Sustainability Circular Economy: Strategy, Carbon Limits and Decarbonising Concrete

This webinar invites three speakers to address decarbonisation Sustainability strategy and its future.
Decarbonising Transport Infrastructure – A Focus on Upfront Carbon
Presenter: Rhys Owen-Roberts
As we look to decarbonise our transport infrastructure sector, increasing focus is being given to upfront carbon – the emissions resulting before an asset is operational. Materials and energy are key components to this. This short presentation will look at some of the actions being taken to address the upfront carbon footprint of transport projects, with a particular focus on materials.
Laing O’Rourke Australia’s Concrete Carbon Limits
Presenter: Erin Miller
Laing O’Rourke is the first construction company in Australia to set and publish Concrete Carbon Limits for all concrete products we buy, both directly and via subcontractors. Firstly, they have set a ‘maximum tolerance’ of carbon emissions for all concrete they procure. Secondly, they have created a ‘low carbon concrete threshold’ for projects to set targets against. For Laing O’Rourke, Scope 3 represents approximately 95% of our total emissions, and using low carbon concrete is one of their business’ biggest levers to drive decarbonisation. Setting these limits as a whole-of-business standard sets consistent and transparent standards for their stakeholders to readily understand what low carbon concrete means.
Upfront discussion about Embodied Carbon of Concrete
Presenter: Niki Jackson
As the concrete industry makes it journey towards Net Zero, the understanding and specification of lower carbon concrete will play a significant role. This presentation will outline the main considerations included in the recent MECLA guide to low carbon concrete along with a discussion of importance of adequate specification of concrete and its impacts on supply of the lower carbon concrete. This includes topics such as: performance parameters of concrete that should (and should not) be specified, the use and designation of materials (SCMs) used in the concrete, key barriers associated with supply of the lower carbon concrete and how to avoid “greenwashing”.
CPD
This webinar provides 1 hour of CPD. Engineers Australia members may claim this hour of CPD if applicable to their area of engineering practice. This webinar is also recognised CPD for members of other professional bodies with annual CPD obligations. Participants should retain their purchase confirmation as evidence for their CPD records.