Glossary

Papakupu whāiti

Agencies: All government departments as defined by the Public Finance Act 1989, Crown agents, autonomous Crown entities, Independent Crown entities, Crown entity companies, companies listed on Schedule 4A of the Public Finance Act. Also referred to as Procuring Agencies.

Aotearoa 2050: The Te Waihanga campaign to collect feedback from New Zealanders to help shape a view of what New Zealand's infrastructure will look like in 2050.

Artificial intelligence – machine learning: Technology that enables digital devices to respond to and learn from their environments. Artificial intelligence is anticipated to streamline tasks, especially those that are repeatable, and continue to learn and develop through completing tasks and receiving feedback.

Augmented reality: An enhanced version of the real physical world that’s achieved through the use of digital visual elements, sound or other sensory stimuli delivered via technology.

Better Business Case framework: A five case (or five question) model that provides objective analyses and consistent information to decision-makers, to enable them to make smart investment decisions for public value.

Biomass energy (or bioenergy): Energy that provides heat, electricity and fuel for transport from solid biofuels (such as wood chips, wood pellets or organic waste), liquids (such as biodiesel from tallow or used cooking oil) and gas (such as that produced in wastewater and sewage treatment plants).

Building Information Modelling (BIM): The holistic process of creating and managing information for a built asset. Based on an intelligent model and enabled by a cloud platform, BIM integrates structured, multi-disciplinary data to produce a digital representation of an asset across its lifecycle, from planning and design to construction and operations.

Business case: A management tool that supports decision-making for an investment. A robust business case can provide an explicit and systematic basis for decision-making, transparency and accountability, assurance that the proposed investment optimises value for money, and a plan for realising the expected benefits, and for managing costs and risks.

Carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2E): A way to describe different greenhouse gases on a common scale that relates the warming effect of emissions of a gas to that of carbon dioxide. It’s calculated by multiplying the quantity of a greenhouse gas by the relevant global warming potential.

Circular economy: A model of production and consumption that involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products for as long as possible.

Civil Defence and Emergency Management Act 2002: A framework within which New Zealand can prepare for, deal with, and recover from local, regional and national emergencies.

Congestion pricing: A method used to improve network performance by charging road users to encourage some to change the time, route or way in which they travel.

Construction Sector Accord: A shared commitment between the government and industry to transform the construction sector.

Cost-benefit analysis (CBA): A systematic process that businesses use to analyse the decisions to make and those to forgo. A cost-benefit analysis sums the potential rewards expected from a situation or action and then subtracts the total costs associated with taking that action.

Crown land: Land vested in Her Majesty the Queen which isn’t for the time being set aside for any public purpose or held by any person in fee simple.

Cyber security: The practice of protecting critical systems and sensitive information from digital attacks.

Digital consenting: An application of Building Information Modelling (BIM) and digital twins that streamlines the infrastructure consenting and approval process. Traditionally, consenting and approvals of changes to the built environment rely on people checking compliance. Digital consenting removes the human element by integrating the consenting and compliance checks with BIM and digital twin applications.

Digital twins: A virtual model designed to reflect a physical object accurately. The object being studied, for example, a wind turbine, is outfitted with various sensors related to vital areas of functionality. These sensors produce data about different aspects of the physical object’s performance, such as energy output, temperature and weather conditions and more. This data is then relayed to a processing system and applied to the digital copy.

Disposal emissions: The carbon dioxide emissions generated at the end of life, including emissions from decommissioning, recycling and waste disposal.

Distributed energy resources: The name given to renewable energy units or systems that are commonly located in houses or businesses to provide them with power. Common distributed energy resources include rooftop solar PV units, battery storage, thermal energy storage, electric vehicles and chargers, smart meters, and home energy-management technologies.

Economic infrastructure: Our energy, telecommunications, transport, waste, and water infrastructure.

Economic stimulus: A targeted fiscal and monetary policy intended to elicit an economic response from the private sector.

Electric aircraft: An aircraft powered by electricity, almost always via one or more electric motors that drive propellers. Electricity may be supplied by a variety of methods, the most common being batteries and solar cells.

Electricity generation: The process of generating electric power from sources of primary energy.

Electrification: The conversion of a machine or system to the use of electrical power.

Embodied emissions: The carbon dioxide emissions associated with the materials and construction of infrastructure.

Emissions Reduction Plan: A plan that contains policies and strategies to reduce emissions and increase removals to meet an emissions budget.

Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS): A scheme created through the Climate Change Response Act 2002. The Act was passed in recognition of New Zealand's obligations under the Kyoto Protocol. It’s the primary method for the New Zealand government to achieve its long-term commitment to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.

Enabled emissions: The carbon dioxide emissions generated from third parties using infrastructure.

Energy transition: The global energy sector’s shift from fossil-based systems of energy production and consumption, including oil, natural gas and coal, to renewable energy sources like wind and solar.

Externalities: Situations when the effects of production or consumption of goods and services imposes costs or benefits on others that aren’t reflected in the prices charged for the goods and services being provided.

Financing: How capital is accessed to meet the upfront costs of new projects.

Funding: All the money needed to pay for infrastructure. It comes from the community through users, taxpayers and ratepayers.

Gas-fired generation: A thermal power station that burns natural gas to generate electricity.

Gateway™: An independent project/programme peer review methodology that provides advice and support to the Senior Responsible Owner of a programme or project.

GDP: Gross domestic product.

Geothermal energy: Electrical power generated from geothermal energy.

Gigawatt: A measure equal to one billion (1,000,000,000) watts or one gigawatt = 1000 megawatts. This unit is often used for large power plants and power grids.

Governance: The provision of leadership, strategic direction, control and accountability. A key objective of governance is to make decisions efficiently, effectively and transparently. It’s the system by which an organisation or project is directed and controlled.

Information and communications technologies (ICT): A diverse set of technological tools and resources used to transmit, store, create, share and exchange information. They include computers, the internet (websites, blogs and emails), live broadcasting technologies (radio, television and webcasting), recorded broadcasting technologies (podcasting, audio and video players and storage devices) and telephony (fixed or mobile, satellite, video-conferencing etc.).

Infrastructure: Fixed, long-lived structures that facilitate economic performance and wellbeing. Infrastructure includes ‘horizontal’ physical networks (principally transport, water and energy and telecommunications); and ‘vertical’ infrastructure (buildings such as hospitals, schools and prisons). The latter are also known as social assets.

Infrastructure funds: Entities that consolidate funds for the purpose of acquiring infrastructure assets (the infrastructure assets are defined by the mandate of each fund and can differ substantially for different funds).

Infrastructure pipeline: A tool being published on the Infrastructure Commission website that provides visibility of the timing, sequencing and scale of future infrastructure projects.

Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia: The peak association for the professionals who deliver public works and engineering services to communities in Australia and New Zealand.

International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy: A non-refundable levy of $35 charged to international visitors. It contributes

directly to helping protect the natural environment they enjoy, and the infrastructure they use.

Internet of Things: Physical objects (or groups of such objects) that are embedded with sensors, processing ability, software, and other technologies, and that connect and exchange data with other devices and systems over the internet or other communications networks.

Investment: The commitment of capital or balance-sheet resources to the delivery of government services via projects, programmes or portfolios.

Joint venture: A strategic alliance between two or more parties to accomplish a specific task or project.

Metadata: Information that describes other information in order to help you understand or use it.

Minimum energy performance standards: Minimum energy efficiency standards that products must meet to be sold in New Zealand.

National Policy Statement on Urban Development: A policy statement that aims to ensure that New Zealand’s towns and cities are well-functioning urban environments that meet the changing needs of our diverse communities.

National Waste Data Framework: A framework that establishes a set of definitions to act as a common language for collecting and reporting waste data and determines what data is gathered.

Net-zero carbon emissions commitment: A new target for reducing domestic greenhouse gas emissions in New Zealand, set by the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Act 2019 to: reduce net emissions of all greenhouse gases (except biogenic methane) to zero by 2050; and reduce emissions of biogenic methane to 24–47% below 2017 levels by 2050, including to 10% below 2017 levels by 2030.

Net-zero carbon emissions economy: Net-zero refers to the balance between the amount of greenhouse gas produced and the amount removed from the atmosphere. We’ll reach a net-zero carbon emissions economy when the amount we add to the atmosphere is no more than the amount taken away.

Notice of requirement: To begin the process of designating land, a requiring authority must serve a notice of requirement on the relevant territorial authority or lodge it with the Environmental Protection Authority. A notice of requirement is a proposal for a designation.

Operational emissions: The carbon dioxide emissions generated from operations, maintenance and renewal of infrastructure.

Pumped hydro storage: A hydro storage method that captures and stores water in two places. Using surplus electricity, water can be pumped uphill to a storage lake. When demand for electricity can’t be met by other means, that water can be released via a steep drop to power turbines and generate electricity.

Regulatory settings: Laws, ordinances, rules, regulations, orders, codes and other legally enforceable requirements in effect and applicable to the performance of work.

Renewable energy zone: An area that would be suitable for renewable energy infrastructure and where there would be few barriers to gaining resource consent.

Resource exchange mechanism: A mechanism to facilitate the trade of surplus materials, products, components and assets across United Kingdom infrastructure projects.

Resource Management Act (RMA): An Act to promote the sustainable management of natural and physical resources in New Zealand.

Resource Management Review Panel: A Panel appointed by the Minister for the Environment, the Hon David Parker, to undertake a comprehensive review of the resource management system in New Zealand.

Social discount rate: A mechanism used to put a present value on costs and benefits that will occur at a later date.

Social infrastructure: Our hospitals, schools, prisons, parks, libraries, and community buildings.

Spatial planning: Setting a direction and a long-term goal to promote the four well-beings (social, economic, environmental and cultural) through the integration of considerations for land use change, infrastructure development and delivery, environmental management and recognition of cultural values.

Spillover effects: Positive or a negative economic, social or political impact that’s experienced due to an independent event occurring from a seemingly unrelated event.

Supply chain: A supply network between a company and its suppliers to produce and distribute a specific product to the final buyer. The supply chain also represents the steps it takes to get the product or service from its original state to the customer.

Telecommunications infrastructure: Includes telephone wires, cables (including submarine cables), satellites, microwaves, and mobile technology such as fifth-generation (5G) mobile networks.

Telehealth: A system through which healthcare is provided remotely by means of telecommunications technology.

Terawatt-hour (TWh): A watt-hour (Wh) is the amount of energy produced by a one-watt source running for one hour. A terawatt-hour (TWh) is one trillion watt-hours, or 1,000 gigawatt-hours (GWh).

Territorial authority: A tier of local government in New Zealand.

Transit-oriented development (TOD): A development that aims to develop high-density, mixed-use living options in close proximity to local amenities, with links to reliable and frequent public transport.

Value capture: An infrastructure funding mechanism that recovers some or all of the value that public infrastructure generates for private property owners.

Volumetric charge: A charge based on the volume of water used. For metered premises, this is based on the volume of water recorded by the meter.

Waste-to-energy: The process of generating energy in the form of electricity and/or heat from the primary treatment of waste, or the processing of waste into a fuel source.