New QLD Housing Estate alliance with ABSA assessors

Announcement by ABSA Australia - 4th of November 2008 - 4:45 PM

Property development and investment group Austcorp have specified that all homes in the Coomera Waters estate must have a five star rating, as assessed by an ABSA accredited assessor.

 While five star ratings will not be made mandatory in Queensland until 2009, Austcorp requires that all new homes in the eco-residential estate have a rating of at least five stars. Located in Queensland’s northern Gold Coast region, when completed the estate will house 1500 homes.
Prior to building, homeowners must submit a copy of an ABSA certificate to the Architectural Review Committee as part of the approval process. The requirement that all homes have a five star rating is specified in a clause of the sales contract: “Evidence of a five star ABSA (Association of Building Sustainability Assessors) certificate using the proprietary BERS, AccuRATE or NatHERS Second Generation software systems Thermal Calculation Method will be accepted by the ARC.”
“Austcorp made the decision to make ABSA accredited energy ratings compulsory in all sales contracts as we wanted to make sure that all of the estate’s homes do in fact comply with the five star requirements,” says Austcorp Senior Development Manager, Steven Prowse. New QLD Housing Estate alliance with ABSA  ssessors “We are keen to introduce a six star certification which we envisage making compulsory sometime
next year.”
ABSA Board member and assessor, Ian Zappala, worked closely with Austcorp to help them achieve the best outcome. “Think Tank Architects introduced me to Austcorp who were looking to exceed the three and a half
star standard currently in place in Queensland,” says Ian. “At the same time Austcorp wanted a system that would provide consistent ratings, which isn’t always the case when using deemed-to-satisfy provisions. Another benefit of using the thermal calculation method is that it offers greater design flexibility.”
Coomera Waters has been awarded EnviroDevelopment Certification in the areas of Ecosystems, Water, Energy, Community and Waste. EnviroDevelopment is a scientifically based industry branding system designed to make it easier for purchasers to recognise more sustainable projects, with standards determined by a panel of government, industry and environmental experts. The estate provides more than 20 kilometres of
walking trails, extensive parklands, sanctuaries to protect rare species and a 17 hectare harbour.