Urban Greening Tool

Developed by our team of Landscape and Urban Design experts, the Urban Greening Tool (UGT) is designed to evaluate the health and wellbeing of ngā rākau – the trees, plantings and ‘green infrastructure’ – within proposed and built projects in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Discover rich insights
Use the UGT to undertake a back-cast review of a project and address desired areas of improvement, realign with budget objectives, and navigate your project to a greener outcome.

Assess and enhance your project’s environmental score

Understand the potential of a site and establish a minimum required score for consultants before going to market

Unlock carbon efficiencies
Analyse and score a project, and identify where tradeoffs can be made to improve urban greening and decrease carbon emissions

Green your project at every stage
Ensure urban greening is woven into the fabric of your projects throughout their life-cycle

Decarbonise your projects

The UGT has the potential to create better outcomes for te taiao (the natural world) by ensuring projects add value to the holistic health and wellbeing of our environment rather than contributing to its degradation and displacement.

To achieve optimum outcomes the UGT is most powerful when integrated into every stage of a project, from inception to construction. Far from being a quick once-over with the greenwash, the UGT is a powerful enabler that has the potential to inform transformative projects that will protect and nourish our communities for generations to come.

The Urban Greening Tool is being delivered as part of the WSP Decarbonisation Programme, which will deliver on our strategic commitment to halving the carbon footprint of infrastructure designs and advice provided to WSP NZ clients by 2030.

Courtenay Northcott Work Group Manager, Landscape Architecture

Courtenay Northcott Work Group Manager, Landscape Architecture

The Urban Greening Tool in action

This is a simplified example of a UGT plan of a high-density pedestrian precinct. Taking place on a 3ha development site, the initial design sees proposed buildings surround public open space and pedestrian paths.

Before

In the initial UGT evaluation, a very low score of 0.1 is achieved. This is because of a high embodied carbon count estimated after 50 years.

Based off of this analysis, the UGT evaluation can then be used to help frame opportunities to improve the project that can then be incorporated into an amended design.

After

After the UGT evaluation we can suggest changes to the design to increase the Urban Greening Factor score. An example of what changes could be made to improve the score:

Hardscaping reduced.
Permeable paving utilised.
Roof spaces have intensive green roofs installed.
Increase in native vegetation on the site.

Who is the Urban Greening Tool for?

The UGT is designed to assist designers, clients, councils and government agencies with determining the appropriate provision of urban greening for new developments.

What others tools are on the market

The Greater London Authority’s Urban Greening Factor is an overseas example that sparked the development of an Aotearoa-centric Urban Greening Tool.

How will the UGT create better outcomes for te taiao (the environment)?

The UGT is designed to evaluate how ngā rākau – the trees, plantings and ‘green infrastructure’ – is integrated into built projects in Aotearoa. An important part of this evaluation process is understanding the historic context of a site and its surroundings. This will help to create better outcomes for te taiao by ensuring proposals are adding value through the holistic health and well-being. The tool offers advice on how to engage with local nurseries, communities and with Mana Whenua.

What systems does it work with?

The UGT offers retrospective analysis, allowing users to assess completed projects and gather data for further refinement of current and future projects. It is integrated into Revit, a design software, making it easier to incorporate into workflows.

How is the Urban Greening Tool unique to Aotearoa?

The UGT has been adapted and developed to reflect the urban development context of Aotearoa and maximise the added value to our natural and built environments. An indigenous approach and the incorporation of mātauranga Māori into the tool’s development have enabled it to draw insights from our tūpuna.

What is Te Kahu o Te Taiao?

Te Kahu o Te Taiao represents a collaborative approach that merges a Te Ao Māori and Te Ao Pākeha perspectives. It represents Aotearoa's commitment to environmental stewardship and addressing climate change by involving Iwi (tribes), collectively safeguarding Ranginui (Sky Father) and Papatūānuku (Earth Mother), aligning business with kaitiakitanga (guardianship) and manaakitanga (hospitality), and preserving resources for future generations.