Scape switches to electrification for greener student accommodation
Delivering sustainability learnings for the residential apartment market
Scape Australia, with CEFC backing, is electrifying its portfolio of purpose-built student accommodation across four capital cities, while looking to optimise building energy use with behind-the-meter load-shifting initiatives.
$50 million
CEFC investment
17,000
student beds
Electrification
program
Our buildings are homes for thousands of young people, and we have a responsibility to lead by example – cutting emissions, removing fossil fuels, and hardwiring sustainability into the way we design, retrofit and operate. Working with the CEFC enables us to accelerate that transformation and set a new benchmark for the student housing and residential sectors alike.Craig CarracherFounder and Joint CEO of The Living Company
Our investment
The first CEFC investment in a large-scale residential electrification project focusing on existing buildings commits $50 million to the Scape Core Fund.
Australian student accommodation provider Scape Australia (Scape), by The Living Company (TLCO.), will use the investment to remove gas infrastructure from up to 20 buildings.
The CEFC investment also:
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Backs a pilot program to test behind-the-meter load-shifting initiatives to optimise how the buildings use energy. By installing advanced metering and control technologies, the buildings can manage their energy demand and respond to price signals from the grid, making electrification more cost-effective.
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Supports Scape to explore the use of PassivHaus principles in new developments. PassivHaus principles have been shown to achieve improvements in overall energy efficiency of up to 70 per cent, when compared with other high performing buildings.
In 2017, the CEFC financed a 428-bed project in Waymouth Street in Adelaide, to lift the benchmark for student accommodation. The finance was repaid in 2019 when the property, which was part of a larger student accommodation platform, was sold to Scape. Scape has student accommodation in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.
OUR IMPACT
Future-proofing through electrification
Up to eighty per cent of the buildings that will exist in 2050 are already built, and current retrofit rates are below what is needed to meet Australia’s net zero targets. Globally, the IEA estimates that around 20 per cent of existing building floor area will need to be renovated by 2030 to reach lower emissions targets.1
Adapting and repurposing existing buildings and electrifying residential accommodation are recognised as significant steps in reducing greenhouse gases and future-proofing residences.2
The scope for decarbonising residential apartments is significant with these buildings typically lagging behind commercial properties in sustainability performance.
Demonstrating decarbonisation at scale
The Scape electrification of a national portfolio of student accommodation at scale is an important step in addressing the challenges in electrifying existing buildings. The project sets a pathway for cutting emissions across the broader residential sector by getting Australian homes off gas faster.
1 IEA, Building Envelopes, 2022.
2 GBCA, A practical guide to electrification: For existing buildings, 2022.
