ACCIONA's Decarbonisation Fund has put more than $1.76 million into 23 initiatives across Australia and New Zealand since 2022, all aimed at cutting construction emissions. The fund grew out of ACCIONA's internal carbon pricing mechanism and supports employee-led ideas that can be tested on real projects and later scaled across the industry. One notable result is a calcined clay concrete mix now used in a Victorian transport project, which has saved roughly 400 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions to date. The fund also backed trials of recycled crumbed rubber road barriers, each made from 56 end-of-use tyres, and 3D printed concrete huts on a Sydney project that cut construction time and cost by 40 to 50 percent. The calcined clay example shows the key challenge: moving from site-recovered clay to a consistent supply required setting up a whole new supply chain around a Victorian mine. ACCIONA is now working on regulatory changes to allow calcined clay in structural concrete, which would significantly expand the emissions impact.
