Pioneering sustainable and affordable housing

WGV at White Gum Valley is a DevelopmentWA 'Innovation through Demonstration' project designed to create a vibrant and highly sustainable community of more than 80 homes with a people-friendly, rather than car-dominated, layout and lots of green space. It's 3km from the centre of Fremantle, which is a One Planet City.

WGV includes single lots for self-build detached dwellings, maisonettes and apartment buildings. There are also several demonstration housing projects aimed at providing affordable housing to people in their twenties and thirties and an artist’s cooperative developed by Access Housing (Western Australia’s leading not-for-profit housing provider).

As the buildings will be delivered by private developers and individuals, the development requires a highly innovative approach to ensure sustainability standards are met.

How we worked together

Bioregional worked with WGV to draw up its One Planet Action plan to overcome this challenge. For example, the zero carbon energy principle is applied relatively straightforwardly for all housing types.

All self-builders and developers are also encouraged to build sustainably with climate responsive design and significant investment in renewable energy and battery storage with assistance by ARENA (the Australian Renewable Energy Agency).

Bioregional also supported DevelopmentWA to:

• Create a resident engagement plan
• Monitor its progress throughout construction
• Train the Design team in One Planet Living

Inspiring new One Planet Communities

Yolk Property Group is one of the developers that bought a lot to create a residential development. It used the One Planet Living principles throughout design and construction for the Evermore WGV apartments and its One Planet Action Plan has been recognised by Bioregional Australia.

Demonstrating excellence

WGV has already won several awards for its sustainability commitments, including the 2017 Urban Development Institute of Australia's (UDIA) Western Australia Sustainable Urban Development Award.

Highlights from the One Planet Action Plan

• Free ‘Sustainable Upgrade’ package for single lots to ensure zero carbon buildings, provision of a rainwater tank and a mature deciduous tree for shading
• Private public partnership funding for battery storage of solar-generated electricity for 50% of all dwellings
• Multi-residential car parking to average less than one space per unit (very low in car-dependant Perth)
• Water efficiency measures including a site-wide community borehole for irrigation, dual plumbing (one pipe of mains water, one of recycled water) to all houses, rainwater harvesting for toilets and irrigation and efficient appliances and fittings – targeting a 70% reduction in potable water consumption compared average Perth consumption
• Tree canopy returned to 30% of site and 30% of trees in the public domain to have edible fruits
• Creating an attractive to a diverse range of people, including the creation of an artist’s cooperative, to create a vibrant community.

Learn more about One Planet Living in Australia.