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Pro-invest Group’s three New Zealand hotels are getting new energy and water monitoring as part of a portfolio-wide partnership with Buildings Alive.
The platform is being rolled out across all 13 operational hotels in Pro-invest Group’s fund portfolio in Australia and New Zealand, with onboarding due to finish by October 2026. It follows a six-month trial at Holiday Inn Express Sydney Airport in 2025.
The rollout is being delivered with Connect Hospitality, which operates the group’s fund hotels. Because there is no NABERS rating for hotels in New Zealand yet, the three hotels here will be measured differently from their Australian counterparts.
Anthony Ursino, chief operating officer & general counsel at Pro-invest Group, says the New Zealand line-up is complete.
“All three of our New Zealand hotels are included in the Buildings Alive rollout. These include voco Auckland City Centre, Holiday Inn Express Auckland City Centre and voco Queenstown.”
The partnership sets a baseline of 4.5-star NABERS Energy and Water ratings across participating assets, with 5 stars the target where operationally feasible. The New Zealand hotels however need a different yardstick.
“Until a NABERS rating is available for hotels in New Zealand, we will measure each hotel against its own weather and occupancy-normalised performance baseline. Buildings Alive will monitor actual energy and water consumption, giving our teams and partners a clearer view of performance trends, anomalies and opportunities for improvement.” says Anthony.
He says the group has been pushing for the rating to come to New Zealand.
“We have long supported making NABERS available to New Zealand’s hotel sector and have welcomed conversations around this for a number of years.”
The Australian experience shows what that could offer, he says.
“Our experience with NABERS in Australia has demonstrated the value we see in having a credible, independently verified framework that allows hotel owners, managers and operators to measure performance consistently and make more informed operational and investment decisions. In the meantime, Buildings Alive gives us a practical and consistent way to measure and manage the performance of our New Zealand hotels at a more granular level.”
The platform tracks electricity, gas, water and environmental performance data. The agreement also sets up a framework for Pro-invest Group’s growing urban accommodation pipeline.
“The partnership has been structured to grow with our portfolio, including future hospitality and urban accommodation assets across Australia and New Zealand. While the current rollout covers our three operational New Zealand hotels, the platform can be extended to additional assets across Australasia as the opportunity arises.”
For Anthony, bringing the New Zealand hotels in is about seeing the whole portfolio clearly.
“Our ESG efforts extend across our portfolio in Australia and New Zealand. Including the New Zealand hotels as part of the Buildings Alive rollout gives us a more consistent and detailed view of performance across our fund hotel portfolio. Better data helps us understand where and when energy and water are being used, identify inefficiencies earlier and focus on the operational levers that have the potential to reduce consumption and associated utility costs.”
But the reporting itself is not new, he says.
“Pro-invest Group has had established ESG systems, governance and reporting in place for several years. The Buildings Alive partnership is an evolution of that approach, providing more granular asset-level insights and strengthening the completeness and accuracy of the data available to support performance management and reporting. This is increasingly important as expectations around ESG reporting continue to develop across investors, financing partners and other stakeholders.”
Guests and corporate clients are part of it too.
“Corporate and guest expectations are also part of the picture. Ensuring the New Zealand hotels are part of the Buildings Alive partnership allows us to manage these assets consistently with the broader portfolio and gives our teams better information to understand and improve performance.” says Anthony.
