The ACT Suburban Land Agency’s (SLA) Whitlam display village is officially opened, established to “showcase the SLA’s commitment to creating thriving communities”.
The village comprises of 13 homes and four sustainable development dwellings which have been constructed by eight builders, designed for multi-generational living, and built in collaboration with the Innovation Precinct.
The Housing Industry of Australia (HIA) partnered with SLA to produce the 17 home designs that meet the new building code requirements that will come into place in October 2023.
At the opening ceremony, HIA presented ACT Minister for Housing Yvette Berry and CEO of SLA John Dietz with the HIA GreenSmart Village accreditation.
“HIA has worked closely with the ACT SLA to deliver a display village that includes 17 homes that meet or exceed the 7-star energy efficiency standard, have energy offsets with photovoltaic solar panels and battery storage, are designed to suit the orientation of the block, and include a range of other energy and water efficiency features,” an Association spokesperson said.
“Each of the 17 homes received HIA GreenSmart House accreditation. This covers the design of the homes and the construction process.
“The homes are also designed to meet the silver standard for livable housing that will be mandatory for all new homes in the ACT next year. This means the homes include step-free entry, wider corridors and doors, and bathrooms designed to provide more space for movement and future accessibility measures.
“The eight home builders in the village all completed HIA GreenSmart Professional training and have worked with HIA’s team to check the designs and inspect the homes during construction.
“The village started life before COVID, and today’s official opening is a fantastic opportunity to award each home with their final HIA GreenSmart accreditation.”
Along with a climate-wise garden and a variety of indoor/outdoor communal spaces, the village also includes a sales and information centre, the Mingle Community Hub, and the Heartbeat Café and Shop.
The display village is a temporary service that has been established for the next three to five years to assist in creating a community hub while the local centre is built and help exhibit sustainable housing options.
All blocks of land and dwellings will eventually be sold for residential use.
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