Reducing upfront carbon in built environment: report

The Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council (ASBEC) has released a new report, ‘Our Upfront Opportunity: Australia’s policy roadmap to reduce upfront carbon in the built environment’, which provides a comprehensive policy framework aiming to reinforce and amplify government and industry efforts to reduce upfront embodied carbon across buildings and infrastructure.

“To achieve our national net zero commitments, the Australian built environment needs to reduce its embodied carbon emissions by at least 60% by 2035,” said Jorge Chapa, Chair of ASBEC’s Embodied Carbon Working Group and Chief Impact Officer at the Green Building Council of Australia.

“Reducing embodied carbon requires a systemic approach across the built environment sector — from project decisions (eg, adapt/reuse), to design improvements, to how we build, to investing in the decarbonisation of our supply chains.”

Speaking at the launch of the report, ASBEC CEO Alison Scotland acknowledged the challenge ahead requires true collaboration in all areas of the built environment value chain.

“There are different levels of engagement and competency within industry, but working collaboratively with government will help scale up progress and take everyone on the journey to net zero.”

“We are focusing on upfront embodied carbon in this project because its impacts are significant, measurable and verifiable. More importantly, they are occurring on a large scale right now,” Scotland said.

“While reducing carbon emissions across every life stage of an asset remains important, we believe that tackling upfront emissions provides us with immediate, actionable steps towards decarbonisation.”

This report continues the work of government and industry, mapping out a policy ecosystem that can support the consistent upfront embodied carbon measurement methodology developed by NABERS.

The report outlines key recommendations for government and industry:

1. Update the Trajectory for Low Energy Buildings policy to include upfront embodied carbon measurement and reporting, and a staged approach to mandating minimum standards. Develop an aligned, nationally consistent policy approach for the infrastructure sector.
2. Increase and continue investment in aligned national framework and tools to baseline, measure, benchmark, disclose and reduce embodied carbon through a unified methodology and common database. These need to be consistent across commercial property, residential and infrastructure.
3. Support Australian manufacturers and provide market drivers to:
   – reduce the embodied carbon of their materials and products via support for technology transitions and low-emissions manufacturing practices;
   – understand and disclose the embodied carbon of their materials and products through trusted and verified processes such as Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs).
4. Prioritise a re-use, repurpose or ‘retrofit-first’ approach through brownfield development projects, infrastructure renewals, and major retrofits of existing structures. This includes reforming and aligning planning policies and development strategies.
5. Demonstrate leadership by updating government funding, tender and procurement requirements or processes to include embodied carbon minimum standards, and transition towards fossil-fuel-free transport and construction processes.
6. Build capability, awareness and skills by developing aligned training and education materials, and professional development, across the construction sector and its value chain, including practical guidance for reducing embodied carbon and achieving more with fewer resources.
7. Resource the inclusion of a minimum standard for upfront carbon for all new commercial buildings in NCC 2028 using NABERS methodology, with increases to minimum standards over time. Start collecting aligned data on residential buildings and consider a simplified calculator to assist residential design decisions.
8. Implement policies that secure a level playing field for Australian manufacturers of building and construction products, underpinned by consistent and comparable emissions data in line with international standards, and incentivise low carbon products made or re-made in Australia.

“This transformation is not an event, but a long-term process,” Chapa said. “With clear and consistent targets and policies that make reducing upfront embodied carbon a priority, the supply chain can invest in innovation to develop circular, low or zero carbon products and practices that will be in demand domestically and internationally.”

Tackling upfront carbon in the built environment is said to provide immediate emissions savings and huge opportunities for Australian industry, and ASBEC’s report includes policy levers that will help to reduce the upfront embodied carbon of Australia’s built environment in the next five to 10 years.

“While the strategies put in place might differ between commercial property, residential buildings and infrastructure, we share the same value chains and will all achieve benefits from a unified approach,” Scotland said.

Image credit: iStock.com/Sakorn Sukkasemsakorn