Carbon Neutral 2025

This needs to be about much more than just our business being carbon neutral (which we already partially offset through Green Fleet.)

We’re working towards the goal of every Cooee project having a pathway to LCA carbon neutrality. Most of them already do!

What’s LCA?

Embodied energy = carbon used to supply and install a material
Operational energy = carbon footprint of use/operation over the lifetime
Lifecycle carbon assessment (LCA) = includes BOTH of the above, PLUS assumed repair, and demolition/resource recovery at end of life

How would we calculate this?
We use the Cerclos Rapid LCA eTool. This is a really quick and cost-effective way to get a pretty good estimate of a home’s footprint.

There’s so much greenwash, what do we really mean by Carbon Neutral?

At the moment, our goal is to achieve a carbon-neutral LCA, assuming the installation of a 6kW grid-connected PV system. Currently, in Australia, having a grid-connected PV system provides a pretty hefty offset to the calculation, which we agree is troublesome. So, while we’re super proud of this carbon-neutral estimate, we’d like to get better at focusing on a smaller upfront footprint without relying on this PV offset so much. We also plan to study the Victorian Design Matters offsetting calculations, which look beyond the current grid balance to calculate what we believe is more realistic offsetting.

What else?

  • We’ve started publishing the reports for each of our projects. See this example.

  • Rapid LCA is no longer an optional service; we’re doing them in-house, as standard, for all projects that reach construction.

  • In 2024 Sarah was a volunteer panel member for the judging of the Design Matters True Zero Carbon Competition

And then?

In 2025 our goal is to better understand embodied carbon, and where the best opportunities for change are on balance with energy-efficiency and budget. We are currently learning about the Epic Database through the Sustainable Builder’s Alliance.

We also aim to study national targets on reducing upfront carbon and set ourselves a 10 year timeframe in line with these requirements

We welcome any suggestions or comments you may like to offer!

2024 - achieved

  • Rapid LCA calculations shared publicly on projects moving forward

  • All homes reach a standard of being LCA ‘carbon neutral’ where a 6kW grid-connected solar PV system is installed. Where this system can’t, or isn’t, installed, we offer the clients the calculations so they can offset another way

  • Sarah is a volunteer judge for the Zero Carbon Challenge

  • Begin specifying Holcim zero-carbon concrete where available (and push for availability where it isn’t)

  • (Continuing other standard Cooee measures related to energy-efficiency)

  • Travel and office use offset through Green Fleet

2023 - achieved

  • Familiarise ourselves with the Cerclos Rapid LCA tool and assess our goal of carbon neutrality with 6kW solar systems across most projects in 2023

  • Purchase Green Fleet offsets for Sarah’s car use

  • All air travel for the Dulux Study Tour Prize was offset