This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
STOCKLAND is launching their Carbon Neutral Homes pilot program in their Highlands masterplanned community.
Highlands is located in Melbourne’s north and features “Sustainable Drive”, a street that offered free rooftop solar and battery storage systems to all homeowners. This initiative makes it not only the first solar powered streets in the country but one of the most sustainable.
“We place a high value on sustainability within our communities. The energy infrastructure we installed was with the intention to make the homes more liveable and affordable for residents, while vastly reducing the homes’ carbon emissions and energy costs,” said Amy Hogan, general manager of sustainability at Stockland.
These homes will be the first in Australia to be certified under the Climate Actives Buildings standard.
The Carbon Neutral Homes program will be supported by the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, with Stockland partnering with the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) and the Federal Government’s Climate Active program. This partnership will launch a research program to uncover how best to mitigate carbon emissions in homes.
“We’re looking forward to seeing the results of the program, and being able to provide our future customers with real data about how sustainability features can help them save on their energy bills,” said Hogan.
“It’s exciting to see Stockland bringing these together to certify net zero existing homes at Stockland Highlands and we see this project as a critical step towards net zero buildings within Australian residences The Highlands pilot will provide critical insights about how we can effectively drive wholescale transformation in the residential sector to create a market for future homes,” said Davina Rooney, CEO of GBCA.
Residents of Sustainable drive were offered the to partake in the Carbon Neutrals Homes Pilot program. The study will measure the impact of solar and battery on affordability and liveability over a 12-month period.
“The benefits of carbon neutral housing are widespread. It brings down energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions and also reduces stress on the electricity network. Understanding the energy demands of our homes is an important first step toward making them carbon neutral. This pilot program will provide critical information about energy consumption and what it takes to make residential property carbon neutral, which will help accelerate change across the sector.”
