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casestudy
Environmental sustainability
Exceeding our sustainability
benchmarks at Bunya
At Bunya, we are committed to modelling
sustainability initiatives that will exceed
current Landcom practice and the stretch
sustainability targets we have set for the
Corporation as a whole. There are some
notable highlights, including our plans to:
Our environmental impact is assessed by monitoring and measuring the way we manage
our water and energy use, our greenhouse gas emissions, our waste, native vegetation and
riparian corridors, and our design influence.
Urban water cycle management
••
deliver a reduction in energy use to
achieve a BASIX score of 65% for
dwellings at Bunya (our current target is
50% and the regulated compliance target
is 40%)
••
introduce a wide range of measures that
reduce water consumption on this project
so that dwellings achieve a 50% BASIX
score, exceeding our current target of
45% and the compliance target of 40%
••
double our current target of sourcing up
to 5% of all electricity used onsite from
renewable sources.
Our measures will ultimately save residents
around $600 per year in electricity bills and
$300 in water bills, based on current costs.
When complete, Bunya will deliver annual
greenhouse gas savings of almost 5,500
tonnes (the equivalent of almost 2,000 return
flights from Sydney to Los Angeles) and an
annual reduction in overall water use of 114
megalitres (enough to fill over 45 olympic
sized swimming pools)*.
These ambitious targets are testing the
ingenuity of our project team and builder
partners, who are working closely with us to
ensure that we deliver these results without
significantly increasing overall project costs.
The thinking behind our indicators
Quality
There are many ways we could monitor the impact of our
developments on the urban water system, but one of the more
accurate proxies for the overall health of the water system is to
measure the mean annual load of nitrogen, phosphorous and
suspended solids.
Our targets are:
••
45% reduction in nitrogen – with a stretch target of 65%
••
65% reduction in phosphorus – with a stretch target of 85%
••
85% reduction in suspended solids – with a stretch target of
90%.
Management
Good planning is vital to reducing water pollution. We report
on the percentage of projects that have water sensitive urban
design (WSUD) strategies in place at the planning and design
phase. This ensures that conserving water and improving its
quality are firmly embedded in our development processes.
Our aim is to go beyond the minimum BASIX requirements.
For homes we build in partnership with builders and
developers, we split targets into four categories, based
on whether the homes are apartments or single/attached
dwellings, and whether they are serviced by a recycled water
scheme.
Our targets are:
••
45% reduction for single and attached dwellings not
serviced by reticulated recycled water – with a stretch target
of 60%
••
45% for all apartments not serviced by reticulated recycled
water – with a stretch target of 55%
••
60% for single and attached dwellings serviced by
reticulated recycled water – with a stretch target of 70%
••
55% for all apartments serviced by reticulated recycled
water – with a stretch target of 65%.
Protection
We’re acutely aware of the need to minimise any adverse
impacts on natural waterways caused by surface runoff from our
developments.
We assess our impact by modelling pre and post-development
stormwater discharges and, through our Stream Erosion Index,
the impact of our developments on receiving waterways. Our
flow management target, which includes the Stream Erosion
Index, is applied to greenfield sites and wherever there is a
natural stream downstream of a development.
The target aims to bring the volume and duration of
stormwater flows from a developed catchment to less than two
times that of a natural catchment of the same size and location.
Our stretch target is to match the volume and duration of
stormwater flows from a developed catchment to those of a
natural catchment.
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*Compared to average 2005 consumption
landcom annual report 2011
BUNYA
Conservation
The amount of water we are able to conserve is influenced by
factors such as climate change, drought and the location of
new infrastructure. But where we can make our influence felt is
in minimising the consumption of potable water and capturing
and recycling as much water as possible. To a degree,
government legislation ensures that this happens. Any new or
renovated home has to comply with the state government’s
Building Sustainability Index (BASIX). BASIX’s aim is to limit
potable water consumption and greenhouse gas emissions
by imposing targets for water and energy reduction. Once
the targets are met, a certificate is given to the owner and
construction on the house or unit can begin.