The Cape, a sustainable housing estate in Victoria’s Bass Coast is being presented as a blueprint for Australia’s future housing estates, with its focus on sustainability, energy efficiency, zero emissions and comfort.
An independent study conducted by RMIT University over 12 months and analysed by the leading not-for-profit RENEW confirms that The Cape can be a scalable blueprint for the Australian housing industry to build affordable, energy-efficient, carbon neutral homes that dramatically reduce energy bills, benefitting the homeowners, the economy and the environment.
The current focus on the environment and climate change underlines the need for solutions such as The Cape, which can lead to energy-efficient housing and a zero emissions, low cost future for residents.
The Cape combines passive solar design and construction techniques with off-the-shelf technologies such as heat pump heating, cooling and hot water systems, and solar power to achieve carbon neutral, healthy homes. These homes are not only deisgned to be comfortable, resilient and healthy throughout the year, but also have super low running costs compared to conventional homes.
The housing estate is also energy positive, generating 3-4 times the energy it uses, demonstrating how future housing estates can become power stations in the suburbs, with the surplus clean energy used on site to help power electric vehicles, as well as export to surrounding neighbourhoods, thereby improving energy security.
Image: Supplied
