Your Development

In the early 1980s, the NSW State Government purchased 122 hectares at Rouse Hill for the purpose of developing a regional centre in the north west area of Sydney. Bounded by Commercial and Windsor Roads and incorporating Caddies Creek the centre is located on the former Mungerie Park Golf Course.

Since then, the Baulkham Hills Shire Council has collaborated with the State Government in formulating regional and local environmental plans to ensure services are delivered to the growing communities of the region.

In February 2003, Planning NSW and Landcom, selected Lend Lease and General Property Trust as the preferred tender for a partnering agreement to create a new state of the art regional centre at Rouse Hill, consisting of community facilities including library and community centre, schools, entertainment, retail and commercial development, residential development, transport interchange, open space and recreation areas.

When completed The New Rouse Hill project will include over 1,500 residential dwellings, up to 180,000 square metres of retail/commercial floor space, more than 20 hectares of open space, and is anticipated to be finished by 2015.

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ESD Manager

The New Rouse Hill employs a dedicated Environmental Sustainability Development Manager responsible for ensuring consistency of sustainable best practice, co-ordinating ESD learning programs with stakeholders, builders and the community and developing a strong sustainable community partnership.

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Environmentally Sustainable Building Design

The New Rouse Hill has developed building design guidelines for proposed residential dwellings which mandates environmentally sustainable design features and specifies requirements for use of materials that have low embodied energy, recyclable or have recycled content and contain low Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC’s). A Building Design Co-ordinator has also been employed to educate and inform builders of these requirements and to ensure compliance. Some examples of these ESD design requirements which are featured throughout the development include:

• Timber for frames sourced locally from third party certified sustainable managed forests and plantations;
• Green concrete, a green 3 star rated product which contains 60% recycled content in the form of recycled slag aggregate and fly ash by-product, has been used to construct on-ground slabs for all nine display homes and the Sales & Information Centre and approximately 5km of public footpaths and cycleways;
• Orientation of dwellings and depth of lots designed to allow maximum access to sunlight by designing homes with living areas predominantly facing north to reduce requirement for artificial lighting and heating;
• Homes designed so that location of operable windows and louvers allow cross ventilation and natural airflow through dwellings;
• Mandatory for dwellings to be designed to incorporate ceiling fans in all bedrooms and living areas to reduce dependence on air-conditioning;
• Mandatory Solar gas boosted hot water systems for all dwellings;
• Eaves must be minimum 450mm to outside face of gutter to provide shade to windows and balconies.

These are only some of the ESD building design requirements specified in The New Rouse Hill Building Design Guidelines and Building & Siting requirements which have been produced for purchasers and aims to ensure a 5 star rating average for homes is achievable across the entire residential development.

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ESD showcase home

The New Rouse Hill display village contains an ESD home, The Aquarius, which showcases passive solar, energy and water efficient design principles. All materials used in construction were selected using a Life Cycle Assessment to develop a list of preferred environmentally sustainable building materials. This process also involved educating builders and providing them with a list of sources and local suppliers of preferred materials.

This sustainable and environmentally friendly home has achieved BASIX scores of 56 and 53 for energy and water which exceeds BASIX requirements by 40% and 33% respectively. The Aquarius employs a range of innovative features to achieve its exceptional environmental rating which includes:

• living rooms with north and east facing orientation,
• eaves, pergola and external fixed louvers for shading,
• external walls coated with a radiant heat reduction paint,
• Improved insulation using insulation batts, AirCell insulation and foil backed sarking,
• Recycled aluminium framed windows with Low E performance glass to reduce heat transfer,
• Operable window louvers to encourage natural airflow and cross ventilation,
• High void area in dining room to allow heat to rise through the home and exit through the high void louvers during hot weather,
• Brick cavity walls and solid masonry double storey internal wall to regulate inside temperature through thermal mass,
• Green concrete on-ground slab and driveway which contains 60% recycled content,
• Australian Forestry Standard certified plantation timbers used in construction and decking and finger jointed plantation pine used for architrave and skirting,
• Reversible ceiling fans in all bedrooms and living rooms,
• Energy efficient compact fluorescent lights with movement sensors which operate only when the room is occupied,
• Solar gas booster hot water system,
• Edible vegetable and herb no-dig garden,
• Composting bin and enclosure

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T-way bus

The T-way bus station will provide a fast link to Parramatta via dedicated bus lanes along Windsor Road.

The proposed North West Rail Link will place a station right on the doorstep of The New Rouse Hill providing a link to the city.

All homes are within a few minutes walking distance of the Rouse Hill Town Centre.

The New Rouse Hill has a network of over 5 km of cycling and walking paths.  The path network also links in with the shared path located alongside the T-way and connects to an extensive network of cycle-ways being developed across western Sydney and the greater metropolitan area, making it ideal to enjoy an environmental way of transport.

Cycle parking is provided throughout the Rouse Hill Regional Centre in convenient locations. There are 300 bike parks, which include 20 bike lockers and 20 racks at both ends of the Bus Interchange.

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Cogeneration system

Demonstrating the project’s commitment to sustainability, 104 residential apartments, currently under construction in the town centre, incorporate a Multi-unit Cogeneration Demonstration Plant that is designed to provide efficient hot water heating and electricity and reduce energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions.

In September 2006 an application was made for funding from the Department of Planning for a Multi-unit Co-generation demonstration project. The Lend Lease/ GPT Group joint venture was selected as one of two successful participants in this program.

The funding provided by the Department of Planning is being used to develop, design, install and monitor the performance of the cogeneration plant.

The cogeneration unit is a small 22kw system (equivalent to a small 1.5L car engine) that uses natural gas as a fuel to generate electricity and heat. The electricity is used for common area lighting and power and the heat is used to create hot water for the apartments.

The outcomes of this project include;

• Proving up this technology for use in the multi-unit residential market.
• Adjusting normal design and operational processes to incorporate the new technology.
• Long-term savings for the strata scheme by obtaining low cost common area power.
• A more sustainable outcome with a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of approximately 80 tonnes of CO₂ per year.

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