Shaan Cory

A passion for sustainable buildings saw Shaan through a PhD, training he now employs in the development of ‘net zero’ technology for use in Aotearoa and abroad.

When starting university, I knew I had a passion for sustainable buildings. My first year was compulsory Architecture, which then split into the different study streams (such as Architecture, Building Science, Interior, or Landscape). In that first year, I had a Building Science assignment where we assessed the thermal, lighting, and acoustical environments within Te Papa, which gave a taste of what would be taught in the Building Science degree. My passion for sustainability combined with these assignments triggered my decision to progress with Sustainable Engineering Systems as my major.

At the undergraduate level, I focused on assessing the thermal, lighting, acoustic, and external environment of real buildings. I enjoyed the challenge of determining if and why a space was uncomfortable for occupants and found it rewarding to give occupants/clients particular measures to improve their comfort. During the postgraduate degree, the most enjoyable course for me was Buildings and Energy. We had to undertake an energy audit of a building in Wellington to identify if there were ways to reduce its energy use, cost, and associated greenhouse gas emissions.

The degree developed my technical skills for reviewing real buildings in practice and analysing the findings. The most valuable skill I developed was the critical thinking to propose methods for improving the building, its spaces, and its environmental impact. This led to a PhD in Building Science, in which I aimed to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from all office and retail buildings in New Zealand to be ‘net zero’.

All my career roles have stemmed from my passion for reducing the environmental impact of buildings in a cost-effective manner. After several years working as a building scientist with Beca Limited, I saw that many of our customers were wasting 20 to 30 percent of their energy because their buildings’ heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems were not optimised. I developed a new technology service to help our clients autonomously optimize these systems to quickly reduce energy use, costs, and carbon emissions and get closer to net zero. With the backing of Beca, I’ve had the opportunity to transform that service into my own enterprise called BTune, working with customers across New Zealand and recently expanding into the USA.

Update: Shaan is currently Founder and President of BTune by Beca in New Plymouth.