THE developers of $77 million Omega Apartments are aiming to achieve an 8-star rating under the Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme, to help lower residents’ energy costs and reduce the greenhouse gas impacts of their residential building.
The federal government’s Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) provides residences with a star rating out of 10 based on an estimate of its potential energy use.
Located at 61 Brookes St, just 1km from Brisbane’s CBD, the recently completed Omega Apartments comprises 130 one and two-bedroom apartments.
HG Developments directors Simon Gundelach and Alistair Harvey said it had always been their vision to ensure Omega Apartments was designed and built in a sustainable way to achieve the highest possible NatHERS rating.
“Buildings with good insulation and solar passive design can reduce the reliance on artificial heating and cooling, so we consulted with architects and designers to make sure Omega Apartments was built with this in mind,” Gundelach said. “Heating and cooling is responsible for the majority of the average household’s energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, and it’s important to us as developers that we try to reduce the long term carbon footprint of Omega Apartments.”
Omega Apartments was designed to include a rooftop solar and battery system to feed the hot water system and power the pool heating and lights, effectively delivering an energy neutral rooftop sky garden.
The building also has an environmentally-friendly self-ventilated four-level podium car park to avoid a costly mechanical exhaust ventilation system used in underground car parking.
“This significantly reduces the building’s energy consumption operating costs per year which means Omega Apartments body corporate, maintenance and operating costs are considerably less,” Gundelach said.
Originally published here by Nelson Yap in Australian Property Journal.
