# How Better Buildings works > From a first look in minutes to a funded, verified plan and a building that keeps performing: what working with Better Buildings looks like, stage by stage. Source: https://betterbuildings.co.nz/how-it-works Last updated: 2026-10-07 ## A clear path from potential to performance. From understanding what your building could do better, to building the case, funding improvements and proving the result, Better Buildings helps you move from insight to action. [Explore my building's potential](https://betterbuildings.co.nz/coming-soon). Free to start · No energy expertise needed. ## Five steps to a better performing building. From uncovering your building's potential to proving its performance, Better Buildings gives you a clear pathway to understand, decide, fund, deliver and measure improvements. ### 1. Discover: Uncover your building's potential. Tell us about your building (or simply give us its address) and Better Buildings will identify opportunities to improve its energy performance. See what could make a difference, the potential benefits and indicative payback, with a clear explanation of how each opportunity could work. - **You do:** Start with your building's address. Add bills, floor plans or existing reports to sharpen the picture, but you don't need perfect data to get started. - **We do:** We use what you provide, alongside data and insights from buildings like yours, to identify opportunities worth exploring. Your Building Performance Specialist helps you understand what stands out, what could make the biggest difference and where more information may be needed. And if an opportunity doesn't stack up, we'll tell you. - **You get:** A clear first view of your building's potential, with opportunities prioritised by impact and an indication of how confident you can be in the numbers. - **Time and cost:** Free to get started. Add more information when you're ready to sharpen the picture. ### 2. Assess: Turn potential into a plan you can stand behind. Choose the opportunities worth exploring further. Get supplier quotes, verify assumptions or arrange an on-site assessment to replace estimates with stronger evidence and build a more confident case for investment. - **You do:** Choose which opportunities to investigate and verify. Keep, park or remove them as the evidence develops, and decide which improvements belong in your plan. - **We do:** Connect you with appropriate suppliers and accredited assessors, bring quotes and assessment findings back into one place, and update the assumptions behind your business case as better information becomes available. - **You get:** A clearer, evidence-backed improvement plan with real-world pricing, verified information where available, and visibility over which figures are estimates and which you can rely on with greater confidence. - **Time and cost:** Supplier quotes are free. If an on-site assessment is recommended, you'll see the cost for your building before you book. ### 3. Fund: Turn your plan into action. Choose the funding approach that works for you: your own capital, finance, or a combination of both. Better Buildings brings the evidence behind your plan together, helping decision-makers and lenders understand the investment and giving you a clearer pathway to proceed. - **You do:** Decide how you want to fund the improvements and who needs to approve the investment. Invite the people who need to understand the case, whether that's your team, owner, board or lender. - **We do:** Bring the costs, expected benefits, funding and key assumptions together into one business case. If you'd like to explore finance, eligible projects can be referred to ASB Bank for consideration, including applicable sustainable finance options. - **You get:** A clear, shareable investment case built from the same underlying information, giving internal decision-makers and potential funders the evidence they need to consider the project. - **Time and cost:** Building your Better Buildings business case is free. Any finance remains subject to the relevant lender's eligibility, approval and terms. ### 4. Deliver: Turn your decision into a better building. Move from plan to implementation with a clear view of progress. Follow each improvement from quote through to installation, and see your building's potential start to become reality. - **You do:** Confirm the improvements you want to proceed with and follow their progress from approved quote through to completion. - **We do:** Help keep the plan moving and give you visibility over each improvement: what's happening, what comes next and where action is needed. - **You get:** A clear record of what has been delivered, with the evidence from each completed improvement captured as your plan becomes reality. - **Time and cost:** The cost and expected delivery timeframe for each improvement are set out in the relevant supplier quote before you proceed. ### 5. Monitor: Better performance should be proven. Track your building's energy performance over time and see the impact of the improvements you've made. Live monitoring helps you understand what's working, spot changes early and keep your building performing at its best. - **You do:** See how your building performs over time, review the impact of improvements and decide what action to take when something changes or a new opportunity emerges. - **We do:** Track actual energy performance against the building's baseline and relevant expectations, helping identify changes early and supporting ongoing performance and certification where applicable. - **You get:** Ongoing evidence of how your building is performing, helping you demonstrate improvement, maintain confidence in performance and keep making better-informed decisions. - **Time and cost:** Some benefits can be visible quickly; robust measurement and certification may require a longer period of verified data. Where NABERSNZ Energy certification is pursued, the applicable data and assessment requirements will need to be met. ## You don't need a plan to come to us. Better Buildings can help wherever you are in the journey. A rising energy bill. Ageing equipment. A lease event. A lending decision. A rating coming due and a tenant's requirements. Start with what's happening in your building, and we'll help you work out what comes next. ### Rising running costs **Your building is costing more to run.** We'll help you understand where energy is being used, where performance could improve, and which opportunities are worth pursuing. ### Plant nearing end of life **Something needs replacing anyway.** A replacement cycle is an opportunity to make a better long-term decision. Compare options based on cost, energy performance and payback before committing. ### A lease coming up **Your tenants are asking for more.** Understand and demonstrate how your building performs, and identify improvements that could strengthen its appeal, resilience and operating performance. [Better Buildings for investors](https://betterbuildings.co.nz/for#portfolio-owners) ### Refinancing or a lending review **Your finance is coming up for review.** Better-performing buildings can make a stronger case to lenders. We'll help you understand your building's performance, identify opportunities to improve it, and build the evidence you can take into a financing conversation. ### Getting rated or staying rated **You want to prove how your building performs.** Whether you're working towards a NABERSNZ Energy rating or maintaining one, Better Buildings helps you understand your performance, identify improvements and build the evidence needed to demonstrate progress. [NABERSNZ Energy with Better Buildings](https://betterbuildings.co.nz/nabersnz) ### Managing for an owner **You look after buildings for someone else.** Turn building performance into a clear, evidence-backed plan your owner can understand. Bring the opportunities, costs, benefits and progress together in one place, making it easier to recommend what happens next. [Better Buildings for property and facilities managers](https://betterbuildings.co.nz/for#property-managers) ## Starting is simple. You can do it from your desk. Start with your building's address. We'll show you where the opportunities could be, then help you turn the ones worth pursuing into a plan you can act on. 1. **Add your building in minutes.** An address is enough to start. Add bills or other information if you have it, but you don't need perfect data to get a first view. 2. **Review the opportunities with us.** Your Building Performance Specialist walks you through what stands out, what could make the biggest difference, and what's worth verifying. If the numbers don't stack up, we'll tell you. - **Minutes** to get your first view - **48 hours** for suppliers to get in touch - **Free** to start, including supplier quotes ## What owners ask us most. ### How long does the process take? You can get your first view in minutes, and suppliers respond within 48 hours. From there, timing depends on the opportunities you choose to pursue. For example, a NABERSNZ Energy rating pathway needs 12 months of verified data, but many savings can start much sooner. ### What do I need to get started? Just your building's address. Bills, floor plans, and past reports make the picture sharper, but you don't need perfect data to start. ### Do I have to commit to anything after the Discover phase? No. Discover, supplier quotes and building your business case are free. You only pay for an on-site assessment if you choose one, and you'll see the price before you book. ### Who comes on site? Only the people you choose to involve: an accredited assessor if you book a Better Buildings Check or NABERSNZ Energy pre-assessment, and potential suppliers if you request quotes. ### What happens after the works are done? We keep monitoring performance against your baseline and business case, so you can see whether the savings are being delivered. If you are rating your building with NABERSNZ Energy, we'll also help keep your rating on track and remind you before renewal. ## Know what your building could save, in minutes. It's free, there's no commitment, and you'll see what's worth pursuing, even if the honest answer is that now isn't the right time. [Explore my building's potential](https://betterbuildings.co.nz/coming-soon). Free to start · No energy expertise needed. --- Financing options shown are indicative, based on ASB Bank Limited sustainable finance criteria, and do not represent an offer, approval, or commitment to lend. Estimates are modelled from the information you provide and from buildings of a similar type; they are not a guarantee of savings or of a rating outcome. Fees shown exclude GST and are not reimbursed. Better Buildings does not provide financial advice. [Important information](https://betterbuildings.co.nz/important-information)