Located in South West Sydney’s Edmondson Park, Ed.Square is a connected urban neighbourhood that includes a Town Centre with dining, retail, services and entertainment venues, and a diverse range of housing choices. It has achieved 6 Star Green Star - Communities certification, representing World Leadership in sustainability.
Frasers Property’s embedded network provider, Real Utilities, supplies Ed.Square Town Centre and some of the homes with Climate Active certified carbon neutral electricity, significantly reducing operational carbon emissions from the community. Approximately 40% of the renewable energy is produced locally with a large-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) system installed on the Town Centre and new homes’ roofs. A total of 1420kW has already been installed on the completed properties. The remaining energy is sourced offsite via a mixture of carbon offset certificates and large-scale generation certificates (LGCs). Homes within the Ed.Square development that cannot be connected to the embedded network will benefit from a large PV array on their roof, with both strategies reducing resident’s home energy costs.
Frasers Property is also integrating energy efficient features across the homes. The strategy varies for the various home typology and product types but includes features such as geothermal heat pumps, LED lighting throughout, efficient appliances and solar PV. The geothermal heat pump implemented across Stage 1 aims to reduce heating and cooling energy use significantly, while eliminating heat rejection during hot days. It uses the constant temperature of the ground to heat and cool as opposed to an external condenser and fan, which is subject to fluctuating air temperatures outside, meaning the heating and cooling system can operate more efficiently and therefore reducing energy consumption.
Frasers Property Australia and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) announced a $1.42 million project that will deliver 51 net zero energy demand homes at Ed.Square, called the Balanced Energy Homes (or Be.Homes). The project, receiving $708,910 in funding from ARENA, aims to expand the knowledge and understanding of renewable energy technology so these innovations can be refined and developed to elevate the energy performance of Australian housing.
The homes will feature technology to produce as much energy as they need over a year and will integrate a suite of renewable energy, electrification and energy efficiency measures including 4kW of solar PV per dwelling, ground source heat pump space conditioning, induction cooktops, electric boosted solar hot water, low-e glazed windows, LED lighting and roof insulation.
Building on the lessons learnt from the Be.Homes and the success of the sales, the Ed.Square development team aims to eliminate gas in future stages of both townhouses and apartments.
All apartment buildings within Ed.Square are all 5 Star Green Star Design & As Built certified. With the transition to all electric, the new stages will be carbon neutral in operation. All terrace and townhomes at Ed.Square are designed to be ‘EV ready’, the electrical infrastructure, including the home’s power board allow an easy connection of future charging equipment. EV charging stations are also available at Ed.Square’s Town Centre for the residents and visitors.
All Ed.Square homes are connected to the Hoxton Park Recycled Water Scheme and have a dual plumbing system allowing the supply of both potable and reclaimed water to each home. In addition, all dwellings have been designed with water efficient features, leading to a total of 44% reduction in potable water use across the masterplan.
At Ed.Square, the urban heat island effect is mitigated with 50% of the community landscaped with trees and cool materials that lower air and surface temperatures.
Ed.Square fosters a strong sense of pride through community culture, heritage, and identity. A dedicated Community Development Manager has been appointed to facilitate events, initiatives, and activities throughout the year.