Stockland prioritises Green Star residential development
Stockland has prioritised the development of Australian and world’s best practice Green Star residential communities across the nation, and the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) has rewarded the company’s leading approach to sustainability and liveability.
The GBCA has accredited six Stockland communities in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth with either 5 or 6 Star Green Star – Communities ratings. The accreditation assesses and recognises design excellence, innovation, environmental responsibility, potential for future economic prosperity and liveability within each community.
The latest recognition of 5 or 6 Star Green Star – Community ratings at the six residential developments throughout Australia, combined with the GBCA awarding a 6 Star rating to Stockland’s new green city of Aura on the Sunshine Coast in early 2015, makes Stockland Australia’s leading developer of Green Star residential communities.
Mark Steinert, CEO and Managing Director at Stockland, said: “Home buyers are increasingly interested in understanding and making informed decisions about the sustainability of new residential developments. The Green Star – Communities rating system uses a comprehensive scorecard to provides customers with a simple, straightforward means of assessing the sustainability of new communities.”
“We’ve made a very conscious and concerted effort over many years to improve the sustainability of our supply chain, the location and design of our communities, and by providing tangible long term benefits for customers who choose to buy and build in a Stockland community,” explained Mr Steinert.
Customers can expect any community that carries a high Green Star rating to have a well-considered masterplan to optimise liveability, an abundance of public open spaces and exhibit careful consideration for the protection and preservation of native flora and fauna.
The GBCA Green Star rating also considers the health and wellbeing of residents by evaluating access to transport, nearby schools, employment precincts and medical facilities, and every day conveniences and lifestyle inclusions such as proximity to retail facilities, parks, playgrounds, walking paths and cycleways.
Romilly Madew, CEO of the Green Building Council of Australia, said: “Now that Australia has signed the Paris Accord on climate change, sustainability is the only way forward for residential development. The property industry has an important role to play as we look to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. The GBCA will be doing more to promote the Green Star – Communities rating system among new home buyers as a mark of quality and we commend Stockland on its leadership as an agent of change within the property industry.”
Stockland has achieved 6 Star Green Star – Communities ratings for its development of Willowdale at Denham Court in south west Sydney; Cloverton at Kalkallo in north Melbourne; and Calleya at Banjup in Perth’s south. It achieved 5 Star Green Star – Communities ratings for Altrove at Schofields in north west Sydney; The Grove at Tarneit in Melbourne’s west; and Newport in Brisbane’s north.
The Green Star portfolio rating for Stockland’s newest residential communities follows an earlier endorsement in March 2015, when the GBCA awarded a 6 Star Green Star – Communities rating to Stockland’s Aura residential community on the Sunshine Coast.
Stockland will create more than 20,000 new homes over the next three decades at Aura. Aura will become home to more than 50,000, which is similar in size to the respective populations of Maroochydore, Gladstone or Hervey Bay. This makes Aura the largest mixed use development ever undertaken under single ownership in Australia. It is also the first time an Australian city will be designed, developed and measured against the 6 Star rating, which signifies world leadership in environmental governance, economic and social sustainability.
The masterplan for Aura is differentiated by 700 hectares, or nearly one-third of the site, which will be rehabilitated and designated for conservation and environmental protection. Aura will also include its own Central Park, a major regional park of more than 120 hectares, extending from the Bruce Highway, along Bells Creek South and through to the Bells Creek Arterial, City Centre and Environmental Protection Zone.
Stockland will also build 10 separate sporting grounds, and create parks and playgrounds within easy walking distance of every home. Stockland will dedicate serviced land for the provision of more than 20 schools and education centres, while also providing land for 25 community facilities. The City Centre will cover 200 hectares and accommodate more than 5,000 dwellings. It will comprise 100,000 square metres of retail and 50,000 square metres of commercial floor space.
Aura will have more cycling pathways than Copenhagen, with its interconnected cycle and pedestrian path network linking residential areas to local employment precincts, schools, the city centre and local neighbourhood retail centres.
Artists' impression of Stockland's Cloverton community at Kalkallo in northern Melbourne