Energy and Emissions
Energy and Emissions
Over the past ten years Ingenia has materially changed the focus of the Group’s investment and as a result the scale and nature of the communities the Group owns, manages and develops.
We remain committed to establishing appropriate measurements and setting long-term goals for reductions in energy use, water use and waste recycling. These targets are expected to generate a financial benefit for Ingenia Communities and residents across our Lifestyle and Gardens communities while also reducing our environmental footprint.
Our decarbonisation roadmap is focussed firstly on avoiding and reducing emissions through energy efficiency initiatives and generating on-site renewable energy which will provide a greater reduction in our emissions baseline. The purchase of renewable energy from the grid will assist us in eliminating the majority of remaining emissions, with carbon offsets used to remove what is left.
Over FY23, we continued with our efforts and initiatives to reduce emissions, enhance energy efficiency, and improve disclosures within our business operations. We have made progress in the following areas:
Resilient Operations and Efficient Communities
- Refined our Energy Strategy for future developments to include a holistic energy design model that will deliver carbon neutral communities and cost of living benefits for residents.
- Adopted a phased approach to extend our solar program. All future developments are being designed to integrate solar energy solutions.
- Upgraded hot water systems to heat pumps in all 406 units in the NSW Ingenia Gardens communities, providing a significant energy saving for residents.
Green Star Ambition:
- Implementing our Green Star strategy in selected developments – commenced three projects targeting Green Star – Communities ratings and our first Green Star Homes development. Green Star Homes require all homes to be Net Zero in energy, and our commitment to deliver 261 homes at our Beveridge community is a key step in reducing emissions and benefiting residents.
- Upskilled our teams on the Green Star ratings system with training from the Green Building Council of Australia.
Improved Data Capture and Disclosures:
- Installed more than 400 energy sub-meters and 100 water meters in FY23. The installation of additional meters will continue through FY24.
- Improved our emissions reporting method.
- Began the process to adopt Fleet Card® for fuel purchases across the portfolio.
Sustainable tourism
- Introduced energy-efficient cabins at Byron Bay – ModnPods. ModnPods are cabins made with 95% local materials and almost fully recyclable at the end of their life. These modular homes have a low carbon footprint. Installed a total of six cabins, with one of them completed in FY23.
- Completed the design to achieve a Net Zero transportable cabin prototype through our collaboration with Prefabulous (Wagga Wagga, NSW), AusIndustry Innovations Connection Program and Sustainability Building Research Centre at the University of Wollongong.
- Installed 5 public electric vehicle chargers at Ingenia Holidays Hunter Valley, Bonny Hills, and Middle Rock through Electric Vehicle Destination Grants – NSW Government.
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