Developers support the City of Sydney’s ambitious new plans for net zero buildings
Property development groups, including Lendlease and Stockland, have shared their support of the City of Sydney’s plan to include energy targets in development applications.
In a first for a local council in Australia, the proposal means development applications for new office buildings, hotels and shopping centres and major redevelopments of existing buildings will comply with minimum energy ratings.
Neil Arckless, Lendlease executive development director, said his organisation supported the ambitious performance standards.
New buildings will be more energy efficient, use more renewable energy and support the transition to net-zero emissions.
The regulations will come into effect in January 2023 and achieve net-zero energy output by 2026.
The measures are expected to save more than $1.3 billion on energy bills for investors, businesses and occupants from 2023 to 2040, and help the City meet its target of net-zero emissions by 2035.
“At Lendlease we recently set our own pathway to net zero carbon by 2025 and absolute zero by 2040”, Arckless said.
“We are always pushing the boundaries to innovate in sustainability and welcome the City of Sydney leading the way in the development of these performance standards. I’m confident we can all rise to the challenge.”
The City of Sydney’s ambitious, yet achievable, standards were created with support from developers, industry bodies, consultants and government agencies.
“As we emerge from the impacts of the pandemic, we’re helping ensure sustainability and resilience is at the core of business recovery”, said the Lord Mayor.
“The performance standards and evidence base can be used by all councils across Greater Sydney and will support investment in renewable energy and create jobs in regional areas – as we have already done through our investment in wind farms and solar farms in Inverell, Nowra and Wagga Wagga.
“The climate challenge is one that we can only meet with concerted action. The more we can work together and exchange information, knowledge and experiences, the greater our ability to meet the NSW Government net-zero emissions target and allow us to continue to create truly liveable cities", the Lord Mayor said.
Stockland CEO commercial property Louise Mason said the company strongly endorsed the City’s net-zero energy buildings performance standards.
“We have brought forward our target to achieve net zero carbon emissions to 2028 and extended the commitment across our entire portfolio, covering close to 170 active assets and projects Australia-wide,” Mason said.
The measures are expected to deliver substantial financial benefits. Annually office owners will save $2,750 per 1,000 square metres of floor area and hotel owners $170 per hotel room.
There are also additional public benefits and savings in health, energy network and emissions costs, worth around $1.8 billion.
“Across Greater Sydney, the changing climate is a shared problem. These performance standards will help us meet our shared goal of net zero emissions and deliver progress against the Greater Sydney region plan low carbon city objective,” Greater Sydney Commission environment commissioner Emma Herd said.