-li firstly, to self-assess and
had just been ne performance as a sus be assessed by them
sent to the printer and 15% of print a set of operational and tainable business and, sec
ed material attitudinal targets. The ondly, to provide
was never collected from the print performance were our principal areas identified
er trays. We Operating Systems, our for improved
were also billed for anticipated usag Communication and the Relationships and Influen
e even se have informed our act ce and in our
when we shut for 3 weeks at Chri ions since receipt of the
stmas. We Challenge report.
have all been there! Our relationship with the
SBN will continue as we
Options considered // Our preferred This CSR is one off the work with them in our
option primary outcomes of our re-assessment.
was to change our print/copier supp stakeholders. effo rt to better communicate
lier with our
and would probably mean paying
out a significant
penalty. The other option was to try Click here for the full rep
and resolve the contract, quality and ort .
performance issues or just examine
a mutually sustainable business solut
Outcome // • Sustainable contract ion.
and a tailored solution • Black and
default • Secure print and scan • whit e duplex as a print
Print and release at device when read
reduction • 10% reduction is wast y • 40% overall cost
ed print • 99% availability • Delig
supplier. hted staff , clien ts and

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 Contact:
Maurice Kiely
ity
Director - Sustainabil
uri ce@ ch ow hil l.co .nz
ma
09 5226464
0275 708930
on the
For further information
nc ipl es of CS R’s view
guiding pri
rg and for an
www.globalreporting.o
:H ill, ple ase visit
overview of Chow
www.chow hil l.c o.n z

ation is
Supplementary inform
ou r we bs ite :
available on
ow hil l.co .nz /su sta inability.html
www.ch
en
s our activities betwe
This report document
200 9 to 31 Ma rch 2010.
1 April

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