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It appears infrastructure is a topic on the lips of most Australians these days. Doesn’t matter if you are Joe and Joanne Public, regional or urban, or a captain of industry, in the aftermath of COVID-19, it was clear Australia needed to consider its resilience and role in the global economy and infrastructure is one of the pathways to that state.

Currently, there is a pipeline of $120 billion of infrastructure projects to be delivered in the next decade and, at a philosophical level, many of them are about how to ensure Australia’s sustainable, resilient future. Whether you personally think they go far enough or not, it is clear the construction and development industry has taken a leadership role on sustainability and as a supply to the major players, Ausco is locked in step.

Defining Sustainability

It is worthwhile to consider the meaning of sustainability which the United Nations defines it as ‘meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’. It is future proofing. It is being super-efficient with what we have now so as not to deny the future of an opportunity of growth. Sustainability is about doing more with less and it drives innovation at Ausco.

MMC and Sustainability

Which leads us to Modern Methods of Construction, a new way of construction which is naturally suited to the concept of sustainability as is the Ausco hire business model. Ausco’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) is deep, intrinsic and guided by the principle to providing modular building solutions without doing so at the expense of our environment, society, team or the communities in which we work. Our ESG aims link into our values as a company to actions for responsible development through a circular economy which extends down to our suppliers and through to our customers.

Ausco’s Sustainability

Rather than just words on a page, let us tell you what we are doing.

1. Ausco works to remove Modern Slavery from its supply chain.
2. We work with our suppliers, many of whom are small and Indigenous companies, to increase their sustainability awareness and activities.
3. We will decrease our waste per unit by 30% each year.
4. We will reduce our water consumption by 3% each year.
5. We will reduce our emissions by 2.5% every year.
6. We are ISO14000 certified.
7. We are members of Planet Mark and signatories to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
8. We audit our energy consumption and adhere to climate-related financial disclosures.
9. Where we can, we buy local to reduce transport costs and support Australian companies.
10. Ausco has programs to encourage diversity in all levels of the business.

There is a great deal more and we recommend reading more about our ESG initiatives.

And however exciting and magnificent we may think our products and systems are, Ausco operates in an ecosystem of infrastructure development which is overseen by the Infrastructure Sustainability Council (ISC) and the Responsible Construction Leadership Group (RCLG).

Whilst ISC is focused on rating projects and providing tools to account and encourage sustainable practices in Australian and New Zealand infrastructure, RCLG is focused on imbuing sustainable practices in construction techniques. It within the RCLG where Ausco played a role in developing the standard which has translated into Ausco’s ECO Upgrade options.

Now, RCLG-compliant Ausco ECO Upgrade Buildings are written into ISC v2.1 Ratings as a certified way to reduce energy emission from site operations during major infrastructure development.

Ausco’s ECO Upgrades

The ECO Upgrade centres around improving the user experience and environmental impact of Ausco’s modular buildings by

• Low VOC paint, adhesives, sealants and carpet
• Insulation
• LED lighting with motion sensors
• Blinds or tints
• Weather seals
• Water-saving taps and more

It is just element of Ausco’s ESG activities yet it the one which customers, small and large, can easily select for their site’s sustainability. And for those seeking IS ratings for their infrastructure projects, Ausco is a supplier who understands sustainability and can add real value.

For 60 years we have been supporting Australia’s development with modular buildings and our sincerest hope is we will continue to do so for many generations to come with increasing sustainability.