Caring for our environment

The homes we build are energy efficient and sustainable and help to free up existing homes in communities where demand is outstripping supply.

Our aim is to do the very best we can for the environment.

We want to leave it in good shape for the generations to come. Our residents, our team and our investors all share this goal.

Our aim is to balance this with our responsibility to our residents. We will never compromise on their care, comfort and safety.

Our villages are energy efficient in their design, we help to free up homes in the local community and we reduce the vehicle traffic in the areas around our villages.

The care of our residents is our number one priority. Our business model revolves around caring for older people. The decisions we make as a business will always have care at the heart. We believe that we can do this sustainably, with less impact on the environment.

We recognise that our ongoing village operations will always have a carbon cost associated with them. We regard this cost as unavoidable for the moment.

For example, we cannot compromise our heating and safety systems. These systems require significant amounts of power to operate. Where we can, we only purchase electricity generated through renewable sources to power these systems. In New Zealand 80 percent of the energy we use is from renewable sources.

We have done the basics, including switching our car fleet to EVs and hybrids, replacing inefficient lights with LEDs and diverting waste into recycling.

We also use our existing natural capital, our gardens and our excess land, to plant trees to offset the carbon we produce.

Our construction operations are an area where we have made great inroads on recycling and diverting waste from landfill. In Auckland and Victoria, all construction waste is being taken off site to be sorted by our waste providers. We are currently recycling, on average, just over 80 percent of construction waste from these sites.

We have adopted 11 Principles of Sustainable Design and we are a member of the Green Building Council, which gives us access to the latest ideas and advances in sustainable building.

We are looking at the way we design and procure, and we are building whole-of-life costs into our feasibility studies.

Our Principles of Sustainable Design

Our objective is to maximise, as far as practicable, the use of sustainable design principles in our architectural design processes.

DESIGN PRINCIPLE STRATEGY

It’s all about our residents

Treat as unique

In it for the long haul To keep our residents’ care, comfort, security and accessibility needs at the heart of all our design decisions.

To treat each design project as separate and ‘unique’ and to incorporate specific local environmental and community aspects into each project.

To deliver functional, durable and aesthetically pleasing designs that will last.

Energy efficiency To maximise energy efficiency through innovation, an open-minded approach and the effective use of modern technology.

Keep it natural To utilise natural lighting and ventilation wherever possible.

Efficient water use To design and implement efficient water management strategies and systems.

Manage waste To incorporate designs that minimise waste as far as practicable.

Maintain wellbeing To specify and use low or non-toxic materials wherever possible.

Make the impact low To consider environmental impacts as a key factor in our design decisions, and minimise any impacts as far as practicable.

A sense of community

Stay informed To incorporate the needs of local communities and related infrastructure into our design processes.

To communicate sustainable aspects of projects for informational and educational purposes.

TOTAL GROSS GHG EMISSIONS (tCO2e)

16,000

12,000

8,000

4,000

0

2017 (BASE) 2018 2019 2020 13,000

12,000

11,000

10,000

9,000

TOTAL GROSS EMISSIONS (LHS) NUMBER OF RESIDENTS (RHS)

GHG OPERATIONAL EMISSIONS BY SOURCE

ELECTRICITY (NZ) 29.5%

ELECTRICITY (VIC) 21.9%

NATURAL GAS 15.0%

AIR TRAVEL 11.9%

WASTE 16.8%

FUEL 5.0%

TOTAL GROSS GHG EMISSIONS PER $M TURNOVER (tCO2e)

40

30

20

10

0

2017 (BASE) 2018 2019 2020 We have been measuring our carbon footprint with the help of Toitū Envirocare since 2018 and our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are certified in accordance with ISO 14064-1 standards. Our initial carbon reduction commitment when we joined Toitū was to achieve a 5 percent reduction per $M turnover, covering a total of Scope 1, 2, and 3 programme-mandatory emissions, by the year 2023.

Following a 14 percent reduction in our carbon emissions per $M turnover since 2017, we have lifted our target intensity to 30 percent per $M turnover by 2023.

In 2020 we saw an increase in our total emissions. This was primarily driven by an increase in electricity consumption in Australia as we opened new villages.

Unlike New Zealand, where 80 percent of the electricity we use is renewable, coal and gas account for around 90 percent of Australia’s electricity generation.

As such, as we open further new villages in Australia we will see an increase in our carbon footprint.

However, we will continue our efforts to minimise this impact. We have incorporated a number of design features into our Aberfeldie village in Melbourne which will result in a 28 percent saving on heating and cooling consumption for apartment residents. We are currently considering further initiatives that will help to offset emissions across the group.

Guarding against climate change

With climate change, weather events are becoming more extreme.

When choosing a site we look to see if it is susceptible to the impact of changes in weather- and climate-related risks.

We have emergency plans in place for every contingency, and all our care centres have emergency power generators on site as a safeguard. Our emergency power generators were used 83 times in the year to 31 March 2021.

COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS

Our most sustainable village

Ryman’s most sustainable village is quickly taking shape in Aberfeldie, Melbourne.

The village includes a host of sustainable design features including rain gardens and a solar energy generation system. The village’s energy rating is top of its class and will save 28 percent on heating and cooling energy consumption for residents’ apartments.

Designed into its roof space are 158 photovoltaic panels, generating 39.5kW of power for the village.

Its rooftop system will store rainwater for gardening and for toilets, saving more than 1.3 million litres of water a year.

The footprint of the village, with low rise blocks set across the site, meant that it could be designed to maximise sun, light and views, making it a lovely place to live, as well as more environmentally sustainable. Features of the new Aberfeldie village include:

• A 7 Star Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) assessment, resulting in a 28 percent saving for apartment residents on heating and cooling energy consumption

• A 25 percent saving on heating and cooling energy consumption in public areas

• A 100,000-litre (100 kilolitre) rainwater tank system which will provide garden irrigation and toilet flush water

• 100m² of rain gardens which will process stormwater run-off from the village, resulting in less pollution making its way into Melbourne’s stormwater system

• A solar generation system with a minimum total capacity of 39.5kW

• Electric vehicle charging stations provided on site to encourage electric vehicle use

• Low volatile organic compound (VOC) paints and certified timber used throughout, which are kinder on the environment as well as on the specialists using them

• Light-coloured roofing materials, which reduce heat

• Use of the latest thermal window, LED lighting and building system products to reduce energy consumption

Alison Sutcliffe and Sandra Humphries, Ryman residents.