Case Study

Green Star communities

4 min
22 September 2017

The Green Star – Communities rating tool, administered by the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) is a voluntary certification for developers of masterplanned communities that recognises the achievement of best practice sustainability outcomes. We seek Green Star – Communities ratings for our residential projects so that the project’s sustainability outcomes are independently verified and benchmarked by the GBCA. The tool relies on scientific and holistic analysis, which has been peer-reviewed and ratified by more than 1,000 industry and sustainable development experts.

Over the past year, we advanced our first 6 Star Green Star – Communities rated community at Aura (Qld, rating achieved in FY15) by achieving additional Green Star – Communities credits for the development.

The highly coveted 6 Star Green Star – Communities rating signifies world leadership in the design of the masterplan, which sets the highest possible sustainability standards for the community both during construction and after it is completed.

These additional sixteen points lift Aura’s score to 91.3 points, and makes it the highest-scoring Green Star – Communities rated development in Queensland (second-highest nationally). Our community at Aura was recognised for its:

  • Heat island effect reduction through provision of open space and cool roofs, both of which reduce heat stress and also contribute to energy savings in cooling homes,
  • Cool Roof policy, which establishes guidelines for the roofs of homes to reduce the heat island effect,
  • Veloways that provide leading cycling infrastructure, separating cyclists from motorists and improving cycling connections,
  • Dark Sky Alliance-compliant LED street lights, which improve night sky amenity and reduce impact on nocturnal fauna, and
  • Aura’s community stewardship program, which empowers the community to engage and contribute to the successful operation and longevity of the environment and society.

Aura has set a strong precedent that has been followed by the Residential business, which achieved six more Green Star – Communities ratings in FY17:

  • Newport – 5 Star (Australian Excellence)
  • Altrove – 5 Star (Australian Excellence)
  • Willowdale – 6 Star (World Leadership)
  • The Grove – 5 Star (Australian Excellence)
  • Cloverton – 6 Star (World Leadership, and
  • Calleya – 6 Star (World Leadership).