June 2025 – Fixes, Brisket & a Move!
June 16, 2025
Another big month at V‑Quest HQ. We’ve ping-ponged from Auckland to Sydney, hauled ourselves into a new office (on location brisket sandwiches: 10/10), welcomed new users, filled in for missing speakers like the understudies we never trained to be, dived into DiSC profiles and startup team culture, and listened, patiently to politicians say wild things with straight faces.
Welcome to Midway 2025!
🙌 Featured Users: Studio Pacific Architecture
Studio Pacific is walking the talk, designing with low-carbon materials, reusing existing buildings, winning Green Star ratings, and earning carbon‑zero and sustainability certifications. They’re also another standout V‑Quest user pushing carbon-conscious efficient architecture in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Studio Pacific Architecture (NZ) is a heavyweight, multi-disciplinary firm based in Wellington and Auckland, known for sustainable and people-centric design.
🔨 Recent Inspirational Projects:
Air New Zealand Hangar 4 (Auckland) A single-span, timber-arch hangar spanning 98 m set to be the Southern Hemisphere’s largest, with Green Star aspirations and CLT/LVL structure. Timber = low carbon. Massive impact.
20 Customhouse Quay (Wellington) A commercial office built with a 5‑Star Green Star rating, incorporating passive solar design, efficient façades, and natural light optimisation.
Tākina – Wellington Convention Centre Featuring 5‑Star Green Star design, thermal insulation, rainwater harvesting (cutting usage by ~30 %), and sustainably sourced timber cladding.
Nelson Airport Terminal Renovated with locally sourced timber, natural ventilation, and seismic resilience, all aimed at low embodied carbon and energy-efficient operation.
Welcome to the family, SPA!
🎉 Application Update
1. ArchiCAD stability turbocharged
This month we rolled out a complete overhaul of our ArchiCAD plugin—no more surprises, no more crashes. ArchiCAD has never been the easiest beast to tame, and integrating V‑Quest into it felt like trying to herd cats. But after deep diving into its quirks, patching memory leaks, and re‑architecting major code paths, we’ve finally cracked it. We’re delighted to say the plugin is solid. To everyone who’s experienced annoying quirks or mid‑model blue screens: our sincerest apologies. You’ve been patient, and we appreciate it. If you still hit snags, ping us at willr@vquest.io and we’ll swoop in to help. As always, your experience is our obsession.
2. Data sets galore—now with turbo-speed
Our policy is simple: you ask, we deliver within 24 hours. This month, we’ve uploaded a heap of new materials data to our NZ & Australia databases—everything from embodied carbon to up‑to‑the‑minute market prices and weights. What’s more, we're pre‑assembling these into common assembly combos so your early-stage design receives actionable insights faster. More data at your fingertips means smarter, faster decisions on cost and carbon trade-offs. If you have a specific material or assembly needed, drop us an email at eoinm@vquest.io
🏅 NABERS ACCREDITED ASSESSOR
Last month we backed Will to pass the NABERS Carbon Assessor course. This month? He did it. One take. No drama. No spreadsheets thrown, full head of hair still present.
Why does that matter? Because most CTOs are too busy talking AI and sipping overpriced matcha. Ours is knee‑deep in user workflows, figuring out how painful carbon compliance actually is. He did the forms. He did the maths. He came back with scars—and better product ideas.
Oh, and V‑Quest now automates NABERS carbon reporting. Which makes Will both an assessor and the guy making assessors’ lives easier. Full circle.
🔥 AURORA CLIMATE SUMMIT
Creative HQ put us through our paces. We learnt how to scale a great team, pitch to investors, avoid burnout, and explain “carbon optimisation” without sounding like the deeply embedded nerds we are. Thanks to Sprout People, Fractal Climate, and Motion Capital for the wisdom and brutal honesty. We now know exactly what it takes to scale something that doesn’t just sound smart, but is smart.
We're hitting the big green stage at the Aurora Climate Lab Summit—and it’s not your usual sleepy panel event. It’s speed-dating for climate innovation, with VCs, startups, founders, corporates, and public-sector folk all jammed together to figure out how to make sustainable business the default, not the exception.
Barry will have just 3 minutes to convince a crowd of investors, policymakers, startup nerds, and curious bystanders that you can cut construction costs and carbon at the same time—without compromising design.
The event is free, open to the public, and packed with ideas, energy, and climate ambition. There’ll be pitches and you'll hear novel solutions for dangerous problems our climate is facing. There will be battery technology, AI Land use modelling, Fast Charge car tech, Sustainable foods and cosmetics, Sustainable heating systems, Alternative leather materials, Geothermal Tech, Carbon Analytics, gas purification, Phytoplankton decarbonisation & sweet sweet sugar production.
📍 Michael Fowler Centre
🗓️ Wednesday 26 June, 5:30–8:30pm
🧠 Hosted by: Creative HQ Aurora Climate Lab
👉 See the full event details and RSVP here
🏛 LOCAL AUTHORTITIES LEADING
Building momentum with local government
This month we presented to Christchurch City council and they loved our presentation on using design‑efficiency data analytics to curb costs and carbon. So much that we’ve now got introductions into their Infrastructure and capital works. How powerful is that? Councils tackling carbon reduction mandates across design, vertical infrastructure, and programme management now have an ally in V‑Quest.
We’ve also been invited by Christchurch City Council to talk with reps from city and regional councils across Aotearoa through the Aotearoa Council Climate Network (ACCN) next month. This is a huge opportunity to build awareness of how achievable sustainability is when you couple it with efficient design.
V‑Quest isn’t limited to tiny typologies—we’re a design analytics engine for any toolchain you prefer: Revit, ArchiCAD, SketchUp. So far we've tackled large commercial builds, tiny homes, warehouse racking systems, and timber bridge prototypes. Our ongoing talks with Christchurch’s Infrastructure crew may provide the opportunity to expand into roading and underground services analytics next. Wherever there's a design model, there's potential—and now a V‑Quest pathway to smarter, cleaner builds.
📰 V-QUEST FEATURED AGAIN
ChristchurchNZ just named us as one of the startups reshaping construction.
We’d love to tell you we celebrated with beers.
We actually just kept working. Because, being honest, carbon doesn’t reduce itself, and startups don't pay for beers (yet)!
But hey, we’ll take the compliment. Read the feature
🌲 WOODWORKS 2025 – SOUTH
Eoin (our COO & general legend) made the pilgrimage to the WoodWorks South 2025 conference in Christchurch, basically the Glastonbury of NZ mass timber. It was a full house of CLT nerds, glue-lam evangelists, and developers who actually give a damn about carbon.
The standout?
The 211 High Street project from Portus Properties, a stunning low-carbon commercial build using engineered timber, adaptive reuse, and passive performance principles. It’s not just elegant—it’s what future Christchurch could look like if we stopped defaulting to concrete boxes. Smart structure, smart carbon, and smart cost management. A masterclass.
And here's the thing:
We weren’t just there to gawk. We’ve got the unique interest in mass timber buildings. V-Quest has been used extensively by the MPI backed Mid Rise Wood Construction Programme - where our solution has been used to complete carbon performance reporting and rapid comparative methodology analysis, greatly informing the programmes insights.
Here is a link to the latest project, where V-Quest was used on a Summerset Aged Care project.
🏢 New Office – Christchurch Arts Centre
Big news: V‑Quest has relocated to an epic space in the Christchurch Arts Centre. Picture this: working alongside animators, health‑tech startups, publishers, inside a building of architectural and heritage significance.
Barry’s already filmed a quick ‘brisket-sarnie and tour’ video. The vibe is electric—an intersection of innovation and inspiration.
We’re rolling out weekly walkthrough video sessions, dropping insights, carbon decarb wisdom, and even some food commentary (the food trucks here are next level)
If you’re in town, swing by for coffee, lunch, or just to check out the coolest coworking huddle in Ōtautahi.
💸 Investor NEWS
We’re raising capital in Q4 so that we can scale this solution beyond NZ, but like good scouts, we’re preparing now. Data rooms, pitch decks, user traction, all humming along. Part of our preparation has been to get out there and see others pitch, hear first hand from investors and get our name mentioned.
This month we:
Pitched at Aurora (AKL), Mainland (CHC)
Attended IBNNZ where WNT founder Niamh Given spoke - and asked us for our killer customer discovery questions.
Went to the Sydney StartUp Valley , where Will (CTO) jumped on stage last minute when a pitcher bailed. No slides. No script. Nailed it anyway.
If you’re an investor who likes climate tech and impact, get in touch. If you know one, send them this. If you are one… we want to talk.
WORLD NEWS
Lots happening around the world at the moment, some good, some bad. Its hard not to get a little stressed by the direction we've been taken by politicians at a global level and at home in NZ.
At home in New Zealand the ACT parties member's bill, and its local candidate platform, propose preventing councils from declaring climate emergencies, setting emissions targets, or including emissions in consenting decisions.
When ideology "trumps" science - you get David Seymour. "ACT believes the proper role of a council is to deliver core services and resilient infrastructure – not to try to change the weather" - Is like a boxer saying, I'll make my neck muscles really strong so that I don't need to put up my guard. This is going to hurt and no amount of strengthening is going to stop the punches.
The good news is that there is good news. Sustainability and innovation in the built environment continues at pace:
🌊 1. UK to build carbon-capture pipeline under the sea: A 38-mile CO₂ pipeline in the Liverpool Bay / HyNet North West project, backed by UK government and Eni, is set to capture 4.5 Mt CO₂ from 2028 (expanding to ~10 Mt by 2030), create ~2,000 jobs, and attract £2 billion in supply‑chain investment.
2. EU Clean Industrial Deal launched: The European Commission unveiled a comprehensive package in February 2025, including €100 billion for industrial decarbonisation, fast‑track permitting, cleaner procurement rules, and a new Industrial Decarbonisation Bank
🏗️ 3. London construction machinery emits more PM₂.₅ than traffic: New University of Manchester and UKCEH research reveals construction-related black carbon emissions in central London now surpass those from road traffic.
☀️ 4. Solar-powered cement plant wins global award: Jordan’s GCCA+ solar‑powered cement project was awarded the “Best Decarbonisation Project 2025” by the Global Cement and Concrete Association—recognising its pioneering approach to low‑carbon cement
That’s it for us for June. As always reach out to us if you have any questions, input or demands!
See you next month. We’ll still be here, doing the science.