Episode 4: How to get to net-zero for the built environment NOW, with Bruce Precious

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“I think it’s justified that the built environment moves much more quickly. Rather than casting out long-term scenarios, for many sectors of the economy, the question should be, why not net-zero today? If not, why not?”, argues Bruce Precious in today’s episode, which discusses the question of how the built environment can achieve net-zero emissions.

The built environment is a significant contributor to the global carbon footprint. It accounts for approximately 40% of our emissions. And in Australia, 50% of electricity consumed is in buildings, such as homes, offices, warehouses, shopping centres, or hospitals. On top of that, there are emissions generated through raw materials that go to construct these buildings.

In this episode, Bruce and Barbara discuss how the built environment causes emissions, how to reduce them, NABERS and Green Star ratings for buildings, the use of carbon offsets to reach carbon neutrality and how the built environment can adapt to the physical impacts of climate change.

About Bruce Precious
Bruce is widely respected for his achievements in the built environment sector to transform how the property industry responds to the most significant sustainability challenges. Bruce has seen and championed the evolution of green building ratings right from their inception in the mid-1990s to where they are today.

In 2019, Bruce was awarded the NSW Green Globes Lifetime Achievement Award and, in 2020, was named a Green Star Champion by the Green Building Council of Australia.

With a career spanning over 30 years, he is now Principal Consultant at Six Capitals Consulting. Before this role, he was GPT’s National Manager - Sustainability and Property Services.

If you want to get in touch with Bruce, you can email him at [e-mail] or connect with him on LinkedIn - linkedin.com/in/preciousbruce

Meet the host
Barbara Albert is the Co-CEO of 100% Renewables. She is passionate about business and works to make organisations’ transition to net-zero emissions simpler and profitable. Barbara is the award-winning author of ‘Energy Unlimited – Four Steps to 100% Renewable Energy‘, one of the world’s most important books on renewable energy, as ranked by peers and experts in the industry.

About 100% Renewables
In 2015, we developed one of the first organisational plans to achieve 100% renewable energy. It was the first time we had an opportunity to look holistically at a whole business to see how 100% renewables could be achieved.

When we developed that plan, we saw that organisations could operate with renewable energy and reach net zero emissions while driving financial performance. Based on this revelation, we named our business ‘100% Renewables’ – a name which encapsulates our vision that in future, all organisations will be powered with renewables and have zero emissions.

Since then, we have helped over 100 organisations develop their net zero plan and have grown the business to a national team of net zero specialists. We are known for developing strategies that are pragmatic, based on sound business cases, and have organisational buy-in.
Driving Net Profit with Zero Emissions
100percentrenewables.com

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1. Episode 4: How to get to net-zero for the built environment NOW, with Bruce Precious (00:00:00)

2. Introducing Bruce Precious (00:01:18)

3. Introducing today’s topic (00:02:18)

4. How the built environment causes emissions and how to abate them (00:05:38)

5. Using carbon offsets to achieve net-zero now (00:21:14)

6. Constructing a net-zero pathway (00:23:34)

7. Reducing upstream emissions (00:30:17)

8. Tackling embodied emissions (00:33:16)

9. Managing downstream emissions (00:39:05)

10. NABERS ratings (00:43:22)

11. Dealing with physical climate risk in the built environment (00:46:37)