Three carbon neutral Siniat plasterboard products were used at the Barangaroo South Residential Waterfront development to meet Lendlease’s sustainability goals for the project.

With sustainable construction and living being a big focus for new development, especially for Government projects, and all eyes being focused on the Barangaroo development in Sydney, the developer for the project, Lendlease was fully committed to a range of sustainability initiatives.

The project

One of their targets was a 20% reduction in Embodied Carbon (EC), covering the sum of all greenhouse gas emissions created during the manufacture, transport and installation of building materials for the project.

Embodied Carbon (EC) is the sum of all greenhouse gas emissions that are created over the lifecycle of a product from cradle to grave, which encompasses product development, product use and product deconstruction and disposal.

Barangaroo incorporates a number of different buildings, each of which has varying opportunities to reduce EC during the construction process and beyond. The first buildings under construction were the Alexander and Anadara residential buildings, designed by PTW and FJMT respectively, located on the western fringe of Barangaroo South, overlooking Sydney Harbour. The buildings consist of 159 apartments, with a ground level retail space, which amounts to a combined floor space of 18,225 square metres.

With Siniat’s existing commitment to reducing the environmental impact of their manufacturing and installation processes, and with internal plasterboard wall linings making up a significant proportion of the building materials, this presented a substantial opportunity to investigate ways to reduce EC.

Lendlease approached Siniat to explore ways that they could work together to reduce the carbon footprint associated with the supply and installation of plasterboard for the project, knowing that it would make an important contribution to their target of reducing the EC levels.

Identifying with the challenge, Siniat, who began reducing their carbon footprint in 2009 as part of their dedication to their sustainability and environmental management system, embarked on a program to accurately quantify the emissions associated with the manufacture, installation and deconstruction of their plasterboard, and obtain a carbon neutral certification under the Government’s National Carbon Offset Standard (NCOS) (now called Climate Active.) Achieving carbon neutrality occurs when the net greenhouse emissions of the product or organisation are equal to zero.

The products

With the full support of Lendlease, and a head start from their commitment to sustainability, Siniat achieved carbon neutrality for the three plasterboard products, MastaShield, WaterShield and FireShield that were used at Barangaroo.

The first step of the process was to accurately document and measure Siniat’s existing environmental and energy efficiency measures in the manufacturing process.

These measures incorporated activities such as the recycling of waste heat in the plastermill, heat exchangers installed on dryers, a decrease in water usage, optimised mixing processes, a move to natural light and LEDs in the factory, waste reduction and ongoing staff training for operational efficiency and behaviour.

Energy efficiency is a key sustainability indicator for Siniat, and quantifying and recording this was a key factor in achieving carbon neutrality. Consumption is managed daily, and tracked and reported monthly by major fuel source.

Etex Australia is the manufacturer of Siniat products in Australia. All Etex Australia’s manufacturing and distribution facilities have been formally approved for re-certification to the most current versions of the ISO management system standards for Health & Safety, Quality and Environmental Management.

The final stage of the process was to offset the EC that could not be reduced in the manufacturing process, also taking into account carbon emissions that might occur during deconstruction and disposal of the products.

Siniat uses qualified providers of offsets that will meet the Climate Active standard requirements, but which also meet their own criteria of providing a strong social responsibility aspect, in this case bringing social and environmental benefits to communities in Kenya through the Lifestraw Project, and replace carbon intensive energy use with renewable energy.

The result

As MastaShield, WaterShield and FireShield are available under the opt-in carbon neutral program, the support of Lendlease for the project was vital.

“Having the partnership of Lendlease, and their commitment to significantly lowering carbon emissions meant that we were able to commit resources to creating a carbon neutral program for these products that could then be rolled out for future projects and allow Siniat to be able to offer a carbon neutral option to meet sustainable design requirements,” said Kathryn Walker, national sustainability manager, Etex Australia.

Since the completion of the Barangaroo project in 2015, the carbon neutral program has been extended to all Siniat plasterboard and metal products manufactured by Etex Australia.

Architecture & Design Team

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Siniat

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