A new benchmark has been set in ecologically sustainable development by innovative development company, Landmatters, with the creation of Australia's first self sufficient residential community of its size, The Ecovillage at Currumbin on Queensland's Gold Coast.

Embraced within picturesque Currumbin Valley and with world heritage rainforests providing a lush back drop, 110-hectare Ecovillage is located just 7 minutes and 7km from the water's edge. The EcoVillage, which won the "2007 Best Sustainable Development" award by the Urban Development Institute of Australia, is one of the largest fully sustainable communities in the world with 144 eco-homes and numerous facilities around a small village centre. As well, the development has achieved a full six-category accreditation with Australia's EnviroDevelopment programme, a scientifically-based branding system designed to make it easier for home buyers to recognise and select more environmentally sustainable homes and lifestyles.

As a Queensland Government Energywise and Waterwise Demonstration project, the aim of the development is to preserve and enhance the current beauty of the site by improving biodiversity, nurturing regeneration of the land and becoming a leading example of sustainable community living.

Solar power has been harnessed to provide energy for the homes and roofing made from COLORBOND® steel is used across the development to help achieve thermal efficiency and meet the requirements of today's sustainable building practices. Also, almost all homes feature gutters, fascia and downpipes made from COLORBOND® steel, as well as a BlueScope Water rainwater tank to efficiently collect all rainwater run off and minimise water wastage. Beyond the actual home construction, the development itself has a variety of features to promote a sustainable lifestyle, such as the small friendly laneways in place of traditional roads and a network of bike and pedestrian tracks to reduce the dominance of vehicles.

Kerry Shepherd, sales and marketing director for Landmatters, explains: "When designing The Ecovillage, our main concern was that it would be self sufficient in energy consumption, water use and wastewater recycling. In order to achieve this, it was important to choose building materials such as roofing and rainwater goods made from steel that could help deliver sustainable living."

Simon Charrington, market development manager at BlueScope Steel, added: "COLORBOND® steel has long been recognised for its suitability for projects of this nature. In this instance, the roofing, gutters, fascia, downpipes and tanks all help to maximise the reuse of rainwater and therefore reduce the strain on limited water resources.

Roofing made from COLORBOND® steel can help the environment further by reducing the need for air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter by being thermally efficient." As well, steel roofing is ideal for sustainable projects as it is energy efficient, durable, 100 percent recyclable and climatically orientated to give maximum comfort and minimum energy use to the homeowner by reflecting summer heat and retaining warmth in the winter.

As well as focusing on sustainable housing, The Ecovillage is committed to maintaining the community's surrounding wildlife with 80 per cent of the site dedicated open space and 50 per cent of this environmental reserve.

The Ecovillage is a Queensland Government Energywise and Waterwise Demonstration Project, part of the Sustainable Urban Development Programme joint initiative between the Queensland Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and UDIA. The first stage of The Ecovillage, "Creek Ecohamlets," has experienced strong interest by home buyers, and sales for the second stage development, "Valley Terraces," already have begun.

Click here to learn more about The Ecovillage

Key information

Living area (m2)	Varies by home design
New-build home

Location of steel solutions

Roofs
Gutters
Fascia
Gutter systems
Water systems

Location of steel solutions

Long carbon steel
Metallic coated flat carbon steel
Organic coated flat carbon steel