Our Environmental Commitment

Current Initiatives

Energy: Energy efficiency
Purpose-built studio with solar panels, LED lighting and sustainable design award recognition.

General: Emissions Mitigation
Tree planting and land rehabilitation on the property.

Energy: Travel Reduction
Remote and flexible work practices reducing commuting and office energy use.

General: Project Design and Material Choices
Preference for recycled timber, aluminium and materials with circular end-of-life potential.
Sustainability policy integrated into workplace health & safety documentation.
Active exploration of specifying low-impact materials in tendered projects.

General: Community & Social Impact
Engagement in a Pacific island sustainable community project (housing, renewable energy, clean water filtration).
Interest in aligning projects with broader social and environmental benefits.

Specifying for Sustainable Design

Specifying Certified and Local Timber

We are ensuring the integrity of our timber by being precise in our specifications.

• Certification: We are sourcing only certified timber from sustainably managed forests, verified by either the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) or Responsible Wood. To guarantee this, we require our suppliers to provide full Chain of Custody (CoC) documentation.
• Sourcing: We are prioritising locally grown and milled Queensland species, like Spotted Gum and Ironbark. This approach supports our regional economy, reduces transportation emissions, and ensures we use timber naturally suited to our climate.
• Treatment: We are prohibiting toxic treatments such as Copper Chrome Arsenate (CCA). Instead, we are using safer alternatives like low-toxicity Light Organic Solvent Preservatives (LOSP) or, preferably, relying on the natural durability of the carefully selected hardwood species.

Mandating Recycled Content and Lifecycle Data for Metals

For all our steel and aluminium components, we are focusing on their entire lifecycle.

• Recycled Content: We are specifying that all structural steel must contain a minimum of 50% post-consumer recycled content, a standard our Australian steel manufacturers can meet and verify.
• Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs): For key metal elements, we are requiring suppliers to provide an EPD. This gives us transparent, standardised data on a product’s environmental impact, allowing us to make the most informed choices.
• Durable Finishes: We are choosing finishes that extend the material’s life and minimise maintenance. Specifically, we are using hot-dip galvanizing or low-VOC powder coating instead of solvent-based paints that require frequent reapplication.

Utilising Salvaged and Low-Impact Materials

We are preventing ambiguity and greenwashing by clearly defining our material requirements.

• Artistic Materials: For the project’s public art component, we are requiring that a minimum of 40% of the artwork’s mass be composed of materials reclaimed from post-consumer or post-industrial sources within a 100km radius.
• Ancillary Products: We are exclusively using low-VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) or zero-VOC paints, sealants, and adhesives throughout the entire project. This improves air quality for our construction team and the public.

Social Sustainability

POMO’s commitment to social sustainability is demonstrated by placing genuine community engagement at the core of our design process. We move beyond simple consultation to foster a collaborative partnership with locals, ensuring that placemaking projects like town squares and streetscape upgrades are a true reflection of the community’s unique culture, identity, heritage, and future aspirations.

The ultimate goal is to create meaningful and successful public places that are deeply connected to the places in which they exist and to their communities.

Places like this enhance well-being, encourage social connection, and strengthen the fabric of the community. Through this process, we aim to deliver not just an upgraded physical space, but a more resilient and connected community that feels a deep sense of ownership and pride in a place which expresses the fabric of the place and its people.

Inclusive Design & Universal Access

Successful placemaking means creating public spaces that are truly for everyone. At POMO, we believe inclusive design is a non-negotiable, not an addition.

Our commitment is to deliver public realms that are welcoming, equitable, and navigable for all members of the community, regardless of age or ability.

To achieve this, our design and delivery process is built on a foundation of rigorous compliance. We ensure all outcomes, from pathways and amenities to furniture, are fully compliant with:

• AS 1428.1 (Design for Access and Mobility)
• Australian Standards for Wayfinding and Signage

This technical expertise ensures our creative visions are also functional, safe, and intuitive for every person who interacts with the space.

Compliance and Responsibility

We ensure all our activities comply with environmental laws and regulations and our own internal environmental policies which sit within our WH&S framework. We actively monitor our environmental performance, setting clear targets to reduce our adverse impact. We integrate environmental considerations into all aspects of our operations and decision making especially concerning design.

POMO’s Land Rehabilitation Program: We’re committed to rehabilitating the property upon which the POMO studio sits on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. Profits from the business are in part used to rehabilitate this land which was consumed with weeds. We have embarked on a process of removing over 2000m2 of lantana and have planted over 150 native trees and shrubs which have been connected to drip irrigation. This is an on-going process.

Reducing Our Eco-Footprint

We’re actively working to reduce our environmental footprint—the total amount of resources we consume and also contribute positively to the environment: This includes:

• Saving Resources: We’re committed to using less water, paper, and energy in our daily operations. We have identified our resource consumption targets and monitor our progress.
   
• Minimizing Waste: We identify waste streams and examine options for effective waste management. We prioritise reducing, reusing, and recycling resources especially in our design processes to minimise waste. We also assess our purchasing requirements to buy recycled materials, reduce waste, and use less harmful chemicals on things we create.
   
• Cutting Emissions: We strive to minimise pollution and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from our daily activities, including vehicle and air travel.  We ensure proper disposal of waste and hazardous materials like batteries.

Continuous Improvement & Innovation

Environmental sustainability is a journey of continuous improvement. We review our policies annually, measuring our progress against set targets to ensure we’re always getting better. We also encourage our suppliers to meet high environmental standards. We’re always seeking new opportunities to be more efficient. We also assess our eco-footprint to identify environmental impacts and move towards more sustainable practices. We consult with our workers and other parties to improve decision-making on environmental matters and we train and supervise our workers to ensure that our written procedures for minimising environmental impacts are followed.