THE PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT REVIEW
Renders of Figurehead’s 11-storey carbon-neutral office building in Melbourne.
According to a report by engineering firm Hatch, replacing just 50 per cent of traditional concrete with green concrete could cut Australia’s carbon emissions by about 17 million tonnes annually—the equivalent of removing four million cars from the road. It also found that although versions of green concrete may be 5 to 20 per cent more expensive, the cost premium “almost vanishes” to 0.5 to 1.4 per cent when the total installed cost is considered. “We’ve definitely got the skills,” Russell adds. “It’s also just a matter of builders getting used to dealing with different products because they like to use what’s comfortable to them.” Clarity, flexibility But Grasso also notes: “There isn’t really anything that’s mandatory. The NCC [National Construction Code] doesn’t really apply any mandatory requirements when it comes to this sort of stuff. So that’s maybe the next step.” Meanwhile, Ashley points out that any policy changes to accelerate Australia’s path to becoming a net-zero nation need to recognise industry capacity. “It needs to be performance based,” he says. “If we can be really clear about the performance that we’re asking of buildings and precincts but leave flexibility in the hands of the really capable kind of development industry. “That’s ultimately the way to get what we want, but also do it for the least cost, because each project can adopt strategies that are best fit for that particular site.” SoGreen concrete is gaining ground globally, including in the construction of Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport.
which we wanted to make sure we got the best outcome for our other occupants. “But if you were doing it on a build-to-sell basis it would be unfeasible.” Gavin Ashley, the director of sustainability for Melbourne-based developer Hip V Hype, says the “big one” that will challenge the industry over the next 10 years will be embodied carbon. “[That is] how we can not only focus on the use phase but the construction emissions that got us there,” he says. “That’s the challenge ahead.” It is forecast Australia’s upfront carbon emissions will balloon from 16 per cent to 85 per cent of overall building emissions by 2050 if the industry fails to “make better choices” around the materials it builds with and its construction processes.Ashley says that over the next decade “a big move back to timber construction” would likely help achieve emissions targets. Concrete alternative But Grasso says the buzz in the building world is all about “green concrete”. An alternative to traditional concrete, it incorporates recycled or waste materials as substitutes for cement and aggregates, making it more sustainable and reducing its carbon footprint. Its use has been gaining traction around the world, including in the construction of the Louvre Abu Dhabi and Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport. In Australia, it has so far replaced traditional concrete in more than 60 projects. “There’s a huge push going forward with green concrete as well as making sure that we’re getting the right results through all of the process that’s required to get a concrete truck to site, and what we can do to better all that,” Grasso says.
August / September 2024 – 11
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