Village Homes Realty
Building Update – Dec 2024
We now have 115 homes completed and another 39 under construction in the Ecovillage. Most of stage 1 is now complete, with stages 2 and 3 beginning to fill in too. With so many residents now on site, the first stages’ community gardens are looking fantastic, private gardens are being established, and so much fresh food is being produced. There are many different builders active in the development now and plenty of trades creating a buzzing hive of activity, especially in the later stages.
We continue to see exemplary results coming in on thermal and life cycle assessments with the averages improving as the stages progress.
On average, homes in the Ecovillage are achieving a remarkable 8.5 stars NatHERS rating and an incredible average of 121% saving on their carbon footprint, with occasional star performers achieving almost double this saving! We encourage all homeowners to pursue the highest possible sustainability standards in each home design, so they (and the planet) will reap the benefits long into the future.
Our experienced planner Clare Hamilton has approved a steady stream of design reviews and formal assessments this year—all remotely and from a different time zone, as she moved (home) to Scotland earlier in the year. We miss her dearly in the office, but we knew she would continue to do a great job from afar, as she has.
Some interesting numbers for you:
- 257 lots sold + 15 resales.
- 115 highly sustainable solar passive homes are now completed across 13 survey strata clusters in just 4 years—that’s got to be some kind of record!
- 39 additional homes currently under construction
- 161 lots have achieved formal approval though our Building Design Guideline (BDG) approval process, with another 18 currently pending approval.
- Top NatHERS star rating so far: 9.9 stars!
- Top carbon emissions savings: 222%—that’s a 222% better outcome than a benchmark (7 star) Australian home!
- 981 kW solar PVs installed across the Ecovillage to date, with a lot more to come!
- 1,624 kWh shared battery storage to date
- 198 kWh individual batteries installed so far, with a lot more to come!
Every home in the Witchcliffe Ecovillage is fully electric, solar passive, thermally efficient, made from sustainable materials, serviced with rain water, and must have solar panels and efficient appliances, so they naturally perform far better than the average house, but if you are interested to know more about how we quantify the carbon savings, we provide each home with a complimentary Cerclos Life Cycle Analysis of their house design. https://support.rapidlca.com/witchcliffe-eco-village/
