Climate Resilient Places

Our emissions reduction target seeks to minimise stationary and transport emissions through the adoption of energy efficient design, renewable energy infrastructure, transport mode split and parking strategies, and uses incentives to encourage efficient building systems and appliances. The emissions reported are the predicted operational emissions of a masterplan at completion and are calculated using the sustainability modelling tool PRECINX and a NSW metro average baseline of 2016. The global warming potential account factors align to the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting (NGER) Act.

In FY20 Tallawong South and Hills Showground (Doran Drive) were sold to the private sector with conditions of sale to deliver on these targets. During FY21 Tallawong South Site 1 settled and we have articulated performance results for this as ‘delivered’. Tallawong South Site 2 and Hills Showground (Doran Drive) are expected to settle in the coming reporting period, and are articulated in our performance results as committed.

When future development planning approvals are provided by relevant consent authorities for these precincts, and Landcom settles on the projects, we will report any shift between the commitments made by the proponents, and the actuals achieved.

Both Tallawong South and Hills Showground (Doran Drive) sites are relatively constrained, and dominated by high density residential land uses. In isolation this makes it challenging to attain a 50% emissions reduction. Throughout the reporting period Landcom continued to engage with the successful proponent of these sites. Through this engagement the developer has been able to elevate the BASIX Energy scores from a building code minimum compliance of 25, to a certified 34 for the apartments at Tallawong South Site 1. The average NatHERS rating for those apartments also achieved 7.5 Stars. This has had a positive impact on overall emissions reductions for the site.

Landcom anticipates that industry demonstration of beyond BASIX compliance will provide market confidence that Landcom’s targets are achievable, and contribute value to developers of high density residential projects.

New projects, or individual precincts within ongoing projects currently in the planning and design stages are also in scope for FY21 reporting¹¹. Forecast results include SMNW Places precincts of Kellyville, Bella Vista and Epping, Macarthur Gardens North and Edmondson Park with a weighted average GHG emissions reduction of 46%¹² (see Figure 1).

New higher-density projects continue to present the greatest challenge in attaining material emissions reductions, due to the reduced site area and roof space available to incorporate renewable energy technologies in a cost-effective way.

In FY21 residential dwellings continued to be our most material emissions source, followed by transport and non-residential land uses. Non-residential emissions emerged in FY20 as a material emission source due to the inclusion of the Bella Vista precinct which has a considerable portion of non-residential land uses (see Figure 2), which remains current. In FY21 we continued to focus on opportunities to further reduce residential and transport emissions.

While our emissions target is designed to address new projects, in FY21 we continued to seek opportunities to make a meaningful impact at projects that have already moved through the planning and design phase.

In FY19 we launched Landcom’s first Sustainability Rebate at Macarthur Heights, incentivising residents to build sustainable new homes. The rebate is designed to be a market-based lever to lower emissions and improve the cost of living in established communities, while driving sales (see Case Study: Sustainability Rebate).

In FY20 we saw the first claim against this rebate, and in FY21 this increased to 12 total claims being made.

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^{11 Performance is based on projected performance for all new Landcom projects, until such time as the delivery or divestment strategy for each project is confirmed. At this time, results will be reported as ‘committed’, and finally ‘delivered’ when the project is completed or settled.}

^{12 Reduction from the reference case. Landcom chooses to use its PRECINX tool for modelling potable water and Greenhouse Gas emission reductions. 2016 reference case is defined as the normalised relevant metropolitan average applied to a masterplan.}

Landcom’s onsite renewable energy target is for 5% of total site demand at the precinct scale to be delivered by onsite renewable energy. This extends beyond the inclusion of solar panels on residential homes and requires a strategic precinct scale response. The intent of this target is to drive innovation and large-scale integration of renewable energy sources at the project site.

In FY21 Landcom had two projects in scope for reporting the inclusion of onsite renewable energy, including Tallawong South and Hills Showground (Doran Drive). Both projects sold to the private sector with conditions of sale to deliver on this target. The Tallawong South Site 1 precinct which settled during the reporting period delivered a 117kW solar photovoltaic system in line with the developer’s contract to achieve this target, and is articulated in our performance results as delivered. Tallawong Site 2 and Hills Showground (Doran Drive) are presented as committed results.

Landcom adopts the National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS)¹⁴ as its preferred independent and voluntary rating system to validate the operational sustainability of eligible non-residential built form. NABERS measures a building’s operational energy efficiency, carbon emissions, water consumption and waste production on an annual basis, and awards a star rating out of six.

Landcom is committed to requiring a NABERS rating at new projects that include office, retail or hotel built form. A NABERS rating can only be ensured at Landcom projects through collaboration with future building owners and operators through conditional requirements within contracts of sale to future site owners.

Landcom had two projects in scope within the reporting period. This included two SMNW Places Precincts Tallawong South and Hills Showground (Doran Drive) that were sold to the private sector in FY20, and included conditions of sale to achieve this target. In FY21 Tallawong South (Site 1) settled, while Hills Showground (Doran Drive) remains under an exchanged contract.

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^{14 What is NABERS? (2018)}

In FY20 two SMNW Places precincts, Tallawong South and Hills Showground (Doran Drive), were tendered to market with Landcom’s BASIX targets requested for achievement. Unfortunately, we were unsuccessful in negotiating agreement to deliver on Landcom’s targets. However, throughout FY20 and FY21 the successful proponent has demonstrated a willingness to collaborate and achieve higher than compliance BASIX performance.

During the reporting period, the first parcel settled at Tallawong South (Site 1) and delivered a final average BASIX Energy score of 34, exceeding the contractual commitment of 25. This 36% improvement over BASIX minimum compliance was achieved simply via efficient appliances and fixtures with a 117kW photovoltaic system. The site also achieved a BASIX Water score of 40. High density sites such as this prove challenging to achieve our BASIX water targets in absence of recycled water connections. Typically, towers do not have sufficient roof area to accommodate sufficient rainwater collection, along with the other services needed.

The following Figures (Figure 3 and Figure 4) represent the average BASIX Energy and Water scores committed for new projects. This includes projects with exchanged contracts of sale with relevant BASIX provisions, and those with Development Application approval. For FY21 this includes Tallawong South (Site 2), Hills Showground (Doran Drive) and Schofields, where we plan to deliver homes with builder partners. Dwellings will be tendered to the market with the requirement for builder partners to meet Landcom’s BASIX targets. We expect to see these commitments transfer to delivered results in the coming reporting years. As is evident from the Figures presented, we anticipate the greatest positive impact to come from improved energy efficiency in homes.

During the reporting period we had a number of projects either undergoing planning assessment or with Expressions of Interest for sale out to market. These projects included stages within Edmondson Park Town Centre North and Macarthur Gardens North. For these projects we are presented our forecast results against our BASIX targets. Most notable are the terrace houses at Macarthur Gardens North that are expected to exceed our BASIX Energy target, with some individual terraces expected to perform at BASIX Energy 82.

Landcom continues to place a high value on transparently reporting our impact on local environments. We are advancing our approach to focus on how we can achieve net positive environmental outcomes, including zero waste communities.

In calculating our waste diversion from landfill target we exclude hazardous waste and contamination volumes from the figures to align more closely with the standards set out in the Green Star rating tools.

In FY21 Landcom had four project sites in scope for reporting against our waste diversion target.

The SMNW Places precincts at Tallawong South (Sites 1 and 2) and Hills Showground (Doran Drive) were sold to the private sector in FY20, with conditions of sale to deliver on this target.

At the SMNW Places precincts at Epping and Hills Showground¹⁵ demolition works were undertaken that diverted a combined total of 92% of waste from landfill.

In FY21 we did not have any legacy project contracts that generated material volumes of waste.

Consistent and accurate waste reporting remains a challenge across the development industry. Throughout the reporting period we developed an online data collection process for waste to mitigate the need for manual ‘paper based’ workflows. The process being developed is part of the Work Health and Safety reporting portal and is in the testing phase. We anticipate moving to user acceptance testing and roll out in FY22.

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^{15 Separate to the Doran Drive site sold to the private sector in FY20.}

In FY21 there were two new projects in scope for reporting against our target for 100% Chain-of-Custody Certified timber. These included the SMNW Places Precincts Tallawong South and Hills Showground (Doran Drive), which were sold to the private sector in FY20 with conditions of sale to deliver on this target.

Through negotiations at both sites Landcom accepted a contractual target of 95% Chain-of-Custody certified timber is deemed equivalent, as it aligns with the Green Star rating credits the developer is also required to target. As such we are reporting attainment of this target for both sites.

Landcom views water sensitive urban design (WSUD) as integral to the sustainable water cycle management of our projects. WSUD can include the rehabilitation and protection of natural waterways, design elements such as wetlands, rain gardens, water harvesting and storage and efficient fittings, and alterative water sources such as recycled or blackwater.

In FY21 Macarthur Gardens North, Edmondson Park and SMNW Places precincts Tallawong South (Sites 1 and 2), Hills Showground (Doran Drive), Kellyville, Bella Vista, Epping and Schofields were in scope for reporting against our WSUD target. All projects either achieved or exceeded Landcom’s WSUD targets.

Our potable water reduction target seeks to reduce the unnecessary use of potable water and improve the efficiency of potable water that is used. The potable water consumption reported is the predicted operational consumption of a community at completion and is calculated using the sustainability modelling tool PRECINX.

During the reporting period the SMNW Tallawong South (Site 1) settled with a final potable water reduction of 34%, achieved using efficient fixtures, fittings and appliances, and rainwater harvesting to irrigate landscaping.

The SMNW Places precincts of Tallawong South (Site 2) and Hills Showground (Doran Drive) are likely to settle in the next reporting period and remain as ‘committed’ in the FY21 results, along with a portion of Edmondson Park Precinct 9 and Schofields.

We also report our forecast for new projects, and individual precincts within ongoing projects currently in the planning and design stages. Forecast results include SMNW Places precincts of Kellyville, Bella Vista, Tallawong and Epping, along with Macarthur Gardens North and Edmondson Park (Precinct 3 and residual lots not captured within the FY21 land release). Across Landcom projects residential land uses continue to dominate potable water consumption, which is consistent with our operations predominantly as a residential developer (see Figure 8).

The weighted average potable water reduction forecast for new projects is 50%¹⁶ (see Figure 9) which is in line with FY20. The residential component of our new project portfolio is forecast to achieve 49% potable water reduction (consistent with FY20 forecasts), and non-residential water reductions are forecast at 52% reduction down from 54% in FY20. This change in forecast performance is due to refined detail on new projects coming into scope, and will continue to fluctuate somewhat year on year.

New projects without access to recycled water present Landcom with the greatest challenge to meet our targets. Without access to recycled water infrastructure, potable water reductions greater than 50% at the precinct scale become technically challenging, and infrastructure such as private grey and blackwater treatment systems can ultimately have a negative impact on cost of living for our residents.

Despite the challenges this presents there are also opportunities for innovative design, partnership and technology solutions, which we continue to investigate and adopt wherever possible.

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^{16 Reduction from the reference case. Landcom chooses to use its PRECINX tool for modelling potable water and Greenhouse Gas emission reductions. The reference case is defined as the normalised relevant 2016 metropolitan average applied to a masterplan.}