It's easy being green in a house purpose-built for sustainability

Sun Herald
Sunday 13/7/2008 Page: 68

IT WASN'T long ago that grey water collection systems, rainwater tanks and car sharing would have been associated only with alternative groups. Thanks to a growing interest in sustainability, and tighter State Government development rules, many green initiatives are going mainstream in new communities along the NSW coast.

In the Port Macquarie region, the Camden Haven Eco Village has development approval for a 65-lot subdivision that will have its own sustainable road, water, sewage, energy and waste recycling. Developer Ian Bailey, an architect known for his environmentally friendly designs, brought in sustainability expert Michael Mobbs to plan the eco initiatives. Mr Mobbs said the project was about to proceed to the marketing and development stages.

Key features include light-coloured roofs and pale roads with tree coverage to reduce summer temperatures by up to eight degrees, an orchard to supply up to 25 per cent of the residents' fruit, and annual electricity and water bills of less than $200 a household, thanks to water reuse and energy generation. A Port Macquarie-Hastings Council spokesman said the council had amended its policy to allow for off-sets in development contributions for ecologically sustainable developments.

While the concept of eco villages has been around for 30 years, big developers such as Mirvac and Stockland are giving it a modern twist. They are creating estates that have sustainable elements but without the obligation of communal participation. They recognise people may want to live sustainably but not want to take part in the community.

At the 20-hectare development of Murrays Beach, 30 minutes' drive south of Newcastle, all water used on the site is captured and recycled. Street plants, filtration systems, ground water return and at- source treatment help to capture the water, while all homes have rainwater tanks and bio-filtration basins to filter storm water run-off.

Developer Stockland has won several accolades for the greenness of Murrays Beach, including the 2006 Housing Industry Association's GreenSmart Design Concept Award and the 2006 Urban Development Institute of Australia's NSW Award for Excellence in Sustainability. Eco initiatives include design guidelines for residents building their own homes that focus on energy-efficient design, solar orientation and cross-ventilation. One in five buyers are young families and one-quarter are empty nesters.

Land prices start at $230,000, home and land packages from $550,000, and houses from $595,000 Magenta Shores on the Central Coast is a Mirvac development and has an environmental plan that includes restoring local sand dunes and rehabilitating adjacent forest. All wastewater is collected and filtered, and all storm water is retained onsite. The development isn't perfect - many buildings still have energy-guzzling downlights and split-cycle air-conditioners.

However, it won the Housing Industry Association's GreenSmart Estate of the Year in 2007. At Jervis Bay, the Bayswood development is two kilometres inland from CollinGWood Beach. Half of the development will be retained as parks and protected environmental space and a cycleway will be built to the beach. At Balgowlah, the Village is a planned medium-density development, which won the HIA GreenSmart Development Design Concept of the Year. The Village will feature a heat exchange system that will use waste heat from the air conditioning unit for hot water needs in the town houses and units. Award judges were impressed that 90 per cent of materials from the previous demolition have been reused or recycled.