The NSW government has released a new tool designed to guide development of not just greener homes and buildings, but entire suburbs.
Precinx analyses and guides sustainable performance in the planning of neighbourhoods.
"Precinx uses real performance data to predict the sustainability of new developments, bringing ways to achieve sustainable but also affordable housing to the forefront of neighbourhood planning," said planning minister, Kristina Keneally.
"This program will inform developers on the most sustainable way a housing estate can be built in a specific location, factoring in the local geography and climate."
Landcom's director of Sustainability, Stephen Driscoll, says Precinx was developed to help Landcom with its business and to promote environmentally sustainable outcomes in the development industry.
"Precinx is a mathematical diagnostic tool that assesses environmental, economic and social performance of large-scale projects. It looks across suburbs at six inter-related input modules - on-site energy, embodied CO2, potable water, stormwater, housing diversity and transport - that feed into four key performance indicators."
These indicators are greenhouse gases (CO2/year), potable water (kLH2O/year), total affordability ($/week) and vehicle hours travelled (hours/week).
Landcom will be piloting the program at all new developments, with a longer-term view to making the software more widely available with private sector developers and public agencies.
