Fairwater Living Lab

2 policy workshops

With NSW Department of Planning and Environment to inform future policy

1 Property Sector Conference

Sharing precinct-level insight at Green Building Council of Australia

1 Property Sector Workshop

Internal workshop with Frasers Property Australia to inform future decision making

40 houses

With active household participation in surveys

216 monitors

Capturing data about energy, water, indoor and outdoor conditions and gas – learning useful information about energy use

2 reports

Delivered to ARENA, generating insights on the change in energy use

Key insights

Testing the commercial viability, as well as the energy consumption, emissions, cost of living and urban heat island impacts, of the use of renewable thermal energy heat pumps in Australia.

Project Summary

Final Annual Report

Project objectives

Now completed, the Fairwater Living Laboratory project assessed the performance of renewable thermal energy heat pumps in the Australian context. The key outcomes explored in the project were:

Reduced peak demand and total consumption for grid energy was demonstrated;
Actual energy performance of the GSHP systems and reduced cost of living for residents (compared to business as usual) were quantified;
Economic benefits to the developer, residents and the distribution network service providers were calculated;
Technical and commercial evidence base required to reduce the level of electricity network augmentation in future similar projects was established and the commercial merits of industry-wide adoption of GSHP technologies and systems approaches in residential greenfield developments were produced;
Improved urban heat island outcomes by avoiding reject heat into the local air during cooling operations (compared against a similar nearby site) were demonstrated.

Why was this project needed?

In Australia, residential buildings are responsible for approximately 12% of overall emissions. Heat stress causes adverse health impacts, discomfort, and household economic pressure through higher energy costs for cooling.

With rising temperatures rise due to the effects of climate change, “urban heat island effect,” and is a major threat facing medium- high- density housing developments. As our cities grow, it is increasingly urgent to explore strategies for cooling, including vegetation, bodies of water, shading, and energy.

Ground-source heat pump technology can halve heating, cooling and hot water loads compared to air-source heat exchange, with proportional carbon savings. They have the biggest demand reduction on the hottest and coldest days of the years, which provides a significant reduction in peak demand as well as total electricity consumption, dramatically lowering electricity costs for the residents. However, upfront capital cost and a lack of industry experience with the technology is a barrier to their widespread uptake in new housing developments in Australia.