On Friday 6 December, Barangaroo was announced as the first urban precinct in Australia to be awarded carbon neutral status. The carbon neutral certification, awarded by the Commonwealth Government, builds on other environmentally sustainable measures that Infrastructure NSW and Lendlease are implementing within the precinct, and reinforces Barangaroo’s status as a world-class example of sustainable and climate positive design.

As Australia’s first large-scale carbon neutral community, Barangaroo has been set up to operate with zero net carbon emissions. The process to achieve this target has spanned 10 years and can be articulated around the three steps “avoid, reduce, mitigate”:

1. Avoid – by designing energy efficient buildings and reducing carbon content in the top 20 materials on site.
2. Reduce – by providing onsite renewable energy and sustainable water management to reduce carbon emissions.
3. Mitigate – by purchasing offsets for the remaining carbon greenhouse gas emissions.

Other on-the-ground measures are also contributing to advance Barangaroo’s sustainable journey, including water harvesting and recycling, centralised cooling through the use of water from Sydney Harbour, and the path to zero waste.

The achievement of carbon neutrality for the precinct represents the delivery of a major commitment for Barangaroo - the result of a partnership between Infrastructure NSW, its development partner Lendlease, and the building tenants.