In this webinar you will hear from project teams across Australia and New Zealand as they share case studies and key learnings when undergoing an infrastructure sustainability rating.
This session features –
Takitimu North Link Project
Project team from Aotearoa New Zealand will discuss:
– What makes collaboration challenging with Tauranga hapū
– Pre-tender work done with Te Paerangi
– Construction based initiatives
– Success stories so far
– Ongoing legacy
Cairns Southern Access Corridor Stage 3: Edmonton to Gordonvale Project
The Bruce Highway, Cairns Southern Access Corridor, (Stage 3) Edmonton to Gordonvale Project (E2G) is a road and rail project just south of Cairns in far-north Queensland. The project has integrated social sustainability during construction, leaving a lasting impact. E2G has focused on integrating with the local community, preserving cultural heritage, supporting local businesses, upskilling the workforce, and promoting education. Through these initiatives, E2G has created a sustainable legacy, demonstrating social excellence and positive community impacts. This presentation will detail the outcomes achieved on the project, discuss challenges along the way and provide guidance on how to approach social sustainability on future project.
Here at the IS Council, we’re already dreaming up our new year’s resolutions for 2024. We feel it is high time to shine a light on the heroes along the supply chain who put their hearts and minds into supporting people, planet and the economy with their innovative products and sustainability services.
With great pleasure and excitement (drumroll, please…!) we are proud to launch our newest webinar series: “SUPPLIERS IN THE SPOTLIGHT”, a bi-monthly supplier showcase hosted by the IS Council, with each edition featuring six unique suppliers.
In this inaugural webinar, you will hear from Tara Osborne from BINGO INDUSTRIES, Jamie Robertson from 361 Degrees Strategic Engagement & Communications, Yuchen XU from ZIger Energy, George Reinke from REYNARD WOOD, Ryan Hackney from Geofabrics Australasia and Morgan Ledger from Cerclos.
“Our decade of action for people, the planet and the economy…”
Reflections on “ISC Connect”, your Infrastructure Sustainability Council’s yearly conference, held onNaarm country (Melbourne), from 5-7 September,2023.
If the strength of our relationships and the ways our actions have impact are the litmus tests of success; and if history tells us we make greater impact, faster, when we collaborate… by those terms, we can confidently call the thousand -strong cohort of intentional individuals who participated in Connect 2023, “truly successful people”.
Together, in a jam-packed 72-hours, you gave the world a push, and helped propel this planet a little further along its trajectory into our more sustainable future. For that, we at the ISC offer our hearty thanks.
By working together with passion and purpose to advance sustainability in our sector, you gave everyone who took part the chance to make Connect 23 a true success, worthy of celebrating in style.
This year’s Certification Dinner awarded twenty IS Certifications to project teams from far and wide, each one representing tremendous achievements and demonstrating significant positive socio-cultural impacts and sustainable outcomes.
We took a closer look and further celebrated these achievements, impacts and outcomes as we concluded the conference and took a collective exhalation for our Gala Dinner and Awards event, which was a night with fantastic food and beverage, great company, camaraderie, and even a little comedy, courtesy of the night’s celebrity MC, Peter Helliar, who shared how inspired he was by his experience.
For many, the bestowing of an ancient traditional welcoming ceremony and blessing given by Mandy and the Djirri Djirridancers was as much a highlight as the awards themselves, which celebrate exemplary achievements in infrastructure sustainability over a range of criteria and project phases. The awards evening celebrates the outstanding work of the award recipients, and gratefully recognises the efforts of our members and collaborators who drive so many transformational, community- and nature- positive projects which will leave a long lasting legacy of decades to come.
If you weren’t able to join us in Naarm in September, it’s our expectation that our thousand sustainable success stories from all corners of Australia and New Zealand went home, warrior-like, poised to share enthusiastically with intention and purpose in their workplaces and communities.
And if you’ve got a case of FOMO from all you’ve read and seen, and you’re keen for your moment in the spotlight… there’s always next year. Those carbon targets aren’t going anywhere!
Now, to remind you of what you were part of, and as cues for those “What was great about Connect?” conversations we suggested before, here’s just a quick flyover of the Connect 23 program with a sprinkling of highlights from a reserve of hundreds.
We kicked off Connect bright and early with our Leadership Breakfast with a deep-dive into renewable energy generation and transmission then launched into (everyone-loves!-) ISAP Day featuring presentations on topics like…
cultural advocacy in infrastructure
IS Essentials case studies from Australia and NZ
inspiring kids to become sustainability warriors
how infrastructure projects are transforming lives in remote communities, and
how goats might be the next big thing in your sustainability toolkit… to name a few.
There were panel Q&As with ISC assessors giving ISAPs the invaluable opportunity to ask the experts… anything, really. And all this before 3pm, when we set off on one of three fantastic field trips to:
We launched Conference Days 1 and 2 with engaging keynotes from the Hon Cathering King MP, Duncan Elliott and Josh Bull MP who shared inisghts into the current infrastructure pipelines. Heard from, Marcia Langton and Michael Bissell who shared their insights on indigenous engagement and inclusivity, and from David Knoff, Australian Antarctic station leader and author, whose “537 Days of Winter”, when he was stranded, as the pandemic raged around the world, was a remarkable tale of resilience, inspiration and motivation. The myriad of opportunities to learn and connect on these two core days of presentations, breakout sessions and working groups.
There were many more noteworthy sessions than we’ve touched on here, with sustainability-related topics running the gamut from AI to Zincalume and everything between, including circularity, decarbonization, nature positivity, Net Zero… and beyond. And the best part… you can find full recordings of all sessions from Connect 23, to inspire and celebrate our continued collaboration, here.
Watch our latest IS Update, recorded on October 5, 2023 and hear the latest news and updates from the ISC Team.
In the session our teams cover:
* IS v2.1 Planning tool – Patrick Hastings will provide an overview of the planning tool and its Importance
* Ratings Team – Get an update on recent Ratings and Registrations, Certifications and Assessor Principles
* Technical Update – Ty Momberg will provide details on 5 work plan focus areas in the ISC Technical work plan, IS Planning rating review, IS Digital Materials calculator, Data analytics work plan, technical working groups and Continuous improvements & tool maintenance.
* IS Essentials and Water Advisory Group – Monique Isenheim will provide an update on the IS Essentials Pilot projects and IS Water Advisory Group
* Learning and Capability – Cloda O will review what is new in Learning including Women in Sustainable Construction Leadership Mentoring, Sustainability Skills, Workplace culture and IS Planning training.
* Membership and events – Andrea Makris will provide an update on new members, membership, ways to get involved with the ISCouncil, release dates for upcoming Western Australia, New Zealand and Australia Conferences.
Watch our latest recording of the IS Information Session our IS rating tool – IS Rating Scheme, how it works and how it can be applied to measure sustainability and quadruple bottom line performance of Infrastructure Projects and Assets. During the session, We explore how the IS Ratings Work, the benefits, the pilot phase and how to join. The session will focus on the IS Essentials tool development process (based on IS v2.1 D&AB).
Speakers for our webinar include:
Monique Isenheim, Head of Market Development – Infrastructure Sustainability Council
Asim Nizam, Regional Lead, NSW – Infrastructure Sustainability Council
Tyrel Momberg, Principal Technical Advisor – Infrastructure Sustainability Council
For ISAP’s interested in watching the Base Case Webinar, click here to access the recording
“Leadership means empowering and enabling those around you through your actions, behaviors and attitudes so they can thrive and create meaningful outcomes.”
Emma Dade – Jacobs
Leadership in Infrastructure Sustainability
Emma is passionate about the role of infrastructure in delivering positive ESG outcomes and has been supporting several industry working groups in the development of the IS Rating Tool for almost a decade.
Since being appointed to her current technical leadership role two years ago, she has been working closely with clients and project teams across Australia and New Zealand, providing strategic guidance and direction on sustainability matters and working with them to define their ESG and decarbonization vision, develop roadmaps and plans capable of delivering on their aspirations, and operationalize those plans across their business and projects. She has led the development and integration of sustainability strategies and management plans for projects ranging from small cycleways to large rail upgrades with an incredibly collaborative approach that focuses on upskilling and empowering those around her to take initiative and ownership of achieving sustainability outcomes.
Within the Jacobs business Emma provides technical leadership in the areas of ESG, infrastructure sustainability and decarbonization to our project teams across the region and is a key support for operations management and sales leadership, providing them with insights into trends, practices and technologies re/shaping the industry to help Jacobs’ position and grow its technical capability.
Leadership Lessons
Emma has been a registered Infrastructure Sustainability Accredited Professional for over 8 years. Over that time, her career has evolved quickly due to a clear passion and motivation for helping clients deliver more sustainable outcomes on their projects and a strong personal drive to supporting the career development of other emerging professionals in the sustainability sector.
When asked about leadership lessons learned, Emma will tell you that embedding sustainability into organisations and projects to address the climate crisis is a complex and multifaceted process that requires a combination of technical knowledge, business nous and the ability to influence and lead change. She credits her career achievements to date to an unwavering focus on fostering strong connections with colleagues and professionals at all levels and across businesses and industry, a highly collaborative and consultative approach, and knowing when to make effective and bold decisions.
She also reflects that sustainability is no longer the domain of technical professionals alone – board members and c-suite executives are now expected to understand and take direct action on sustainability and climate risks and opportunities that impact their organisation. This makes being able to communicate clearly and confidently, particularly at an executive level, very important for leaders in this space.
Core Values
Emma has a deep-seated personal belief that the sustainability discipline can drive the mindset and economic shift required to address the climate crisis and redefine how we perceive and measure value within our society, and for her the opportunity to contribute to solving these complex problems and have tangible impact in the world around her is immensely exciting and rewarding.
In her professional life, Emma values the opportunity to collaborate and work with colleagues across a variety disciplines, skillsets and backgrounds, and to build trusted and meaning relationships with clients, teams, stakeholders and industry peers.
She also believes strongly in leveraging her skills and experience to give back to society and volunteering is a prominent part of her life outside of work. She has undertaken a number of roles for Engineers without Borders both within Australia and throughout Southeast Asia with their programs.
stEPD up: IS Materials Calculator – ‘+A1/+A2 EPD Update’ – related to new EPD Standard
The Infrastructure Sustainability Materials Calculator (IS Materials Calculator) provides a level playing field assessment tool for materials lifecycle impacts across different infrastructure projects and assets.
As stated in the ISC December 2022 article IS-Materials-Calculator-Update.pdf , the EPD standard (EN15804) underwent a major amendment (EN15804+A2) in October 2019 (from EN15804+A1), which resulted in an expanded set of environmental indicators to be reported in EPDs. See Table 1 below for an overview of the different environmental indicators.
The current IS Materials Calculator only includes results from EPDs published to the earlier standard (EN15804+A1).
We note that many of our members have existing EPDs published to EN15804+A1, which are well within their 5-year validity period (with the final ones to expire in February 2027).
The ISC needs to continue supporting these existing EPDs, and any change in the current methodology or process must take this into consideration.
Table 1: Environmental impact indicators in EN 15804 + A1 and EN 15804 + A2
EN 15804 + A1 Indicators
EN 15804 + A2 Indicators
Additional indicators
The ISC, our Sustainable Materials Technical Working Group and Tool Developers have been working hard to develop a solution to update the IS Materials Calculator to enable it to include both types of EPDs (i.e. EN15804+A1 & EN15804+A2) within a combined calculation methodology and produce a single consolidated result output, for the purposes of an IS Rating.
IS Materials Calculator – ‘+A1/+A2 EPD Update’: Proposed Solution
The proposed solution is to create a single comprehensive tool that covers both EN15804+A1 and EN15804+A2 life cycle inventory results, across both Australia and New Zealand. This plan of work will merge all four of the below tool requirements into a single tool (IS Materials Calculator – ‘+A1/+A2 EPD Update’) with a simple and user-friendly user interface:
Australian dataset for +A1 reporting
Australian dataset for +A2 reporting
New Zealand dataset for +A1 reporting
New Zealand dataset for +A2 reporting
The newly updated ISC Materials Calculator will merge all the requirements into the one tool and provide users the ability to continue to report their +A1 results, as well as meet their emerging +A2 reporting requirements.
Tool Developers – Michel Consulting & Enterprises; start2see
Program – proposed to be finalised in December 2023
Note: Digitilisation of the current IS Materials Calculator is occurring in parallel (scheduled for completion in early 2024). The intent is to firstly develop the Materials Calculator – ‘+A1/+A2 EPD update’ in excel, and then make the relevant changes in the digital tool, once it has been tested by the industry.
IS Materials Calculator – ‘+A1/+A2 EPD Update’: Tool Development Sponsors
The infrastructure sector will benefit greatly from this important update, made possible through collaboration and partnership. The ISC would like to thank the below members for stepping up and sponsoring the IS Materials Calculator – ‘+A1/+A2 EPD Update’
As this is a considerable update, material manufacturers are advised as follows:
For ‘EPDs produced in line with EPD Australasia Standards’
To be added to the IS Materials Calculator, the product needs a valid EPD that includes the EN15804+A1 set of results (i.e. EPDs published to EN15804+A2 will need to also contain the EN15804+A1 results). As outlined in the IS Material Calculator Guideline & recommended by EPD Australasia Technical Guidance (December 2020)
Note: There is no change to other requirements, i.e. the EPD Programme Operator needs to be categorised as an Established Programme Operator by ECO Platform. EPD Australasia is an Established Programme Operator through its affiliation with the International EPD System.
For ‘EPDs produced internationally by recognised third parties’
To be added to the IS Materials Calculator, the product needs a valid EPD that either includes the EN15804+A1 and/or the EN15804+A2 set of results. If the EPD only contains the EN15804+A2 results, the EPD owner needs to provide the EN15804+A1 results in Excel format to the ISC (to be sense checked by the ISC/ISC consultant) and written confirmation that the EN15804+A1 and +A2 results were generated together for the same product.
For ‘EPDs produced by GCCA software’ (i.e. only capable of producing +A2 results)
Not able to be included in the current IS Materials Calculator
Through Lens of Leadership
