Construction is well underway on Australia’s largest residential development to incorporate leading geothermal heating and cooling technology.
Building on its leading sustainability credentials, Australand has begun work on its new Fairwater masterplanned community in Western Sydney.
An environmental first for new residential masterplanned communities in Australia, every one of the approximately 800 new home sites at Australand’s Fairwater community in Blacktown will have provision for the GeoAir geothermal heating and cooling system.
GeoAir technology is a cutting edge renewable energy source that could save residents on average up to 60 per cent in their energy costs compared to a standard air-conditioned home, based on equivalent house size and power usage.
Australand sustainability manager Paolo Bevilacqua said the project raises the bar for environmental performance at a community level and the cutting edge technology will be standard for each new home site at Fairwater.
“We investigated ways to reduce energy costs and improve efficiency and the benefits of the GeoAir systems were apparent after we piloted the geothermal technology for 24 months in our Lidcombe sales office,” he said.
Australand was responsible for the installation of QPS Geothermal’s first GeoAir geothermal system in Australia, enabling it to assess the performance of the technology before committing to the new development. Australand is also trialling the technology at one of its industrial warehouse developments in Eastern Creek where construction commenced just over a month ago.
“High Coefficients of Performance (COPs) equate to lower operating costs. Typical residential air conditioning systems have COPs on average of 3.1 to 3.7. GeoAir operates at COPs of up to 8.3, which makes it one of the most efficient heating and cooling products available on the market today," the company said.
How Geo works
The GeoAir technology works by using the earth’s constant temperature to heat and cool underground pipes.
The temperature difference in the ground varies much less than the above ground air. This constant temperature means geothermal heating and cooling achieves the desired internal temperature in the home using significantly less energy than traditional air conditioning.
The technology involves a pump sending refrigerant through an underground transmission loop which is about 40-80 metres deep. During this journey, the refrigerant assumes the same temperature as the surrounding earth, which is much cooler than the air in summer and much warmer in winter.
When the refrigerant returns to the surface, most of the cooling or heating has already taken place. In this system, the ground loops act as a condenser, removing the need for an external compressor.
A heat pump is used instead, which the company says is more efficient, quieter and safer. Inside the home, all the air conditioning components are the same as a standard ducted system.