LID Consulting were engaged to provide ESD advice to 82 Westgarth St, a 24 apartment development proposal in Fitzroy, Victoria. The developers aim was to produce the first net zero carbon emissions project in the City of Yarra, and also produce a building that is future proofed for impending zero carbon building and transport expectations.
The LID Consulting team provided a comprehensive ESD report that demonstrated a path to net zero carbon emissions in the operation of the building by: ensuring no gas onsite; pushing for a more energy efficient building fabric and efficient appliances; substantial solar power; and offsetting electricity consumption either via a power purchase agreement or an embedded network where residents choose a renewable energy retailer that offsets the electricity for them.
Space heating and cooling via reverse cycle air-conditioning, heat pump hot water units and electric induction cooking meant fossil fuel gas was not plumbed to the site. A more energy efficient building fabric meant lower heating and cooling costs, brought about by reducing glazing on the top two floors by 40%, the inclusion of double glazing throughout, and increases in insulation.
An efficient regenerative drive lift and a prominent open staircase accessing all floors, efficient lighting, heating, cooling, dishwashers and 12kW of PV solar electricity panels are also proposed.
Additional healthy living practices committed to included: daylight modelling to maximise daylight levels, locks enabling lower level sliding windows to be locked open safely at night for overnight ventilation; minimal off-gassing from low VOC paints, adhesives and engineered wood products.
In addition the development facilitates net zero emissions for transport – ie addressing another sector that is responsible for a large proportion of our community’s carbon emissions. To commit to net zero emissions transport the development includes the backbone infrastructure to ensure every car space can easily be fitted out with an electric vehicle (EV) charging station. There is no need for owners corporation members agreement, EV owners will be able to purchase their own charging station, and cable from the installed EV distribution board, along the provided EV cable trays to their parking bay. In addition good bicycle parking facilities are provided.
A significant part of the Waste Management Plan (WMP) we provided included provisions for organic food recycling in preparation for food collection programs in the Council area. Designing space for future bins storage is a way of future proofing for waste management practices. Our WMP provided additional comprehensive recommendations on all aspects on residential waste management.
Our comprehensive research draws on years of experience developing ESD solutions for apartments. In this particular case our team was also able to draw on energy retailing experience. Our final report not only demonstrates best practice energy performance, water efficiency, indoor environment quality, stormwater management, sustainable transport, waste management and urban ecology – but it exceeds mandatory Environmentally Sustainable Design (ESD) requirements for this type of residential development.
Project team
- Walter&Walter – Architects
- Sinclair Brook – Development & Project Manager
- Jarrah Property – Developer
- LID Consulting – Sustainability consultants
