REPRESENTATIVES FROM THE URBAN DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA VISITED GEMLIFE GOLD COAST LATE LAST MONTH TO RECOGNISE THE ENVIRONMENTAL EXCELLENCE OF THE RESORT
In February, the landmark resort at Pimpama received EnviroDevelopment certification in five out of six elements – ecosystems, waste, energy, materials, and community.
Nelson Wills, UDIA EnviroDevelopment board member and Taylor Hood, UDIA Director of Sustainability and Research officially presented GemLife Director and CEO, Adrian Puljich
with the EnviroDevelopment certification in recognition of the resort’s exceptional sustainability outcomes.
EnviroDevelopment is a national rating tool created by the UDIA to provide independent verification of a project’s sustainability performance. GemLife Gold Coast is the company’s first development to be put forward for the rigorous assessment process.
“GemLife Gold Coast is an exemplary example of interweaving environmental sustainability measures,” said Nelson. “Of note is the sensitive koala habitat restoration work that is being undertaken over many hectares.
“And being able to achieve 90 percent reuse and recycle of construction waste is quite a feat. On the energy side, it’s remarkable that each residence is to be equipped with a 5kW solar system that will feed into a communal 2mW communal battery.”
The $200 million GemLife Gold Coast resort will set the environmental benchmark for future GemLife resorts as well as lead the industry, said Adrian.
“We’re very proud of our collaboration with the UDIA to develop sustainable, innovative practices across the land lease communities here in Queensland and right across Australia,” he said.
“GemLife Gold Coast is truly a class-leading and innovative development that allows us to showcase our wares and provide sustainable and innovative practices providing tangible benefits and outcomes for both homeowners and the wider community.”
The UDIA’s EnviroDevelopment program has been recognised nationally since 2010.
“The relationship we’re building with GemLife is important,” said Taylor. “Over-50s lifestyle resorts sit well within a sustainability point of view and we’re really happy to be integrating our technical standards within these projects.
“GemLife Gold Coast is a fantastic example of how they’ve been able to go above and beyond the standards we’ve asked for – notably the koala conservation site and of course the extensive solar panels feeding into communal batteries onsite.
“All of these initiatives tie in together and we’re looking forward to working with GemLife to certify more projects in their portfolio.”