Top Green Rating On Wishlist As Sekisui House Builds Sustainable Sunny Coast Village

Sekisui House has set its sights on a 6 Star Green Star rating for the $900 million Yaroomba Beach coastal village.

“Sunshine Coast Council’s vision is to be Australia’s most sustainable region, and Yaroomba Beach will be the living evidence of that vision," Sekisui House Development Manager Evan Aldridge said.

Mr Aldridge said some of the sustainability measures planned included solar power generation and storage, and water storage and reuse.

New homes were also being built to the global WELL Building Standards benchmark. WELL is a third-party certification that assesses best practice in design and construction with evidence-based medical and scientific research to support human health and well-being.

An interpretive education centre will also help visitors and locals celebrate and protect the ecological assets that surround the site and the Indigenous heritage of the region.

“This facility will dovetail with University of the Sunshine Coast research in coastal ecology and promote Indigenous tourism experiences and business,” Mr Aldridge said.

Yaroomba Beach's proposal was shaped by community feedback through a discussion group engagement process, and as a result retains more mature vegetation and requires less imported fill.

“Yaroomba Beach will be managed under a under Community Management scheme,” Mr Aldridge said.

“That means coordinated, central control of all property including vegetation buffers and lighting measures, to protect turtle nesting habitat on the beach.

“Turtles nest under the current uncontrolled lighting from roads and homes in the area and we will be designing our lighting to make sure that we don’t make illumination on the beach any worse.”

Sekisui House intends to lodge a development application with Sunshine Coast Council in 2017.

The company is no stranger to delivering sustainable projects, having created the world’s first zero emission house in 2008, and co-developed One Central Park in Sydney in 2015, which was dubbed the Best Innovative Green Building in the world.

Mr Aldridge said Yaroomba Beach will create thousands of local jobs and generate millions in new tourism dollars and wages.