Kapitol Group is leading sustainable change in the construction industry, with an environmental vision driven by effective client collaboration and the innovative implementation of technology.
Kapitol Group’s vision showcases to construction companies how they can reduce their environmental impact through design and material choices together with sustainable construction practices.
Kapitol Group is the second largest privately-owned construction company in Victoria, with work on diverse projects across the commercial, education, industrial and residential sectors, and plans for national expansion.
It recently released its first environmental, society and governance (ESG) strategy, with the aim of driving significant change across the whole construction industry. Along with its focus on sustainable design, Kapitol is committed to diverting an average 92 per cent of waste from every project as well as 100 per cent renewable grid power for all operations.
Amanda Clements, Head of Health, Safety, Quality and ESG at Kapitol Group, explained to Green Review that there was an unfounded mentality across the construction industry that solely developers – not builders – were responsible for ensuring projects were designed and built sustainably.
She said: “We believe we have the opportunity to make a big difference for the whole industry by being leaders in sustainability – it’s something we’re really passionate about.”
Clements pointed out that Kapitol informed the design process of its projects during early contractor involvement (ECI); by influencing D&C projects through design decisions and through what is within its financial control as builder for ‘construct only’, such as waste recycling, green concrete, and replacing diesel equipment with electric.
She added: “Throughout the ECI process, we partner with specialist consultants to analyse upfront how to reduce embodied carbon by changing materials or designs, and we will work with our client to review Green Star requirements at the ECI stage too.
“Our ESG team works with our estimating and tendering teams to include green initiatives in our tenders, so they’re included in our price and not something we have to add after-the-fact.
“This helps to mitigate issues relating to green initiatives often being more expensive than traditional materials.” Clements said that even with non-ECI or ‘construct-only’ projects, the design was never 100 per cent complete and there were always changes and improvements to be made as the project came to life.
Construct-only projects typically involve a contractor entering into an arrangement for the construction of a project for which the design has already been undertaken by a third party. In these situations, Kapitol can influence sustainable design by providing business cases that utilise information and data the client may not already have, showing how sustainable design can be achieved.
Clements added: “Even if the options put forward are not accepted on the current project they are proposed on – because the design is already partially completed – then that information can support and influence decisions on future projects.”
Material selection is a key area where Kapitol is working to reduce embodied carbon, with cement reduced or low-carbon concrete implemented across its projects as a minimum standard.
There are many benefits for replacing energyintensive materials like cement, which releases additional greenhouse gases through the chemical processes that occur when making it, as well as depleting sand resources and eroding ecosystems.
While it may not always be feasible or practicable for some structural elements, Kapitol consistently utilises cement-reduced concrete for both slabs and pre-cast panels.
Tayla Fairthorne, ESG Manager at Kapitol, noted that the longer setting and curing times of cement-reduced concrete had greatly improved, but implementing it in pre-cast panels enabled it to be managed in a controlled environment offsite.
She said: “We choose to use cement-reduced/lowcarbon concrete because it’s the right thing to do, even though it’s more expensive and has a longer curing time.
“Specifically, we’ve pursued the use of low-carbon concrete in precast panels for both build-to-rent and data centre projects, and recently achieved a cement reduction of 32 per cent in precast panels on a CBD student accommodation project.”
Fairthorne explained that Kapitol undertook an embodied carbon assessment on its data centre portfolio, specifically calculating the upfront carbon associated with the superstructure and substructure of the data centre’s various stages.
She continued: “This assessment netted tangible outcomes and data that could be used to inform more sustainable design, as well as providing an industry benchmark based on other similar data centre projects, which allowed us to understand how its designed compared in carbon intensity.
“Understanding the upfront carbon early in the project lifecycle can inform design decisions regarding the minimisation of embodied carbon.” Kapitol’s use of the cement-reduced concrete blend on two of its data centre projects together resulted in an emissions reduction equivalent to taking 676 cars off the road for one year.
Other areas where Kapitol has exercised control to reduce its carbon footprint is in its construction practices during project development, with a primary method being the substitution of diesel-operated plant equipment for electric alternatives.
All of Kapitol’s new tenders have an option for an electric crane or electric battery set up, which has the potential to reduce emissions associated with traditional diesel generators by 80 per cent.
Kapitol trialled two AMPD Enertainer battery storage units from Blue Diamond on a large data centre construction site to power three electric tower cranes and onsite amenities, reducing diesel consumption on site by 7,600 litres a month.
Fairthorne said: “We hire most of our plant and equipment, so our ESG team works closely with our procurement team to identify and develop relationships with our suppliers to ensure that electric alternatives are always first priority on Kapital projects.
“We also work with our supplier to trial new electric plant and equipment, providing vital feedback on performance capabilities to ensure progression in this space.”
