title: An investigation into the application of international environmental Greenroads Certification standards to road construction in New Zealand

authors: Daysh, Katrina

subjects: Greenroads

abstract: Greenroads is a USA designed environmental certification system for quantifying sustainable best practices for roadway design and construction. The major objectives of my research were to evaluate the suitability of Greenroads certification for use in New Zealand and compare the potential impacts of Greenroads compliance with the environmental outcomes achieved under the current New Zealand legislation and standards. 
A further two environmental certification systems, CEEQUAL (Civil Engineering Environmental Quality Assessment and Awards Scheme based in the UK) and INVEST (VicRoads – Integrated VicRoads Environmental Sustainability Tool managed by VicRoads in Australia) were also evaluated.
For the Greenroads certification process to operate in New Zealand it was first necessary to undertake several Pilot Projects so that Greenroads criteria could be adapted to New Zealand conditions. Greenroads offered NZTA the option of undertaking an “A-Lined (pilot) Assessment” for the Te Rapa Bypass Road construction project that was underway in the Waikato region in 2011/12.
Information regarding the design and construction of the Te Rapa Bypass was collated and submitted to Greenroads for the A-Lined Assessment. The results of the Greenroads A-Lined Assessment showed that the Te Rapa Bypass, with limited additional work, could have achieved a Greenroads Bronze Certificate.
The collated information was also used as a basis to evaluate the CEEQUAL and INVEST systems. It was estimated that the Te Rapa Bypass could have achieved a CEEQUAL “Pass Award” or an INVEST two star rating. However to get any rating from CEEQUAL or INVEST a considerable amount of work would be required on all documentation.
Greenroads, INVEST and CEEQUAL assessments show that currently, under the requirements of the New Zealand Resource Management Act (1991) (RMA) and other New Zealand legislation, New Zealand roads are already designed and constructed to a high environmental standard. 
Of the Greenroads, INVEST and CEEQUAL, certification systems, I consider that Greenroads is the better system for road projects in New Zealand. 
I recommend that New Zealand should use the Greenroads accreditation system to demonstrate that we meet international environmental standards in road construction. Much of the reporting required for Greenroads accreditation can be developed with, and incorporated into, the RMA consent process.

text: An investigation into the application of international environmental Greenroads Certification standards to road construction in New Zealand Greenroads is a USA designed environmental certification system for quantifying sustainable best practices for roadway design and construction. The major objectives of my research were to evaluate the suitability of Greenroads certification for use in New Zealand and compare the potential impacts of Greenroads compliance with the environmental outcomes achieved under the current New Zealand legislation and standards. 
A further two environmental certification systems, CEEQUAL (Civil Engineering Environmental Quality Assessment and Awards Scheme based in the UK) and INVEST (VicRoads – Integrated VicRoads Environmental Sustainability Tool managed by VicRoads in Australia) were also evaluated.
For the Greenroads certification process to operate in New Zealand it was first necessary to undertake several Pilot Projects so that Greenroads criteria could be adapted to New Zealand conditions. Greenroads offered NZTA the option of undertaking an “A-Lined (pilot) Assessment” for the Te Rapa Bypass Road construction project that was underway in the Waikato region in 2011/12.
Information regarding the design and construction of the Te Rapa Bypass was collated and submitted to Greenroads for the A-Lined Assessment. The results of the Greenroads A-Lined Assessment showed that the Te Rapa Bypass, with limited additional work, could have achieved a Greenroads Bronze Certificate.
The collated information was also used as a basis to evaluate the CEEQUAL and INVEST systems. It was estimated that the Te Rapa Bypass could have achieved a CEEQUAL “Pass Award” or an INVEST two star rating. However to get any rating from CEEQUAL or INVEST a considerable amount of work would be required on all documentation.
Greenroads, INVEST and CEEQUAL assessments show that currently, under the requirements of the New Zealand Resource Management Act (1991) (RMA) and other New Zealand legislation, New Zealand roads are already designed and constructed to a high environmental standard. 
Of the Greenroads, INVEST and CEEQUAL, certification systems, I consider that Greenroads is the better system for road projects in New Zealand. 
I recommend that New Zealand should use the Greenroads accreditation system to demonstrate that we meet international environmental standards in road construction. Much of the reporting required for Greenroads accreditation can be developed with, and incorporated into, the RMA consent process.

year: 2013

title: The metaphysics of quality: An inquiry into quality within the polytechnic and private training sector

authors: Pace, Barnaby David Matthew

subjects: Metaphysics

abstract: Quality, its definition and management, has a long-standing history within society.  In the modern era the focus has been particularly in regard to products and services, to ensure that minimal standards are met, and continual efforts are made to improve experiences. The education sector has also felt the reach of compliance requirements and ideology of continual improvement of practice, under the banner of quality educational practice. Quality, as a concept, has received considerable attention, with one of the most notable being in the philosophical writings of Robert Pirsig and his development of a metaphysics of quality. In this thesis, Pirsig’s metaphysics of quality will be investigated in the context of the Polytechnic and Private Training Sector to determine its place in our understanding of reality. Pirsig’s metaphysics is founded in the philosophical positioning of the ancient philosophers Plato and Aristotle and includes elements of Zen Buddhism and Eastern practices. These philosophical positions are examined to established quality as a concept which holds no physical form, nor location in time or space, beyond its application to an object or experience. In the development of a neo-metaphysical interpretation of quality the reader will be subject to several thought experiments as aspects of Kantianism philosophy and quantum mechanics are explored to shift from Pirsig’s view of quality as an event to the notion that quality as an experience. Further, the measurement problems identified within the concept of quality will be examined. In keeping with Pirsig’s narrative style chautauqua will be presented to support the philosophical discussions and illustrate educational quality issues and the journey to knowledge discovery. Once the neo-metaphysics of quality has been established, demonstrations will be given on its practical application in the identification of quality in the polytechnic and private training sector environment and beyond. Finally, what is proposed is a new approach to the interpretation of quality, and potentially a new era in quality management termed quantum quality.

text: The metaphysics of quality: An inquiry into quality within the polytechnic and private training sector Quality, its definition and management, has a long-standing history within society.  In the modern era the focus has been particularly in regard to products and services, to ensure that minimal standards are met, and continual efforts are made to improve experiences. The education sector has also felt the reach of compliance requirements and ideology of continual improvement of practice, under the banner of quality educational practice. Quality, as a concept, has received considerable attention, with one of the most notable being in the philosophical writings of Robert Pirsig and his development of a metaphysics of quality. In this thesis, Pirsig’s metaphysics of quality will be investigated in the context of the Polytechnic and Private Training Sector to determine its place in our understanding of reality. Pirsig’s metaphysics is founded in the philosophical positioning of the ancient philosophers Plato and Aristotle and includes elements of Zen Buddhism and Eastern practices. These philosophical positions are examined to established quality as a concept which holds no physical form, nor location in time or space, beyond its application to an object or experience. In the development of a neo-metaphysical interpretation of quality the reader will be subject to several thought experiments as aspects of Kantianism philosophy and quantum mechanics are explored to shift from Pirsig’s view of quality as an event to the notion that quality as an experience. Further, the measurement problems identified within the concept of quality will be examined. In keeping with Pirsig’s narrative style chautauqua will be presented to support the philosophical discussions and illustrate educational quality issues and the journey to knowledge discovery. Once the neo-metaphysics of quality has been established, demonstrations will be given on its practical application in the identification of quality in the polytechnic and private training sector environment and beyond. Finally, what is proposed is a new approach to the interpretation of quality, and potentially a new era in quality management termed quantum quality.

year: 2019

title: "Thereness": Implications of Heidegger's "presence" for Māori

authors: Mika, Carl Te Hira

abstract: For Māori, the philosophical consequences of colonization are a hugely important issue, due to both the subtlety and the omnipresence of Western metaphysics. In this article I refer to the “meta-physics of presence” through one major Western thinker—Martin Heidegger—who identified “presence” as a problem for the West. He proposes that the metaphysics of presence underpins every perception in the West and that it is the fundamental mistake of philosophers since Plato but becoming ascendant with Aristotle. I identify the points of relevance within their claims and refer them to a Māori understanding of absence. I also consider the more affective nature of Western presence, which Heidegger refers to but which must be theorized by Māori. In the first instance I place particular emphasis on the ironies implicit in writing about metaphysics for the Māori writer in the academy and for the things being represented in that writing. Finally, the metaphysics of presence opens up possibilities for its own instability; this Heideggerean “saving power” is discussed in Māori terms.

text: "Thereness": Implications of Heidegger's "presence" for Māori For Māori, the philosophical consequences of colonization are a hugely important issue, due to both the subtlety and the omnipresence of Western metaphysics. In this article I refer to the “meta-physics of presence” through one major Western thinker—Martin Heidegger—who identified “presence” as a problem for the West. He proposes that the metaphysics of presence underpins every perception in the West and that it is the fundamental mistake of philosophers since Plato but becoming ascendant with Aristotle. I identify the points of relevance within their claims and refer them to a Māori understanding of absence. I also consider the more affective nature of Western presence, which Heidegger refers to but which must be theorized by Māori. In the first instance I place particular emphasis on the ironies implicit in writing about metaphysics for the Māori writer in the academy and for the things being represented in that writing. Finally, the metaphysics of presence opens up possibilities for its own instability; this Heideggerean “saving power” is discussed in Māori terms.

year: 2015