The Georges River Stormwater Management Policy outlines requirements for protecting Council’s existing drainage system. Council has tens of thousands of kilometres of stormwater pipes with a replacement value of hundreds of millions of dollars. Development increases impervious area and increases the volume of runoff into the stormwater system, increasing flood risks and placing pressure on existing assets.

Introducing building based Integrated Water Management (IWM) measures and increasing permeable surfaces help to reduce flooding frequency of Council’s drainage assets by reducing runoff volumes while also having the potential to reduce the level of impurities that leave a site and enter downstream waterways.

Using rainwater from tanks for flushing toilets saves water and diverts run-off roof water from entering the mains drains. Toilets use water regularly and so will continually run down the tanks, to maintain water quality.

Putting rainwater into a tank(s) and through the toilets re-directs the water volume and associated pollutants from the roof into the sewer system where it is cleaned, rather than the stormwater system where it is not cleaned and ends up with pollutants and extra volume in our waterways.

Permeable surfaces allow water to seep into the ground, slowing and filtering stormwater, and also supporting trees during drought and reducing the urban heat island effect.

• Minimum tank size (mandatory):
  • 1.5kL per unit (residential)
  • 1kL per 100sqm GFA (non-residential)
  • 2kL per toilet (warehouse)
• Water tanks must be connected to a minimum of 50sqm of roof per kilolitre of water tank volume, or a minimum of 80% of building footprint area (primarily roof area) draining to a rain water tank (mandatory)
• Tank water connections (mandatory):
  • To all toilets for flushing (all building types)
  • To washing machine cold water taps (residential)
  • To irrigated areas (non-residential)
• Maintenance of rain water tank pumps (mandatory):
  • Where installed, water pumps and manual over-ride switches will be readily accessible for access in the event of malfunction.
  • Identify accessible location on plans.
  • Potable water back-up and mosquito prevention screens to be incorporated.
• Percentage of trafficable impervious areas that are to be made with permeable paving or which direct runoff to infiltration or tertiary stormwater treatment on site (e.g. rain gardens, bioswales) as follows:

Stormwater modelling can allow designers to produce high quality Integrated Water Management (IWM) solutions for the development.

Passive design seeks to reduce the energy consumption in buildings and should address items that improve thermal comfort and efficiency. Passive design principles result in a design appropriate to the climate that the dwelling is located. By orientating the building towards the winter sun, providing summer shade, improving thermal mass, and facilitating cooling breezes, passive design helps reduce space heating and cooling loads while maintaining a comfortable temperature range within the home.

A Passive Design Statement (PDS) is to be provided identifying passive design features of this development and show the selected mechanisms on an accompanying PDS Plan as part of the architectural plans.

The PDS can be short and succinct – need be no greater than one or two pages plus any modelling or calculations as appendices.

The PDS can incorporate any combination of the below mechanisms. A minimum of 8 points must be achieved for this pathway.

• insulation or foam to fill gaps between windows frames and door frames
• seals around doors
• servicing existing windows in structures to be retained to ensure easy operability
• sealing around pipework and cable penetrations through the building fabric
• sealing around ducted heating/cooling vents

• Living rooms are to be located to have better daylight than bedrooms. Overhangs above living room windows will be no greater than 1.2m in depth.
• There are no snorkel/saddleback/battle-axe bedrooms included in this development. (Note: Bedrooms with “snorkels” have a narrow section of the room beside the window, where light is available down the “snorkel” area but restricted to all of the bedroom)
• All habitable rooms have 2.7m ceilings and there is 2.4m high glazing to living rooms to maximise daylight ingress.
• Light coloured walls internally to maximise daylight levels.

• CO sensors in basement car parks.
• All habitable room windows within each dwelling will include an openable component.
• All ground level openable windows will incorporate or have locks fitted to allow windows to be locked open 100mm at night safely allowing overnight ventilation.
• Security fly screens are provided for sliding doors in habitable rooms where there is no operable window in that room.

Passive House is a performance-based standard that sets the criteria on thermal comfort, space heating and cooling demand/load, indoor humidity, air tightness and annual primary energy demand . Passive House provides good controlled continuous ventilation that incorporates heat recovery units which provide a much better energy and indoor environment outcome than simple sealing of buildings. Passive House is an integrated, physics-based approach to ensure buildings perform as predicted and avoid air quality and mould problems.

In the Passive House standard BASIX method, you will need to:

• Engage a Certified Passive House Designer who will simulate the dwelling design with the Passive House Planning Package (PHPP),
• Enter the name of the Certified Passive House Designer into BASIX,
• After you generate the BASIX certificate with the Passive House standard method, you will need to attach it to a PHPP software report issued by the Certified Passive House Designer to the BASIX certificate and submit to the Council or the certifying authority.
• The verification section of the PHPP software report needs to show that your dwelling satisfies the space heating, space cooling and air tightness requirements of the Passive House standard, and
• The Certified Passive House Designer or Passive House Certifier needs to provide a written endorsement that the plans and documentation provided have been assessed in accordance with the Passive House standard.

Healthy buildings build community resilience. Projected increased "hot days" in Sydney impact on elderly and vulnerable communities. The development should demonstrate a good design response based on balancing energy efficiency with good air quality for the particular building type. Better fresh air volumes delivering lower CO2 levels has been demonstrated to improve building occupant alertness (ref: Green Star submission guidelines). Higher ventilation rates also reduce the chance of covid transmission and reduce sick days (ref: AIRAH Covid Guidance).

A Healthy Building Statement (HBS) is to be provided identifying design features of this development and show the selected mechanisms on an accompanying HBS Plan as part of the architectural plans.

The HBS can incorporate any combination of the below mechanisms. A minimum of 8 points must be achieved for this pathway.

• All ground and first floor openable windows will incorporate or have locks fitted to allow windows to be locked open 100mm at night safely allowing overnight ventilation.
• Hinged doors to habitable rooms will have mechanical or magnetic door catches to keep doors open and enable natural cross ventilation between rooms, or passive ventilation vents above the doors.
• CO2 sensors in naturally ventilated office spaces – set to 800ppm – flashing light to notify occupants.
• Industrial/Warehouses - a minimum of two openable windows are to be provided to each partitioned space of industrial/warehouse offices or potential offices.

Additional points are awarded for the completion of a Healthy Building Statement (HBS) for the non-residential component. The HBS is to identify passive design features of this development and show the selected mechanisms on an accompanying HBS Plan as part of the architectural plans. The HBS can incorporate any combination of the below mechanisms.

Preventing indoor pollution is important as people spend up to 90% of their time indoors. Each person will filter up to 10,000 litres of air per day through their lungs. Lungs have the surface area of a tennis court, and they are very good at absorbing oxygen, and also indoor pollutants into the blood stream. It is important to reduce indoor pollution as much as possible to protect occupant health.

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are included in many modern building materials such as glues, paints, adhesives, carpet, joinery and vinyl. When installed these VOCs off-gas from the material and can cause health concerns. Using low off-gassing materials helps to improve the air quality inside the building.

Air filtering can reduce transmission of respiratory diseases like covid, colds and the flu. Air filtering can also reduce allergens such as pollen levels for those affected.

Trees actively cool urban areas through evapotranspiration, providing natural air conditioning of urban spaces in hot weather.

Council has adopted a target of 40% urban tree canopy by 2038 and is committed to increasing biodiversity connectivity.

Note: Only count canopy cover within the subject site's lot boundaries. The proposed canopy coverage is to be calculated based on the size achieved by the tree(s) at the assumed maturity.

Increasing green landscaping and reducing total roof and paved areas improves local heat conditions by allowing more evapotranspiration and solar heat reflection.

Council encourages 15% of site area as deep soil on sites larger than 1,500sqm where feasible in accordance with the Apartment Design Guide. Landscaped does not mean all deep soil, just need to accommodate the right soil size and depths.

Generally, a 70% reduction target in demolition and construction waste is common practice and will be achievable by selecting a skip company that sorts and separates construction and demolition waste for recycling. Achieving an 80% or 90% waste recycling target may mean additional on-site measures such as using separate recycling bins, and innovations such as using reusable formwork.

Adopting the use of variants on standard products is a challenge in the building industry. There is a reluctance to change even when the more sustainable variants are developed overseas or in Australia over a significant number of years. The goal of this part of the form is to encourage the trial and uptake of these variants so the industry continues to grow in experience and comfort with their use.

A combination of lower embodied energy and circular economy materials and mechanisms can be selected below:

The base skeleton infrastructure must include:

• Centrally located dedicated EV distribution board(s) in each carpark level;
• Cable trays from the distribution board(s) to the edge of each car parking space. These cable trays will support the future installation of EV cabling by EV owners as required;
• The capacity to supply an average of 12kWh charging to each car parking space at 32Amps for overnight top up charging;
• A uniform load management system specified to ensure all cars are on the same system and can communicate together; and
• An approved power use metering system (may be incorporated with the load management system).

• Allowing for future installation of EV charging to a minimum of 25% of all parking spaces assigned to titled tenancies (excluding retail and visitor spaces e.g. supermarkets). This must be evenly distributed across all titled tenancies.
• A strategy for load sharing and managing the maximum demand load of the development so that it does not exceed the site capacity. Alternatively, confirm the site electrical capacity will cater for the EV charging load in maximum demand calculations as per AS/NZS 3000.
• Dedicated space for cable trays to support the future installation of EV cabling from the distribution board to the edge of each applicable car parking space.
• Additional EV infrastructure, as required, which may include power use metering and communication systems, increased electrical capacity, and conduit installations.
• Motorcycle, moped, electric bicycle or scooter parking: A 10-15 Amp charging outlet to every 6 applicable parking spaces.
• Shared or Communal Space EV Charging (where relevant): A minimum of 1 Active EV charging unit (minimum 22 kW, 32 Amp three phase) should be installed at a shared or communal parking space. Shared or communal EV charging spaces should be located in highly visible, priority locations, to encourage EV uptake.