Climate Resilient Places

All our new in scope projects since the launch of the Sustainable Places Strategy, and all relevant legacy projects, now have undertaken climate resilience assessments in alignment with the IPCC AR5 Representative Concentration Pathways 4.5 and 8.5 climate projections.

As the New South Wales and Australian Regional Climate Modelling (NARCliM) project has updated their climate projections, from FY25 Landcom will begin incorporating AR6 Shared Socioeconomic Pathway (SSP) data into our resilience assessments. Furthermore, all communities have embedded and/or implemented actions to reduce the physical and social risks of climate change.

‘Extreme risk’ from extreme heat is common to almost all Landcom sites and based on global projections, likely to increase in risk over the short, medium and long-term. This finding confirms the importance of Landcom’s priority to reduce or mitigate the effects of urban heat island and build community resilience to heat at all new projects.

Bushfire is also a consistent ‘high risk’ across Landcom’s project portfolio, while sites across our portfolio are starting to also see increased ‘high risk’ due to extreme rainfall and flooding.

We anticipate these physical risks and their influence on social outcomes will continue to increase in intensity and frequency into the future.

More broadly, Landcom strives to be an industry leader in responding to and disclosing climate risks in accordance with 11 TCFD Recommended Disclosures. As the TCFD finished in 2023, Landcom is well placed for upcoming ASRS requirements and any cross-governmental requirements. Further detail on these efforts can be seen in Appendix B: Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures.

In FY24 we continued to mature our approach to transition risks. Several transition risks are now being captured at the project level within our new digital climate risk tool and continues to be part of our organisational response to managing climate risk.

Key transition risks for Landcom over the short-term include:

• increasing insurance premiums for residents;
• increasing requirements to secure mortgages;
• supply chain challenges in procuring green products within construction.

Heat continues to be a major stress for many cities across Australia, as confirmed by our climate change risk assessments. Landcom’s commitment to reduce urban heat island (UHI) effect will contribute to reduced risk of extreme heat at our projects. This will enhance the resilience of our communities and the residents who live there.

In FY24, only Bomaderry is in scope for our new UHI Reduction target. Through the combination of retaining mature trees, replanting a substantial portion of the site and using materials that adequately reflect solar radiation, the project contributes to reducing UHI. As our communities progress through masterplanning and into development, actions such as these will be carried across our portfolio to respond to UHI.

Furthermore, only one project was in scope in FY24 for the new SRI target, Bomaderry. The project is achieving the target through the use of materials choices for roofing and facade that adhere to the SRI minimums.

New projects in scope for FY24 include Glenfield and Rooty Hill, both of which are currently making a net- positive biodiversity contribution.

Both projects are developing land containing a large amount of previously cleared and degraded land, and are restoring and planting a total of over 60ha of landscaped areas to improve biodiversity, amenity and urban heat outcomes.

Glenfield is forecast to contribute a moderate (3%) net positive change in biodiversity value, due to the project retaining over 4.8ha of good condition significant habitat on-site including Cumberland Plain Woodland and the riparian corridor at the north-eastern corner of the community. Rooty Hill is forecast to contribute a moderate (6%) net positive change in biodiversity value, due to an increase in landscaped areas and plantings throughout the open space and streetscape.

Both projects however will result in the removal of native vegetation, including native species habitat. While both projects will have potentially irreversible impacts to threatened species, with increased restoration, native landscaping and plantings, we can return a net-positive outcome and reduce our overall impact.

Indirect risks such as transport of weeds and/or pathogens and inadvertent impacts on adjacent habitat or vegetation are possible during development of our communities, however we continue to effectively manage these risks through the preparation of robust Environmental Management Plans.

As part of our Future Priorities, Landcom is investigating methods of restoration or regeneration onsite to further reduce the potential impacts on species, vegetation and habitat and contribute towards our goal of all projects enabling a net positive ecological outcome. IUCN Red List and National Conservation List species within habitat affected by our operations are listed in the following table.

Landcom’s main direct impact on biodiversity and nature results from the removal of native vegetation and species habitat to develop housing and supporting infrastructure. As early adopters of the TNFD, Landcom will undertake the LEAP (Locate, Evaluate, Assess, Prepare) approach adopted within the TNFD framework to support internal, nature-related risk and opportunity assessments (refer Case Study: TNFD) comprising the following four phases:

• Locate: Landcom’s interface with nature
• Evaluate: Landcom’s dependencies and impacts
• Assess: Material risks and opportunities
• Prepare: Response to nature-related risks and opportunities and report

As we work towards reporting under the TNFD framework in FY25, in addition to undertaking the LEAP approach, Landcom will look to expand the metrics that we use to inform planning decisions and report on our nature-related impacts.

Landcom’s new target from FY24 is to achieve a net- positive biodiversity portfolio performance. This is measured by aggregating the results from Landcom’s biodiversity calculators across the portfolio. The majority of Landcom’s portfolio of communities are located in metropolitan and urban areas, with 17 out of 18 projects in-scope located within the Sydney Basin. Portfolio-wide, Landcom’s projects achieve a 3% net-positive biodiversity performance – managing over 1,300ha of land that supports positive biodiversity outcomes.

While Landcom’s primary function is to develop land to deliver affordable and sustainable housing, our development footprint only covers a total of 43% of the site area across the portfolio. The remaining 57% is made up of habitat, waterways and water bodies, and landscaped areas including open space. The majority of habitat on-site is in good condition (71%), whereas 12% of habitat is in poor condition and has the potential to be improved through regeneration efforts.

While riparian land only makes up a small proportion of our project sites, waterway health and stormwater management remain key priorities for Landcom given the sensitivity of these ecosystems and is discussed further in our Water section.

Furthermore, 27% of our development footprint is located on land that is potentially home to threatened species. The most common species identified under the BC Act and EPBC Act are shown in the table below.

Our emissions reduction target seeks to minimise greenhouse gas emissions predominately through the adoption of energy efficient design and provision of renewable energy infrastructure as well as incentives to encourage efficient building systems and appliances.

Emissions reported are the predicted operational emissions of a masterplan at completion and are calculated using the sustainability modelling tool PRECINX and a NSW metro average baseline of 2016. The global warming potential account factors align with the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting (NGER) Act.

Understanding that across our portfolio, projects are in different phases of the development lifecycle and move at different timings across each financial year, Landcom will continue to identify opportunities at our sites to further improve energy performance and reduce GHG emissions, reporting updates year-on-year.

Collectively the portfolio emissions reduction is 47% against the 2016 metro average. Of note, communities including North Wilton, Austral, Bulli and Garden Surburb already exceed our 70% reduction target.

Higher-density projects such as Kellyville, Bella Vista and Macarthur Gardens North continue to present the greatest challenge in attaining material emissions reductions, due to the reduced site area and roof space available to incorporate renewable energy technologies in a cost-effective way.

Divestment strategies for these projects look to include requirements around renewable energy power purchase agreements to supplement onsite energy production and ensure clean electricity for residents.

Conversely, our lower-density projects, such as at Bulli, Austral and North Wilton, continue to exceed our emissions targets due to the increased uptake and size of solar PV systems relative to dwelling size.

As Landcom is expanding its emissions boundary to include upfront and embodied carbon, we have progressed our carbon neutral leadership goal towards a Net Zero approach. Early action and next steps can be read in our Case Study: Net Zero Transition Plan. There were no eligible, delivered projects across our portfolio this year for our new upfront and embodied carbon reduction target. Landcom anticipates being able to report against this in FY25

Landcom’s new onsite renewable energy target is for 20% of total site demand at the precinct scale to be delivered by onsite renewable energy. This extends beyond the inclusion of solar panels on residential homes and requires a strategic precinct-scale response. The intent of this target is to drive innovation and large-scale integration of renewable energy sources at the project site, or the use of mechanisms like renewable energy power purchase agreements.

In FY24 Landcom had one project in scope for reporting, our Build to Rent project at Bomaderry. The project has not achieved the target, showing approximately 16% of total demand delivered by onsite renewables. As the design progresses the project team will continue to look for opportunities to improve energy efficiency or increase the amount of solar PV provided to improve on this result.

In FY24, two of our Sydney Metro Northwest projects Kellyville and Bella Vista achieved 5 Star Communities ratings, representing Australian best practice.

Our SMNW Places precincts at Hills Showground continues to deliver Green Star ratings through condition of sales. The Precinct East portion of Hills Showground achieved a 5 Star Design & As Built rating in FY24.

Equally, Landcom registered six new communities for Green Star ratings over FY24, across both Buildings and Communities rating tools. This includes a 4 Star Buildings rating ambition for our BTR project at Bomaderry, 5 Star Communities rating ambition for our communities at Austral and Rooty Hill, while Orange, Guntawong Road and Glenfield are aspiring for a 6 Star Communities rating.

In addition, while not registered by Landcom, our Demonstration Home partnership with Macdonald Jones Homes has registered for a Green Star Homes certification.

Landcom had two projects in scope within the reporting period. This included the SMNW Places Precincts of Kellyville and Bella Vista. Both precincts have included 5 Star minimum ratings for both Energy and Water within the ESD reports that form part of the State Significant Development Application approval. These will be further conditioned within contracts of sale for individual divestments.

As the release of new BASIX compliance requirements under the new State & Environmental Planning Policy for Sustainable Buildings occurred in October 2023, Landcom is still working to understand the increased performance around Energy, how the new Materials disclosure is working and continuing to push performance around Water. Our disclosures for FY24 focus on the simple ways in which Landcom has continued to lead high performance BASIX outcomes, despite this being largely outside of our operational control.

Airds, which is being delivered in partnership with Homes NSW continued to achieve individual BASIX Energy ratings of 90 (average 85.8) for 9 of the 10 dwellings delivered in the reporting period. This high performance continues to be driven by the installation of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems on homes. These homes will provide much needed accommodation to those in need of social housing. High performing, energy efficient and thermally comfortable dwellings result in much lower running costs for residents, which is especially important for vulnerable communities susceptible to the pressures of affordability.

At Macarthur Heights, Landcom continues to honour $15,000 sustainability rebates for the achievement of BASIX 90 home energy ratings. This is part of our effort to make homes more resilient and lower the cost of living for residents via incentives, as we do not have operational control over the dwellings delivered. In FY24, a total of 33 rebate claims were approved with a total investment from Landcom of $225,000. Over the life of the program, Landcom has approved and paid out 122 claims, totaling $831,818.

In FY24, Landcom had two dwellings under our control subject to the new BASIX Materials requirement, being our Demonstration Home and Sales Centre at our North Wilton community. They both achieved a ‘Low’ score of -43 and -93, respectively. We will continue to deliver this requirement through relevant divestments into FY25. Additionally, both of these dwellings achieved BASIX Energy 100, meaning they can operate on a net zero energy basis, all but eliminating energy bills for residents.

In FY24, none of our dwellings achieved our BASIX Water target, covering Airds, North Wilton and Bomaderry. As the recycled water connection comes online at North Wilton however, the recent sales of lots are expected to come through our design review in early FY25 with ratings above BASIX Water 60. All of our dwellings have however met or exceeded NSW minimum BASIX Water requirements.

As we push for higher than compliance with our water target, connections to recycled water and rain tanks become increasingly important in our projects.

In FY24 there were four projects in scope for reporting against our construction waste diversion target; Edmondson Park, North Wilton, Macarthur Heights and Airds. No completed projects had demolition waste.

Edmondson Park awarded a recent contract for civil works and committed to a target of 95% waste diversion, which while slightly lower than our new target, is consistent with the legacy delivery of this community. Diversion will be achieved by reducing off-cuts and relocating drainage pits to reduce potential waste generated, on-site waste stream segregation for concrete, wood, metal, plastics and other materials, clearly labelling bins throughout the construction site and partnering with recycling facilities nearby to reuse concrete, metal and other construction materials. Landcom will look to improve on the committed diversion throughout construction to achieve a higher result.

Panorama at North Wilton Stage 1 works reached practical completion, and demonstrated a 99% waste diversion rate, including recycling over 470 tonnes of concrete and 50 tonnes of waste asphalt generated.

Lake Thomson, located in our Macarthur Heights community, achieved a 99% waste diversion rate across the works, reusing 100 tonnes of green waste on-site, reusing 7,194 tonnes of earthworks fill off-site, and recycling all waste concrete and steel generated on-site.

Significant progress has been made on civil construction for Landcom’s Airds community. Overall, Airds achieved a 97% waste diversion rate, recycling over 1,000 tonnes of vegetation waste, 400 tonnes of concrete, 9,400 tonnes of earthworks fill and 16,225 tonnes of excavated natural materials on-site. A further 4,144 tonnes of hazardous waste was disposed of off-site.

While individually, two of the three completed projects have achieved Landcom’s new waste diversion target, Airds, being an older project, has exceeded Landcom’s old diversion target of 95%, contributing to the portfolio performance exceeding our new target.

We acknowledge that there are waste streams from our construction activities that still need to be diverted from landfill if we are to enable zero waste outcomes in our construction activities by 2028. Common items that are still landfilled include offcuts from water infrastructure and packaging from suppliers.

In FY25 we will explore opportunities to partner with recycling centres, organisations and research institutes to find recycing and re-use options for some of our remaining construction waste streams.

Enabling zero waste outcomes will require forward planning for the reuse and recycling of materials generated through the construction phase. While construction is yet to commence on-site, Landcom’s Bulli project has prepared a waste management plan that outlines how the waste material expected to be generated will be reused on-site and recycled off-site, including identifying where topsoil will be reused for landscaping; excess concrete to be used as granular fill, levelling materials and road base; excess timber to be used within proposed gabion walls; and road material to be milled on site for use as road base and structural fill. By planning waste diversion ahead of construction activities, we can not only divert waste from landfill but also reduce construction costs in the process.

Furthermore, our project at Glenfield has given Landcom opportunity to explore waste diversion options that could have broader implications in how we manage waste across our portfolio. Read more in our Case Study: Recycling and re-use at Glenfield.

In FY24 there was one project in scope for reporting against our target for 100% Chain-of-Custody Certified timber; Stage 4, Panorama at North Wilton.

For Panorama at North Wilton, the target has been embedded within the civil works contract, and the Sustainability team will work closely with the civil contractor to identify opportunities to re-use timber from on-site and reduce the need for virgin timber during the contracted works.

Additionally, during FY24, our head office tenancy at Parramatta underwent a refurbishment. The project aimed to divert, reuse and rehome as much material as possible. Read about the outcomes in our Case Study: Landcom Office Refurbishment.

In FY24, Orange, Bulli and Bomaderry are all in-scope and have all completed Integrated Water Management Plans that aim to achieve best-practice water management.

These projects will look to achieve water positive outcomes through the effective use of mechanisms such as increased infiltration through retention basins, greater amounts of pervious surfaces through water sensitive urban design, high-efficiency fixtures in dwellings and recycled water or rainwater tank connections, where possible.

During FY24, Landcom also began a research partnership that seeks to identify strategies that would need to be adopted in our new communities to enable water-positive outcomes.

The research will explore different scenarios to allow Landcom to better understand which ‘lever’ it can pull to influence outcomes. Early findings note tradeoffs between Landcom communities that are connected to the recycled water network and those that utilise rain tanks with regard to end use efficiency, while increasing the amount of pervious cover improves infiltration, recharging local groundwater resources, and supports improved water quality outcomes for local waterways.

New projects without access to recycled water or substantial rainwater connections continue to present Landcom with the greatest challenge to reduce potable water consumption. Without access to recycled water or rainwater infrastructure, reductions greater than 50% at the precinct scale become technically challenging, and infrastructure such as private grey and blackwater treatment systems can ultimately have a negative impact on cost of living for our residents.