Measuring Integrated Sustainability Performance And Self-Sufficiency Of Three Residential Precincts In Sydney

Sustainability performance of a local-scale urban form is significantly important to developing self-sufficient communities. In this paper, three contemporary low, medium and high density residential developments from Sydney were selected and measured considering three sustainability factors: energy; water and local food production as a part of the green infrastructure. Data was collected from Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2011 Census, georeferenced aerial imagery and planning and property databases. The selected case studies for this paper were analysed to determine the total energy and water demands and the potential of developments to integrate renewable energy and water to develop localised self-sufficient systems. The potential of on-site green infrastructure to provide positive ecosystem benefits through urban food production were calculated in this analysis. The assessment is conducted using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) methods and mathematical calculations. Research outcomes suggest that calculating impacts of different sustainability factors in different density precincts or local scale urban forms could provide clues for developing relevant sustainability strategies for various urban development projects. The methodology developed could be applied to designing new and retrofitting existing developments. Different density urban forms would require varying strategies to become sustainable