Lendlease Australia saves over 40,600 tonnes of carbon since launching Mission Zero

Lendlease reported a reduction of 35% in Scope 1 emissions as it works towards its goal of eliminating fossil fuels used on its construction sites, and 49% in Scope 2 emissions, with 59% of the electricity provided for all Lendlease Australia’s operations from renewable sources.

These figures were published in Lendlease’s Mission Zero Progress Report, highlighting progress and challenges towards achieving the milestones set out in Lendlease Australia’s Roadmap to absolute zero. 

Lendlease is two years into its Mission Zero journey of being a 1.5°C aligned company with bold targets of reaching net zero by 2025, by eliminating Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions (from the fuel the company burns, and the power consumed), and absolute zero emissions for scopes 1, 2 and 3 by 2040, with no offsets. 

The Mission Zero progress report also highlighted: 

• Lendlease’s Construction and Development businesses, Barangaroo assets and Australian Prime Property Fund Commercial (APPFC) managed fund assets are 100% renewably powered.
• In what is believed to be an industry first, renewable diesel was introduced at the Powerhouse Paramatta project in Sydney, currently under construction, to power tower cranes onsite, reducing greenhouse gas emissions from crane operations by as much as 75 to 95%¹ over the life cycle of the fuel compared to fossil fuel diesel.
• At commercial building Victoria Cross Tower, located in North Sydney and under construction, a fully electric operating model has been adopted so it can be powered 100 per cent by renewables, eliminating reliance on fossil fuels and reducing associated emissions.
• Low embodied carbon materials were used during construction of residential development One Sydney Harbour and commercial building 555 Collins Street in Melbourne, to reduce the upfront scope 3 emissions in these buildings: 
  o    One Sydney Harbour pioneered the use of low embodied carbon aluminium for the building's façade, reducing the carbon intensity of the aluminium by 34% and creating an overall 5% reduction in carbon intensity across the entire project; 
  o    while 555 Collins Street used a low carbon cement for the structure on the commercial tower, reducing the structure’s overall embodied carbon by an estimated 30%.
• In 2023, Lendlease became a founding member of the Global Cooksafe Coalition, committing to phasing out gas from the kitchens of its new developments by 2030 and delivering all-electric retrofits of assets under management by 2040.

The report acknowledged that Scope 3 emissions (which come from the energy tenants consume and the footprint of materials used) are the most challenging to measure and reduce. Lendlease Australia is collaborating with tenants to encourage the take up of renewable electricity, and with suppliers to progressively source and procure low embodied carbon materials and has noted strong signs of industry change in this area.

Lendlease is also playing a key role as founding member of the Materials and Embodied Carbon Leaders Alliance (MECLA), collaborating across the building and construction industry to drive reductions in embodied carbon.

For insights visit the Mission Zero Progress Report website.

Quotes attributable to Ann Austin, Head of Sustainability Lendlease Australia

“Our Australian team is two years into its journey to reach net zero carbon by 2025 and absolute zero by 2040 and we’re now seeing our commitments turn into action as we make real change to urgently eliminate carbon emissions across our business and supply chain.

“By sharing our progress report on working towards our ambitious targets, we’re keeping ourselves accountable to make our goal a reality and hopefully helping others also on the decarbonisation journey.  Transformation of our industry to support a 1.5°C future is complex - sharing information is critical to helping the industry learn together and move forward at pace.

“The steps taken to date are just the beginning and a testament to the dedication, hard work and innovative approaches of our people, clients, consultants, supply chain, industry partners.”

ENDS
For more information: 
Tessie Vanderwert, General Manager External Affairs
+61 428 483 828
tessie.vanderwert@lendlease.com

¹Neste, Reduced Emissions (Accessed 15th November 2022)