Carbon-neutral plasterboards for Barangaroo and beyond

Carbon-neutral plasterboards are now available for projects in NSW and Queensland, thanks to a joint venture between partners on the Barangaroo South project.

Barangaroo South developer Lendlease was committed to implementing a range of sustainability initiatives, including a 20% reduction in embodied carbon (EC) — the sum of all the greenhouse gas emissions created during the manufacture, transport and installation of building materials for the project. Working on the Alexander and Andara residential buildings, comprising 159 apartments and ground-level retail space amounting to 18,225 m² of combined floor space, the company partnered with manufacturer Knauf Australia, which has been reducing the environmental impact of its plasterboards through measures such as the recycling of waste heat in the plastermill, heat exchangers installed on dryers, reduction of water usage, optimised mixing processes, a move to natural light and LEDs, and ongoing staff training.

“Plasterboard wall linings make up a significant proportion of the building materials for this project,” said Kathryn Walker, sustainability manager, Knauf Australia. “Lendlease approached us to see if we could work with them to provide a means of meeting their sustainability requirements.”

In order to meet the stringent standards required for carbon-neutral certification under the government’s National Carbon Offset Standards (NCOS) scheme, the entire manufacturing process was documented, bringing the companies within close reach of the overall target. Where the environmental reduction measures weren’t able to completely eliminate carbon emissions, Knauf used qualified providers of carbon offsets that not only met the NCOS standard requirements, but that also met its own social responsibility criteria of providing social and environmental benefits to communities — in this case in Kenya through the LifeStraw Project.

“With a long-term commitment to producing our boards in an ethical and environmentally considerate manufacturing process, we were excited to be invited to be part of this challenge on such an auspicious project,” said Walker.

“Barangaroo is a vibrant new waterfront financial district, with a mix of world-class office space, premium residential buildings, as well as vibrant shopping, dining, hotel, hospitality and public places. Barangaroo is aiming to be Australia’s first large-scale carbon-neutral community.

“We’re proud to have been able to meet those standards at the same time as being able to extend the offer of these products as carbon-neutral options for future developments.”

Knauf Australia’s MastaShield, WaterShield and FireShield plasterboards are now available from the company’s Matraville plant for major projects along the Eastern seaboard from Sydney to Brisbane, supplied with carbon-neutral certification.

“The leadership shown by Lendlease in this area provides opportunities for manufacturers like us to develop commercially viable sustainability solutions,” concluded Walker. “We hope that other developers will take their lead towards more sustainable construction.”