Glasgow is putting the global challenge of net zero emissions into sharp relief.
For Australia’s property industry this challenge has long been front of mind. Our members have a proud track record of making buildings more energy efficient and switching to renewables to drive down emissions. It’s been world-leading progress – Australia’s property industry has spent over a decade on top of the global real estate sustainability benchmark index.
There is much more to do on both the efficiency and renewable fronts, and more focus will also inevitably turn to the embodied carbon present in the materials that make up our buildings. Today 20% of built environment emissions come from embodied carbon. But by 2050 this is predicted to reach 85% and become the largest source of emissions in the building sector.
So it is pleasing to see that the National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS) is turning its focus to the challenge of embodied carbon within buildings. The NSW Government, which administers NABERS, has announced that it will fund the development of a new framework for measuring, benchmarking and certifying emissions from construction and building materials.
What gets measured, gets done. Buildings which have been rated with NABERS Energy over 14 rating periods demonstrate average energy savings of 37%, with greenhouse gas emissions intensity dropping by 53%.
Measurable action to reduce emissions from building materials will be critical to Australia meeting its net zero target. The Commonwealth Government’s newly released Long-Term Emissions Reduction Plan backs technologies to drive down emissions from steel and aluminium, and flags low emissions cement as an emerging technology to support.
The Property Council looks forward to contributing to the development of the embodied carbon measurement tool through its participation on the NABERS steering committee.
The Green Building Council of Australia has also been leading the way, with embodied carbon featuring more prominently in its revamped Green Star Buildings tool. This introduces a new requirement that 6 Star Green Star buildings must be climate positive and zero embodied carbon by 2030 – a requirement which will apply to other star ratings over time.
As the global economy transitions to a net zero emissions future, there will be many opportunities for our industry to push the envelope further and achieve world-leading outcomes.