The Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) has today released Green Star for Homes: A strategy for the future, an ambitious new standard for Australian homes. The standard will help drive the transformation of the housing market to ensure new homes are built to a higher standard which is focused on health, resilience and net zero energy.

SGCH has been a partner of Future Homes, the project driving the new standard, contributing expertise and support for sustainable housing. Group CEO, Scott Langford says “As a community housing provider and developer we have a commitment to delivering homes with improved energy efficiency and reducing our carbon footprint.”

Since 2015, SGCH has worked with the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to incorporate sustainability measures in its new developments, and retrofit older, existing properties to deliver ongoing benefits. To date, 178 new homes have been built, 345 are under construction and 1,230 homes have been retrofitted. SGCH develops, retains and maintains its properties, therefore improved sustainability measures such as solar panels that power common areas also reduce operating costs over time.

Mr. Langford continues “SGCH provides social and affordable housing for households on very low to moderate incomes, people who are vulnerable to bill shock and a high proportion with underlying health issues. Improving energy efficiency and thermal comfort improves the housing experience for our customers and provides benefits to all our community through a reduced carbon footprint.”

CEO of the Green Building Council of Australia, Davina Rooney said the partnerships that the GBCA has developed with industry and government have been instrumental in shaping the GBCA’s work in the residential sector. “We believe that all Australians deserve homes that are healthy, resilient and net zero in energy, and we’re pleased to partner with SGCH to deliver this.”

Scott Langford said “We have been proud to support the Future Homes initiative and contribute our experience and perspective as we collectively set our sights on safe and sustainable homes for all Australians.”