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In Australia, a voluntary alliance of tier 1 contractors, government agencies, specialist subcontractors, engineering firms, cost consultants, architects, and material manufacturers representing the whole construction supply chain are working together to find ways to drive carbon out of the construction process.

Initiated in 2022, it has 160 members, and its growing.

They think of themselves as a do tank, not a think tank, because Meclas 11 working groups ask what each bit of the sector can start doing this afternoon, tomorrow, and the next day to build momentum for change.

They know construction is a complex market system with carbon entrenched, and that they wont be able to build a low-carbon market unless everyone works together on it.

It has to be done now, they say. Theres no time for incremental change.

When that new market is functioning with as least carbon as possible, Mecla disappears.

In March, CIOBs head of environmental sustainability, Amanda Williams, interviewed Meclas chair, Hudson Worsley. What follows are some highlights of that conversation. More will follow on the 21CC podcast in June.

AW: So youve got this big goal of cutting embodied carbon in the built environment but, in your mind, what does the roadmap look like to getting there?

HW: Okay, weve got these 160 organisations. Were building critical mass at the tier 1 level of the Australian market, and with government agencies like Transport for New South Wales and Infrastructure Victoria.

The next step is tier 2 contractors and suppliers because outside the bubble of the leadership group, many industry participants still dont have embodied carbon on their radar. So, getting them conversant with the concepts and opportunities, understanding that government procurement is going to require this and that it will filter down to private procurement, thats key.

The next one is advocacy on government to keep the pressure up. We want headline projects like the Brisbane 2032 Summer Olympics to be carbon-zero, or low embodied carbon where we can. We want government to understand that their procurement role is an absolutely vital lever for this change.

We want to maintain pressure on suppliers. Its really hard, particularly steel and cement. We need to keep that pressure up. No resting on your laurels that youve done a good job so far, or youve made a breakthrough. Until were at zero, weve got to keep pushing.

We also want to influence designers and architects, so its not just about material substitution, its about better design. Its quite common in Australia to double the size of the girder, or the pillar, or the pile, because of risk aversion. Until climate came along, that was the safe thing to do, but now that carbon is a measure of success, we have to look at design as a big opportunity.

Finally, its supporting the ecosystem. So when theres a legal issue over how to specify a carbon clause, we get the relevant people onto it. When theres a change to the curriculum for architects at university level, lets see what we can do to help that.

Were penning the roadmap as we drive along, its not predefined. Opportunities come as we move; thats what rapid change looks like, and how it has to be.

AW: How close are we to low-emissions concrete, for example, and how important is cracking those individual material types?

Weve been using cement since the Romans, and its the most ubiquitous material, so we cant exactly go cold turkey.

Thereve been big strides. Some of the global cement makers can offer an off-the-shelf, 60%-reduced embodied carbon product. And thats fantastic: 60% is a big saving.

But even though its a saving, its still additional emissions because were building new things that werent there before, so there is a way to go.

There are alternatives, like geopolymer cement using substitute cementitious materials. The use case for those where are they best suited, where are they not thats still being hammered out. One of the barriers to entry can be very prescriptive specifications, rather than a performance-based specification.

But essentially, were still super-heating lime to develop clinker as the core component of cement and concrete. That last 40% is still hard, particularly where really high-performance concrete is required.

But we still need to encourage take-up of the lower-emissions alternatives already there. Weve heard that tier 2 contractors just flatly say theyre not taking the risk. If the foundations and floor of the warehouse fail, end of company. At the same time, tier 1 contractors say theyve been doing it for a couple of years and its absolutely fine. We want to bring those players together to talk and find a way through.

So its not just Thou shalt cut emissions, its hey, this is where it was done, this is how it worked, this is what was overcome.

We call ourselves a do tank rather than a think tank, and thats the doing: bringing those whove done it together to show those who are yet to do it that this is the way forward, so lets get on with it.

Originally posted here:

Re-engineering the way the construction business works - Global Construction Review