Central Park

Director, Institute for Sustainable Futures - University of Technology Sydney

Professor Stuart White is Director at the Institute of Sustainable Futures, UTS, which designed Central Park’s sustainability strategy.

Q&A

How sustainable will Central Park be?

Frasers Property really want to create an iconic example of sustainable architecture. Central Park will be one of the most significant developments in Australia in terms of its water and energy usage, and its commitment to recycling construction waste is also impressive.

How will Central Park recycle and purify water?

By collecting rainwater from the roofs of its buildings, Central Park will supply a significant proportion of all its water. Waste water will be treated for non-potable uses, such as irrigation. These initiatives will produce more water than Central Park uses, so excess water will be redistributed to the University of Technology Sydney. This means Central Park will have a net positive impact on the environment because it will supply more water than it can use. This is a significant achievement.

Central Park will have one of the largest tri-generation plants in Australia. Can you explain what this means?

Tri-generation produces electricity, hot water and chilled water from natural gas, which has a lower environmental impact than electricity created from coal. The tri-generation plant at Central Park will supply the majority of electricity, hot and chilled water for the entire site.

Is Central Park ‘greener’ than other Australian developments?

Central Park’s sustainable initiatives have been implemented in a very integrated way. It’s probably the most advanced development in Australia for this reason.

Do buildings contribute to global warming?

Buildings are the largest single contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. One of the difficulties is that they last a long time, so you have to wait 50 or 100 years before you get another chance to replace them.

It’s really important for property developers to think about the future needs of the community, rather than simply keeping up with today’s technologies. With Central Park, we had to think: what will be the case in five years, or 10 years? I was really pleased Frasers Property recognized this development as a precinct for the future.

What does it mean to be truly ‘sustainable’?

Livability is the most important sustainability principle – there’s no point designing a six-star precinct if no one wants to live there. Central Park has addressed this by modeling the entire development around a green park. Even the buildings will have green walls. Between 80,000 and 100,000 people are living and working in the Chippendale area; the park at Central Park is the missing link to creating a vibrant, sustainable urban precinct.