Driving decarbonisation and resilience at the Milan Innovation District (MIND)
Innovation, science and technology are at the heart of the Milan Innovation District, and this includes its approach to climate change
- 23 Mar 2021
- by
- Lendlease Author Better Places
The Milan Innovation District (MIND) is a 100-hectare mixed-use redevelopment, set to become a world leading science, knowledge and technology hub. Still in the early stages, the project is committed to tackling climate change, whilst also ensuring its assets are resilient to the potential impacts it will bring.
In keeping with Lendlease’s global target to be a 1.5°C aligned company, MIND aims to be a zero-carbon precinct powered only by renewable energy sources.
The project has already made progress to deliver this commitment with the selection of its energy partners, E.ON and Enel X. They will work with Lendlease to develop the site’s private smart grid as well as a new generation low temperature and high efficiency district heating and cooling network for MIND. Renewable electricity will come from a variety of sources to power the site, including onsite production from solar panels.
Alongside being committed to decarbonisation, Lendlease also recognises the need to ensure its pipeline is resilient to the physical risks that climate change could bring.
That’s why MIND underwent a climate-related risk assessment where the impact of two plausible future climate change scenarios were investigated using sophisticated climate modelling; RCP4.51, an intermediate-emissions scenario said to be compliant with the Paris Agreement, and RCP8.5, a scenario where temperatures are forecast to increase by approximately 4 degrees by 2100 (relative to pre-industrial temperatures). In the latter scenario, no global action is taken to address climate change – in other words, the world continues with ‘business as usual’.
Projections identified that temperature rise and urban flooding pose the biggest climate risks to the site. Identifying these risks early enables the project to embed climate resilient solutions, including nature-based infrastructure, in the design of its assets.
Lendlease is committed to undertaking climate-related risk assessments on all major Europe projects as part of its Europe Roadmap to Absolute Zero Carbon. To find out more visit the full report.
1 Representative Concentration Pathway trajectory, adopted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Lendlease Focus Area:
UN Sustainable Development Goal: