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CASE STUDY
Saving energy at Stockland Forster
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Stockland Forster, NSW
Our shopping centre at Forster,
on the mid-north coast of
New South Wales, is our first
naturally-ventilated shopping
centre. This means there is no
central air-conditioning system
to condition the internal mall.
Redeveloped in 2007, the centre
is designed to rely on prevailing
breezes to cool the centre –
high-level louvres draw the hot
air up and out of the centre and
cool the centre without the need
for any additional mechanical
cooling. Individual tenancies use
split-ducted or package-style
air conditioning units servicing
these spaces exclusively and
maintaining varied air conditioning
needs for tenants and customers.
In addition, the centre is designed
to maximise the use of natural
daylight, thereby reducing the
need for artificial lighting. The
open and airy nature of the centre
means that there is sufficient
daylight to light the centre on
a typical sunny day. On cloudy
days and during the evenings,
photosensors sense light
levels in the centre, triggering
and adjusting artificial lighting
accordingly. Other energysaving
measures include timers
to control air-conditioning in
amenities and lighting in car
parks and the centre at night.
Stockland Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability Report June 2010
As a result of these energy-saving
initiatives, Stockland Forster has
achieved Australia’s first 5 Star
NABERS Retail Energy rating
awarded by the New South Wales
Department of Environment,
Climate Change and Water.
Stockland Forster demonstrates
that redevelopments provide an
opportunity to increase energy
efficiency. By implementing
a variety of relatively simple
measures, such as refining
lighting schedules and using
natural ventilation and daylight,
energy usage can be dramatically
improved. This also leads to
significant financial savings
and reduces carbon emissions.
In FY11 we will continue to engage with
our suppliers and customers to deliver
significant energy efficiency improvements.
This engagement will be supported by
tools such as our Green Office Fitout Guide
and best practice examples similar to our
engagement with CSR Limited.
Adapt: Research and respond
to potential climate risks
We have undertaken a series of climate
change risk studies. These studies
have examined:
• Flooding risk, including sea level rise
and storm surge risk in coastal areas,
• Exposure of our residential
communities and retirement living
villages to bushfire risk,
• Exposure of our retail centres to extreme
weather events (e.g. cyclonic winds).
In Commercial Property we include
sustainability reviews in acquisitions to
examine exposure to climate change
through, for example, exposure to flooding
and extreme weather risks. In addition, we
have improved the capacity of our roofs
in our northern Queensland properties to
withstand high winds, given the occurrence
of cyclones in this region.
Climate change risk and adaptation have
been included in the Residential and
Retirement Living sustainability policies
and our acquisitions team are required to
consider flooding, bushfire and potential
sea level rise before property purchases
are made.
In our Residential business we completed
an initial review of risks from flooding, storm
surge and possible sea level rise on all
residential property assets and with more
detailed assessments undertaken on nine
potentially high risk projects/regions.
The assessments concluded that only a
small number of landholdings are at risk
of being impacted by an inundation event
prior to 2100. Advice indicates that this
inundation would be limited to only small
areas on the fringes of landholdings and
is unlikely to reach the proposed minimum
ground floor levels for these sites.
Bushfire assessments were also
undertaken for all Residential and
Retirement Living assets with a small
number of Retirement Living sites
identified to have a moderate level of risk
from bushfires. All Retirement Living sites
were checked for appropriate evacuation
plans and specific actions developed for
sites at moderate risk. Further work will
be done in the coming year to refine the
Residential property assessments.
The key recommendations from these
assessments will be developed into action
plans for relevant projects in FY11.
The outcomes of our research are now
informing development management
practices, including monitoring of
risks through regular project and
asset reviews as part of our Project
Performance Review process in our
Residential communities business, and
environmental risk reviews as part of our
acquisition processes as set out in our
business unit sustainability policies.
Innovate: Integrate innovative
solutions into operations and
developments
Over the past few years we have
demonstrated our commitment to
innovation through our ‘World Leadership’
Green Star 6 Star projects, such as
2 Victoria Avenue and our Sydney offices
known as Stockhome. We are presently
investigating wind and solar energy
generation and tri-generation systems
across our organisations, including both
new developments and existing buildings.