Lodha, RMI host Sustainability Conclave; present strategies for sector-level sustainability

To foster innovation and provide a platform for researchers, developers, designers, and stakeholders of supply chains to collectively deliberate on the net-zero road map for India’s built environment, real estate developer Lodha, along with independent non-profit organisation RMI, organised a two-day Sustainability Conclave. The RMI-Lodha Sustainability Conclave focused on the adoption of strategies to make cities heat resilient, increase adoption of superefficient air conditioning and fans in India, enhance usage of greener concrete mixes, including the recently launched LC3 cement, increase shared mobility and EV charging infrastructure, and promotion of renewable integration across all domains of the built environment. The conclave witnessed participation from industry stakeholders, policymakers, and representatives from academia.

Abhishek Lodha, MD & CEO at Macrotech Developers, said, “We believe that the developers of the built environment have to take a pro-active leadership role in the world’s response to climate change and embrace a low/ net-zero carbon future. We are committed to becoming a net-zero carbon company by 2035 and have made substantial progress to achieve this ahead of schedule. We are keen to share our experience and learnings through this transition with industry and supply chain and are pleased that our partnership with the renowned Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) has resulted in the Lodha Net Zero Urban Accelerator. This accelerator is a major step to drive collaborative, large-scale solutions for a greener future.”  

Last year, Lodha set up the Lodha Net Zero Urban Accelerator with the aim of cutting down emissions for the built environment, thereby accelerating and maximising the sector’s contribution to India’s 2070 net-zero emissions target. Focusing on the key findings of the accelerator, Aun Abdullah, Head – ESG, Lodha told Business Today, “Starting with embodied carbon, we tried out greener concrete mixes, and we have piloted it in one of the buildings with higher concentration of the GGPS. We are also trying to do a pilot with the newly launched limestone consigned clay cement. Other than greener concrete mixes,  we have also focused on reducing the aluminium related emissions within the formwork. So how can the formwork related wastage be reduced as well as how can circularity be established? How can you use this end of life aluminium and give it to melters to get back the components?”

Abdullah also stated that the company is committed to partner with the start-up accelerator Third Derivative, founded by RMI and New Energy Nexus, for piloting next-gen materials and solutions at Palava.

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