The construction sector was found to be responsible for approximately 40 per cent of global energy-related carbon emissions, according to the World Green Building Council, making understanding, measuring, and reducing the release of carbon associated with construction materials a crucial challenge.
The construction industry is next under the microscope for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting, which has grown in importance according to KPMG.
With increasing carbon reduction and ESG targets in Australia, the construction sector needed to find a better way to track and understand the materials used in construction and its associated emissions, the firm said.
Greater use of technology was highlighted as part of the solution, however, research by the Office of the NSW Building Commissioner found that the digital maturity of the construction sector was currently relatively low.
Developed in collaboration with the Office of the NSW Building Commissioner the KPMG Origins Asset Impact was created to enable construction organisations to calculate their work’s carbon and upfront emission output.
“Environmental impact and carbon emissions have become one of the defining topics of our generation, and the building sector is a major contributor to this topic,” said KPMG Origins partner Laszlo Peter.
“Beyond aligning to KPMG’s ESG client agenda supporting industry and clients towards a decarbonised future, Asset Impact will help the construction sector and investors in the property market to get behind new initiative such as the NSW State Environmental Planning Policy (Sustainable Buildings) 2022, and help building constructors, owners and managers monitor and communicate the embodied emissions of buildings.”
The Asset Impact product would enable those financing and insuring built assets to fully understand emissions profiles and simultaneously support developers and asset owners with their ESG target reporting obligations, said KPMG.
CEO of Green Building Council of Australia Davina Rooney said, “Leveraging technology to expedite the alignment between industry, material providers and regulators, both locally and internationally, will be critical to achieving net zero targets.”
“Measuring embodied carbon at scale is a critical part of this challenge, and it is exciting to see tools like KPMG Origin’s Asset Impact product support the built environment in this transition.”
As part of the product’s development, School Infrastructure NSW ran a pilot which focused on calculating the embodied carbon and upfront emissions of a school building.
“I’m delighted to announce that School Infrastructure NSW has been the first organisation piloting the use of the Asset Impact product to help them to measure the environmental footprint of new schools and their portfolio as a whole,” said Mr Peter.
“We are proud to be innovating with them and focus on sustainability and modern methods of construction.”
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