All Mirvac retail centres now run on renewable energy

As of January 1st, all 16 of Mirvac’s retail shopping centres are being powered by 100 per cent renewable energy.

According to the property firm, almost 30,000 tonnes of CO2 will be eliminated by the end of this year – the equivalent of taking 12,000 cars off the road – which will reduce Mirvac’s carbon emissions by 39 per cent.

And retailers will benefit, according to the firm, with 11 of the 16 centres capable of on-selling extra electricity generated to partners within each precinct.

“Our shopping centres play a major role in their local communities and we believe it is our responsiblity to work hard to ensure we drive positive change in this area,” said Mirvac Group general manager of sustainability, Sarah Clarke.

“And further to that, we want to share this message with all our customers and partners: even small efforts – whether being mindful of electricity or water usage, recycling or reducing waste in the first place – can make significant progress in ensuring we all work towards having a positive environmental impact.”

Next on the agenda for Mirvac is to reduce its water usage, with the goal to become net positive water intensity by 2030. The property group has reduced its water intensity by 23 per cent since 2014, though certain technologies it has invested in, such as blackwater systems, didn’t delivering the water savings it hoped for.

And it has plans to reduce its overall waste output to landfills, focusing on avoiding waste in the first place, reducing contamination in its recycling streams and diverting clean materials to achieve lower waste and emissions.

The announcement comes days after research by Greenpeace Australia Pacific found, overall, retailers are leading the way in the adopting of renewable energies – outpacing and outperforming every other industry.

In total, corporate renewable commitments were equal to powering 1.3 million homes. It also found that renewable electricity targets of 28 of Australia’s largest companies will drive 2.8GW of new renewable projects in the coming years.

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