Partnering with universities to drive innovation in Research & Development

JLL’s established partnership with the Department of Defence sees a steady pipeline of construction projects, as well as a shared focus on implementing sustainable and innovative solutions within them.

And what better way to trial leading-edge Research & Development than teaming up with those at the heart of innovation – universities.

JLL has undertaken two significant collaborations with Western Sydney University and Deakin University, testing solutions that sought to make concrete-use more sustainable to help alleviate the large carbon footprint attributed to the industry.

The project involving Western Sydney University trialled an innovative process using CO2 to help strengthen recycled concrete aggregate The Deakin University project focused on using soil material that had been decontaminated with respect to PFAS, and giving this heat-treated soil a second life as concrete aggregate. The successful trial took place on a project at the Simpson Barracks, showcasing the strength that could be achieved in concrete when incorporating the previously contaminated materials into a circular process.

Per- and Poly-Fluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) can be found worldwide, including in the soil on some Defence estates, and have gained notoriety for their harmful side-effects and difficulty in being broken down. Renex Op Co Pty Ltd harnesses a method of using thermal destruction to decontaminate soil affected by PFAS, heating it to over 600 degrees. This technology was proven in trials overseen by the Environment Protection Agency. Once treated, the soil can then be re-used as concrete aggregate and avoid ending up in landfill, which is where Deakin University’s Institute for Frontier Materials stepped in, aiming to determine whether the material could be used as a higher value resource in a circular economy.

By engaging in a partnership with Deakin University’s subject matter experts, JLL were able to assist in delivering the first real-life field trial at the Simpson Barracks in Victoria with the support of two Defence departments; Directorate of Environmental Resource Management and Sustainability (DERMS) and Directorate of Estate Works Program Office (DEWPO).

The project selected was a parking lot entrance and four parking bays, one of many construction projects underway within the Estate Works Program (EWP). This provided the perfect opportunity for the team at Deakin University to take their laboratory tests into a real-world situation, trialling the use of recycled aggregate for concrete application.

Both a trial concrete pad and a reference concrete pad for control measures were poured on-site.

With our extensive experience managing construction projects, particularly in the Defence environment, we were able to guide the academics through the required safety and compliance measures on-site. As can happen with leading-edge trials, challenges arose when the product behaved differently when being poured on-site compared to the previous laboratory studies, which we were able to navigate as a team to achieve success.

Geoff Camp, Defence Lead at JLL, appreciates the role we can play in shepherding innovation in the industry. “These partnerships are about collaborating with universities on Research & Development they are already working on, bringing our coalface experience in projects to drive forward innovation that benefits and advances our industry.”

Both concrete pads, trial and reference, were subjected to measurements at day 7, 28, 56, 105 and 180. The surfaces of the concretes were also inspected for cracking and crazing, as well as testing for the possible presence of any residual PFAS or scheduled heavy metals.

The 28-day tests showed that the trial concrete had identical compressive strength to the reference concrete, at 46.5 MPa. Test results after this timeframe showcased increased compressive strengths of 40.6 MPa compared to the 36.6 MPa of the reference concrete.

The success of the trial has sparked interest and is a great first step to investing more money into the research of this product, with this trial shortening the gap to achieving a circular economy lifecycle for PFAS contaminated materials.

The benefits from these partnerships with universities are two-fold. For JLL, it opens a pipeline of emerging technologies, products, and services that can be incorporated into future projects. For the universities, it’s a chance to trial their inventions on a large scale through clients open to innovation.

Professor Will Gates from Deakin University echoed this, noting that, “too often our materials never see the light of day, so to be able to take this project to a scaled-up trial was – while challenging work – a great learning exercise for the entire team.”

JLL’s relationship with the wider university landscape has strengthened to the point where institutions now propose ideas to be considered for trial on future projects, ensuring our clients have limitless access to opportunities for innovation.