How we decarbonise our cities: Key Actions for transformational change
James Wewer, General Manager, Sustainability – Development & Construction, Lendlease
Housing more than half the world’s population and emitting over 70 percent of global carbon emissions (IPCC, 2022) , our cities are one of the most critical frontiers in the fight against climate change.
At Lendlease, we’re designing, building and operating the places we live and work, to cut emissions and help shape more resilient, low-carbon cities.
1. Electrify new and existing buildings
To decarbonise our cities, we need to electrify. This applies not only to new developments but also to existing building stock. Around 80 percent of the buildings that will be standing in 2050 are already built, so retrofitting them for all-electric operation is essential.
In practice, this means phasing out gas and other fossil fuels, replacing them with electric systems – from heating and cooling to cooking – and ensuring those systems are powered by renewable electricity.
Our VicX Tower in North Sydney, for example, represents the future of commercial buildings. We’ve adopted a fully electric operating model so the base building can be powered 100 per cent by renewables, eliminating reliance on fossil fuels and reducing associated emissions.
We’re also progressing the lifecycle upgrade planning for existing asset infrastructure, conducting technical feasibility and prioritising buildings across our portfolio for all electric retrofit in line with our Mission Zero trajectory.
2. Green the grid – and the city
All electric buildings can lower carbon emissions in operations if they are powered by renewable electricity. That’s why we need to accelerate grid decarbonisation and support it by integrating solar, battery storage and smarter demand management.
A recent example of implementing on site solar PV is the 200kW installation on One Melbourne Quarter. This contributes to the current 6 Star NABERS Energy Base Building rating, with 17% of the annual base building electrical usage being provided renewably by the solar panels.
Greening our cities is also important. Tree canopy and vegetation can help mitigate urban heat island affect, manage stormwater and support biodiversity. At Daramu House, Barangaroo, we delivered a biosolar roof in collaboration with partners Junglefy and the University of Technology Sydney. It combines over 700 sqm of solar panels and almost 10,000 plants – the plants surrounding the solar panels lower the surface temperature, which improves the energy generation of the solar panels.
Urban greening also provides spaces for people to enjoy their city. At Melbourne Quarter, more than 50% of its footprint is dedicated to open and green spaces, with Sky Park as the centerpiece. This elevated oasis is 75 metres long and 30 metres wide, Melbourne's first elevated park.
3. Fossil fuel-free construction
Lendlease is also focused on the way we build. As we transition towards fossil fuel free, we are using electric plant and equipment where available and, while more electric options come online, we are using renewable diesel as a transition fuel.
A number of Lendlease projects are implementing electric construction equipment including electric cranes, as well as small electric machinery such as telehandlers, mini excavators and forklifts. And to support the use of electric construction equipment, we have used Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) on sites where there have been grid constraints, to substitute diesel generators.
We have been an early adopter of imported renewable diesel across several of our projects, including the Melbourne Quarter West residential building. As at the end of March this year, using renewable diesel to power a concrete pump in place of mineral diesel has saved 30 tonnes of CO2e, which is equivalent to around 420 economy passenger flights between Sydney and Melbourne.
After significant advocacy efforts alongside others, we were pleased with the recent Federal Government announcement to accelerate the pace of Australia’s growing domestic Low Carbon Liquid Fuels industry. We now need incentives to support locally manufactured and cost-competitive renewable diesel that supplies all liquid fuel-reliant sectors.
The transition is not just about adopting new technologies – it’s about signaling to the market that demand exists through ambitious decarbonisation targets. By working closely with subcontractors and suppliers, we’re helping accelerate supply chain readiness and make fossil-free alternatives more viable at scale.
4. Materials and waste reuse
Circularity is a critical part of decarbonising the built environment. That means retaining value through adaptive reuse of buildings and materials, designing buildings for disassembly, and reducing waste during operation.
During the design process, considering what elements of existing structure and fabric can be reused, can cut waste and carbon. We worked with British Land and Arup on the refurbishment of One Triton Square in London. Despite the net area of the building doubling in size, by opting to reuse rather than demolish and rebuild, 40,000 tonnes of carbon was saved compared to a new build workplace.
At Barangaroo South, we’ve partnered with Goterra to tackle food waste, which is a major source of methane emissions when sent to landfill. Using a high-efficiency, low-emissions system, food waste is processed on-site using maggots, creating usable byproducts like fertiliser. From October 2020 until the end of December 2024, Barangaroo South’s onsite maggot farm has processed over 700 tonnes of food waste, resulting in 1,300 tonnes of Co2e being avoided.
5. Supply chain innovation for lower carbon materials
Reducing embodied carbon in common construction materials like steel, cement, glass and aluminum is one of the hardest challenges we face. Making a difference at scale will require the focus and investment of the whole value chain.
We continue our efforts to design out embodied carbon and are progressing development on our in-house Lendlease Embodied Carbon Advisor (LECA) tool to help our project teams set and deliver project-specific embodied carbon targets. LECA also suggests design interventions and a procurement roadmap for materials like concrete, steel and façades to achieve the ambition.
We continue to collaborate with upstream suppliers to pilot and or procure lower embodied carbon materials. On the Melbourne Metro project, we are trialing using recycled crushed glass as a sand replacement in structural concrete with research partners, subcontractors and Holcim.
At One Sydney Harbour, a three-tower development, in collaboration with our supply chain we took the learnings from Residences One and Two and were able to utilise aluminium manufactured by renewable hydropower on Watermans Residences, which significantly reduced the carbon intensity of the aluminium.
Decarbonising our cities is a big challenge – but it’s also a shared one. It’s going to take collaboration across industry, government and communities to shift the system at scale. At Lendlease, our bold sustainability targets have sent a strong market signal and we’re working with customers, partners and suppliers to meet them.
Learn more about Sustainability at Lendlease.