Sydney Build Panel: How Builders Can Cut Carbon: Timber, Heat Pumps & Low-Carbon Concrete

About this episode

The episode discusses how builders can reduce carbon emissions through various methods including mass timber, heat pumps, and low-carbon concrete.

Recorded live at Sydney Build, Dean is joined by Sean Bull (Xlam), Zac Kerr (Stiebel Eltron) and Dylan Viviers (Holcim) to explore how construction can meaningfully reduce carbon emissions. The panel unpacks the difference between embodied carbon and operational carbon, and where builders, designers and suppliers can take practical action today. From mass timber and prefabrication to heat pumps, solar integration and low-carbon concrete, the discussion focuses on collaboration, education and systems thinking over single silver bullet style solutions. In this episode: What mass timber and CLT are and how they store carbon Prefabrication, speed of construction and housing supply Fire performance and structural considerations with CLT Heat pumps, electrification and reducing operational energy demand Using solar and thermal storage to flatten peak energy loads Why building fabric and insulation should come first How low-carbon concrete reduces embodied emissions Misconceptions around set time, cost and performance Environmental Product Declarations and carbon transparency Managing construction waste and closing material loops The role of policy, standards and education in industry…

People in this episode

Host: Dean Ipaviz

Guests: Sean Bull, Zac Kerr, Dylan Viviers

Topics covered

• carbon emissions
• construction
• mass timber
• prefabrication
• heat pumps
• low-carbon concrete

Keywords

• embodied carbon
• operational carbon
• solar integration
• collaboration
• education

Mentioned in this episode

Products: mass timber, CLT, heat pumps, low-carbon concrete

Places: Sydney, Australia

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