Environmental Sustainability

An environmentally sustainable design seeks to reduce the long-term negative environmental impact of buildings by making them energy and water efficient and using non-toxic, recycled and reusable materials (such as using recycled timber rather than timber logged from old-growth rain-forests).

The Office of Housing has:

• constructed properties to meet a 5-star energy rating
• incorporated the provision of solar hot water: 10,000 public housing residents across Victoria now have access to solar hot water
• distributed 80,000 compact fluorescent globes to public housing tenants in order to help them reduce energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions
• included environmentally sustainable elements such as:
• • insulation
  • water-saving devices
  • draught excluders
  • flow restrictors
  • weather seals

These initiatives not only improve the energy rating of homes, but also make tenants more comfortable and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the cost of utility bills.

Our latest water initiative in partnership with the Department of Sustainability and Environment, the Water Saving Project, was launched in mid-2007. 

When this project is complete, our entire portfolio of more than 74,000 properties will be fitted with dual-flush cisterns and water saving showerheads. These will save more than 2,800 megalitres of water and 56,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions each year.

Initiatives have also been developed to manage waste water at a number of public housing estates, including:

• The Water Conservation and Water Recycling Project at the Atherton Gardens high-rise estate in Fitzroy, where four water saving systems are in place. Water use on the estate has been cut by nearly 50 per cent.
• The Richmond Rainwater Car Wash Project, which saves one megalitre of potable water each year and irrigates over 2000 square meters of gardens
• The Prahran Rainwater Collection and Garden Irrigation Project, which features an extensive underground irrigation system
• The award winning K2 apartments have incorporated water saving design elements including rain water capture and grey water recycling, reducing mains water use by 53 per cent
• Water tanks are installed as a primary water source to public housing properties where mains water is not available. Seven high-rise estates have had their fire tanks converted or water tanks installed as part of an ongoing program to capture rain and fire test water and utilise it for irrigating the grounds, community gardens or flushing toilets.
• All newly constructed Office of Housing properties are also landscaped with indigenous and drought tolerant plants

The Office of Housing is also involved in a number of projects and redevelopments which incorporate environmentally sustainable design, such as:

• Carlton Housing Redevelopment
• K2 apartments