Materials & Embodied Carbon Leaders' Alliance Newsletter

Edition #1 - February 2025

And just like that, we are off onto another exciting year. We thought that the beginning of 2025 would give us  a slower pace  than the end of 2024, but the end of the summer break and Lunar New Year celebrations came and went by very quickly and now we are already in the middle of February. 

This year will certainly be an interesting one, especially with major political changes internationally and a federal election on the horizon, so we hope you are all securely buckled up for another exciting ride around the sun.

But even at a smaller level, things are happening and we want to give you a quick overview over what is coming up in the MECLAverse in the next few weeks. Find some information about upcoming events and working groups meetings in and around MECLA. And always feel free to reach out to us directly  if you have any questions.

And if you wanted to find out more about all the things the alliance is working on across all the working groups and how you can join, why not join one of our information and onboarding meetings? 

MECLA Community Event

4 March 2025 at 3:30pm to 5:00pm AEDT

Join us to our annual MECLA Community Event to hear what MECLA achieved in 2024 and where our work will be taking us in 2025. MECLA chair Hudson Worsley will present on planned deliveries and events for the year, and individual working group chairs will answer any open questions on their programmes.

In true MECLA-style, the event will be interactive and we are inviting you all to come prepared with questions and ideas about all the places MECLA can go in 2025.

AIRAH / MECLA Deep Dive on the role of Building Services and Facades in tackling Embodied Carbon

5 March 2025 at 3:00pm – 4:30pm AEDST

While there have been advancements in understanding embodied carbon in building materials in recent years, there still are significant knowledge gaps related to building services and facades. The complexity of building services and façade components along with their respective supply chains, the necessary coordination among stakeholders, and the lack of quality data all contribute to this issue and have much room for improvement.

Kindly hosted by the Waterfront Brisbane project by Dexus in their offices in Brisbane, along with Aurecon and their offices in Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, the MECLA Spotlight on Building Services and Facades will bring industry together to engage on the embodied carbon, building services and facades conversation.

Upcoming Working Group meetings

• Thursday, 13 February, 1-2pm: WG5b Cement & Concrete
• Thursday, 13 February, 1-2pm: WG6 Residential
• Thursday, 13 February, 2-3pm: WG2 Evaluation
• Monday, 17 February, 4-5pm: WG1 Demand / Subgroup Deviate
• Tuesday, 18 February, 12-1pm: WG1 Demand / Subgroup Property Investors
• Thursday, 20 February, 12-1pm: WG1 Demand / Subgroup Readiness Index
• Thursday, 20 February, 1-2.30pm: Project Control Group
• Monday, 24 February, 2-3pm: WG1 SG Local Councils
• Thursday, 27 February, 12-1.30pm: WG Demand
• Thursday, 27 February, 1-2.30pm: Project Leadership Group
• Thursday, 27 February, 3.30-4.30pm: WG5a Steel
• Friday, 28 February, 10-11am: WG5e Building Services
• Monday, 3 March, 11am-12pm: WG5d Constructions Assemblies & Other Materials
• Monday, 3 March, 1-2pm: WG5b Cement & Concrete / Subgroup Specification Guidance
• Thursday, 6 March, 11am-12pm: WG5f Engineered Timber
• Thursday, 6 March, 4-5pm: WG3/4 Case Studies

If you are part of any of these working groups but haven't got an invite in your calendar yet, or you are keen to participate in any of these working groups, please reach out to us directly.

Working Groups looking for new chairs

Working Group 5f on Engineered Timber and WG1's subgroup on Local Councils are looking for new people to work as chairs to develop and further the work programme of their respective working groups. This is a great opportunity to get involved in shaping the work that will be delivered by these working groups. 

Lower Carbon Materials Visual Guide 

The Victorian Infrastructure Development Authority (VIDA) recently released its  Lower Carbon Materials Visual Guide, explicitly referencing  the concrete classification scheme featured in MECLA's Guide to Low Carbon Concrete in Australia. The guide is part of Victoria’s Transport Infrastructure Decarbonisation Strategy. 

The VIDA guide is designed to be used to raise awareness of the opportunities to use lower carbon materials to reduce upfront carbon emissions associated with transport infrastructure projects, in alignment with the VIDA Transport Infrastructure Decarbonisation Strategy. The guide should be used together with advice from suppliers and in consultation with returned asset owners.

Sustainable Construction PEP - Info Session

Feedback open until 5.00pm on 2 April 2025

The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has collaborated with Infrastructure NSW (INSW) to develop a Protection of the Environment Policy (PEP) focussed is Sustainable Construction.

NSW EPA is currently seeking  on the establishment of a monitoring and reporting framework for carbon impacts and recycled materials use in public infrastructure projects.

Western Australia Connect

31 March - 1 April 2025 at Optus Stadium, Perth

Resilient Infrastructure for People and Planet + A Supplier Showcase
Presented by the Infrastructure Sustainability Council in association with Infrastructure Western Australia, the Office of Major Transport Infrastructure Delivery, Department of Transport, Main Roads Western Australia and the Public Transport Authority, are convening these events with the Infrastructure Sector to support knowledge building, networking, learning and discovery.

Day one's program will have a focus on rating developments, new tools and case studies. Day Two will bring product and service suppliers from the horizontal and vertical infrastructure sector together to hear feature presentations, panel discussions and pitch sessions that specifically focus on solutions that drive sustainable outcomes.

MECLA Resources Page

You can find all our MECLA Resources on our  MECLA Resources Page or by clicking on the style of resource you are looking for directly below.

If your organisation has a case study please consider sharing it with us. You can submit a case study on the MECLA Website. Each submitted case study will be screened by the MECLA Project Control Group (PCG) before being featured on this website.

You can find out more about MECLA by going to our website, by signing up to our newsletter or following us on LinkedIn to stay updated on future events and developments.

As always, email us with any questions and enquiries at info@mecla.org.au.

MECLA is funded through a mixture of industry and government commitments. We would like to thank all industry organisations, plus the NSW and SA Government that have already made a contribution to support MECLA going national.