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Since 1991, the East Perth Redevelopment Authority (EPRA) has been responsible for the redevelopment of more than 220 hectares of inner city land in Perth, from East Perth to Northbridge.
Challenge
With the objective of integrating sustainability into it's operations, EPRA commissioned GHD to develop a Sustainability Assessment Tool incorporating a revised set of corporate objectives that facilitates:
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The visioning, masterplanning and subsequent implementation of projects |
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The assessment and comparison of projects by EPRA over time |
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The degree of achievement of its corporate objectives |
GHD was then commissioned by EPRA to conduct an evaluation, of the sustainability impacts of several project Master Plans managed by the authority.
Solutions
In the development of communities, sustainability means much more than considering ever-important environmental issues. It represents the entire and intertwined approach of creating communities that are self supporting in all areas such as employment, waste reduction, delivery of services, social support, cultural identity and transit oriented development.
To undertake the assessment, GHD developed a tailored Sustainability Assessment Tool for evaluating the EPRA projects and developing the Masterplans. Based on a range of quantitative and qualitative indicators as well as sustainability criteria (economic, social and environmental factors), the tool provides an overall representation of net community benefit generated by each of the identified options. The result is a powerful mechanism for the comparison of development options on a sustainability basis and enhanced transparency of the evaluation process.
One of the most valuable aspects of the Assessment Tool is that it operationalises EPRA's various policies and integrates them in the organisation's objective, criteria, indicators and targets. Of particular importance are the key performance targets that are crucial in converting policy intent into specific outcomes on a project-by-project basis.
The masterplan assessment was conducted by the project team, which discussed each corporate objective and the factors affecting each scenario. Likely outcomes were evaluated to determine the score to be applied to each criteria. It was agreed that low scoring criteria would be investigated in order to devise an optimum outcome.
Outcomes
Facilitated by GHD, the EPRA sustainability assessments highlighted areas that were favourable for particular development options, and revealed areas that needed improvement. These reviews promoted detailed discussion of options and led to the development of further scenarios for projects that helped address the issues identified with enhanced sustainability outcomes. In addition, Implementation Plans are documented to make sure the sustainability objectives are met both during construction of the project and on an ongoing basis after completion.
More information
Joanne Stewart,
joanne.stewart@ghd.com.au
T: 61 8 6222 8784
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