Carbon positive residential development coming to Hobart
A carbon-positive residential development is coming to Tasmania.
The Commons Hobart is an environmentally sustainable development of just 30 apartments.
It will produce renewable energy onsite, and will also contribute solar-generated electricity back to the grid.
Over the life cycle of the project – from removal of the site’s existing building through construction and ongoing occupation, then onwards to its eventual demolition far into the future – the project will avoid generating, or will capture and offset, more carbon than it produces.
The project, created by ethical developer Small Giants Developments, is located on Bathurst Street in Hobart’s CBD.
It will achieve, on average, a 9-star energy rating - the first such project in Australia, the developers claim.
Small Giants Developments parent company, Small Giants, was Australia’s founding B Corp member.
The Hobart project is based on its Melbourne project The Commons Brunswick.
Designed by acclaimed Tasmanian architectural practice Core Collective, The Commons Hobart is a model for striking a balance between affordability, sustainability and liveability, where the focus is on people as well as architectural form.
Small Giants Developments general manager Clint Hare explains that every possible carbon saving was looked at in the design of the project.
“We are implementing a low impact design across the project. For example, concrete is a significant source of carbon emissions in the construction industry. To mitigate that we begin with a low-emission concrete for the base structure,” Hare says.
“That kind of thinking applies at every stage of the development. The site itself was selected for its north-facing aspect, to maximise solar gain. The solar benefit happens to be in addition to the site enjoying enviable views of Mount Wellington.”
Passive design principles will naturally moderate the indoor temperature of the apartments, along with other environmentally sustainable initiatives including on-site solar power generation, water collection and re-use, high-efficiency appliances and heat pumps, and carbon offsetting.
As well as its range of one, two and three-bedroom dwellings, The Commons includes a variety of shared spaces that are designed to bring people together, and foster a sense of community. These facilities include a ground-floor communal garden, and a communal kitchen and food garden on the roof terrace.
Continuing the theme of carbon reduction, the building will include bicycle parking for residents but only three car parks, with these spaces allocated to a car share program for residents’ use.
The Commons Hobart features a contemporary design that celebrates raw, natural materials. Timber is used throughout, sequestering carbon. This includes double-glazed timber-framed windows, as well as recycled Tasmanian oak and floorboards; the facade features a charred wood exterior. Similarly, raw brass is used for the tapware and door handles throughout.
One bedroom apartments at The Commons Hobart are priced at $350,000 - $389,000, while two bedroom apartments are $495,000 to $630,000, and three-bedrooms apartments are available for between $635,000 to $825,000.
