Creating sustainable homes for Australians living with disabilities
Specialist disability accommodation gets green edge
Macquarie Asset Management has created a specialist disability platform to develop homes that are customised for people who are eligible for National Disability Insurance Scheme support to accelerate the delivery of sustainable housing.
$87m
CEFC equity
7.5 Star
NatHERS
1st
disability platform
We are delighted to be taking the next step in this journey by working with the CEFC to help even more people with disabilities access housing that is both high quality and energy efficient. CEFC’s investment is a vote of confidence in specialist disability accommodation as a social infrastructure asset class, and we look forward to working with them to further increase the supply of this much-needed accommodation across Australia.Ben BarryExecutive Director, Macquarie Asset Management
Our investment
The CEFC committed $87 million as a cornerstone equity investor in My Specialised Accommodation Solutions (MySAS) – an investment fund established by Macquarie Asset Management (MAM) to develop high quality sustainable housing for Australians living with disabilities.
As the CEFC works to support emissions reduction in the residential sector, its commitment to MySAS seeks to bring the benefits of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies to SDA to provide comfortable housing that optimises energy use.
MySAS* is developing a portfolio of specialist disability accommodation (SDA) across Australia that is well integrated into urban communities. The homes are targeting an average 7.5 stars under the Nationwide Housing Energy Rating System (NatHERS).
Energy monitoring with Wattwatchers
Wattwatchers, which has also received CEFC investment, is an example of the energy monitoring devices that are installed across MySAS dwellings to provide data that can help optimise energy use.
*Source: my-sas.com.au
our impact
Driving decarbonisation in disability housing
Energy use for those living with disabilities can be significantly higher than average Australian households, due to reliance on assistive technology.
MySAS works directly with high quality SDA providers and a network of supported independent living providers to drive better outcomes through collective action. The fund’s initial focus is on new-build properties in Australian mainland cities. All homes have been assessed for opportunities to meet current best practice for environmentally sustainable accommodation.
Building in sustainability
MySAS dwellings are designed to a high physical support standard, with final finishings completed once a specialist disability accommodation tenant has been identified.
Sustainability targets include:
- All dwellings to include a minimum 5 KW rooftop solar
- All dwellings to be fully electrified
- In-home real-time energy monitoring systems to calculate operating emissions.
Location specific features include:
- high-performing glass
- insulated floors, walls and ceilings
- window shading
- energy efficient air conditioning
- ceiling fans.
Influencing design outcomes
MySAS is working with builders to develop a range of standard housing designs which take advantage of passive solar design, natural light and ventilation and consider waste management solutions and material selection.
Supporting the growth of SDA
MAM has been engaged with the SDA sector since 2017, working with housing partners, government and other market players to help raise awareness and understanding of SDA, to support its growth towards becoming a stable asset class. SDA is designed for people with functional impairment or very high needs and aims to make accessing supports easier.
SDA can involve different built forms or designs – from shared homes to single resident villas and apartments.
