Multiplex Construction Canada Ltd. has a vision for its construction business — achieving zeroes across the various carbon emissions standards.

The Australian-based firm has operated in Canada since 2011, building and renovating a mix of residential, commercial, institutional and industrial buildings. Primarily serving the Toronto area, its finished work includes Grid Condos, Aon’s headquarters, the Bay Adelaide East Tower and Podium, and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Toronto.

Reaching net-zero on construction sites and office operations by 2030 and building a net-zero supply chain by 2050 are its aspirations, aligning these commitments to a climate target approved by the Science-Based Targets initiative.

Galvanizing Multiplex’s drive toward sustainable practices is knowing “that’s where the industry is heading,” Anya Barkan, a senior sustainability manager at the company, told Sustainable Biz Canada in an interview. “Just seeing how the industry is changing, climate change is not going away, it will continue to be something that we will have to deal with.”

In recognition of its progress, Multiplex took home the award for Excellence in Sustainability in the 2024 Groundbreaker Awards, besting two U.S.-based firms in the final judging.

Addressing its most controllable emissions

The smallest of Multiplex’s global operations divisions, which also includes Australia and the U.K., the Canadian branch adheres to a decarbonization roadmap it published in 2023.

To reduce pollution from construction sites, Multiplex procured greener equipment for pilot programs and rolled out a submetering strategy for its new projects. Biodiesel that produces 20 per cent less greenhouse gases than conventional diesel has been used in four projects this year, Barkan said.

By 2026, it looks to power half of its onsite equipment with renewable energy through electrification or clean fuels such as green hydrogen and biofuels, and test renewable energy generation and power storage. By 2030, the plan is to completely electrify or use only clean fuels, and have 25 per cent of a project’s site-connected load powered by a mix of, or only, onsite renewable energy and energy storage devices.

For its office operations, Multiplex has set out to pilot renewable energy and energy storage by 2026. The strategy for office operations, Barkan added, will be dependent on the location and environmental ambition of the office owner because Multiplex leases its space. If the owner has an insufficient environmental plan, Multiplex will likely will have to move to another building, she said.

Multiplex exceeds one of its goals

The work Multiplex has put into reducing its carbon emissions is moving at a brisk pace. Since 2020, the company has slashed its Scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas emissions by 74 per cent to 1,345 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e), according to its 2023 sustainability report.

Its goal of reducing absolute Scope 1 and 2 emissions from purchased electricity, natural gas, fuel and propane has been met. Multiplex sought a 65 per cent cut by 2035 from its 2020 baseline, and managed an 89 per cent reduction in 2023.

However, much of it is attributed to its Scope 2 emissions and the status of some of its construction projects., Scope 2 emissions plummeted 99 per cent to 42.26 tCO2e in 2023 due to completion of a large three-tower project in Vaughan, Barkan said, and natural gas emissions being supplied directly by clients and covered under Scope 3 since 2021.

To continue reducing its natural gas consumption, Multiplex plans to use low-carbon alternative fuels and electrify its heating equipment. 

Taking on its supply chain

Barkan emphasized Multiplex’s efforts to decarbonize not just its operations, but to chip away at the carbon contributed from its supply chain — widely viewed as the toughest to address.­

“We really need the entire supply chain with us on the journey.”

The fuel consumption of its subcontractors is being tracked on new projects, which fall under Multiplex’s Scope 3 emissions. Though there are no current requirements for its subcontractors to limit these emissions, Barkan said the effort will set a baseline for plans to incentivize use of low-carbon fuels.

Another example is the 2030 goal of reducing embodied carbon intensity by 30 per cent with respect to building materials. In 2023, embodied carbon assessments were done on all of Multiplex’s new projects and bids. The company is “starting those conversations early with our clients to understand where is their potential to use alternative materials that have lower carbon impact,” she said.

One example would be innovative, low-carbon concrete.

But using alternative, low-carbon materials can be tricky because these choices are often made by clients, not Multiplex.

“When it comes to sustainability, there’s very little that we can do ourselves,” she said. It can, however, educate its clients about the options and supply chain emissions. This also sends a message to building material manufacturers that low-carbon materials are in demand.

Its latest projects emphasizing sustainability are the Indoor Recreation Complex at RBJ Schlegel Park in Kitchener, which will be the city’s first net-zero carbon building, and the New Etobicoke Centre, which will be built in line with the Toronto Green Standards Version 3.