Saving the earth and saving you money

Harnessing clean, green and sustainable energy to power our homes is no longer something the inner-city trendies talk about.

Protecting the environment by lowering your carbon footprint and at the same time saving substantial amounts on energy bills is easy to do when you live at a Stockland Halcyon community.

Channel 9's weatherman Garry Youngberry hosts a special video which explores the green credentials of Stockland’s Halcyon Greens at Pimpama on the Gold Coast, a community designed for over 50s built as an island oasis, adjacent to the Gainsborough Greens golf course and surrounded by the 300 acre Nyamul Wildlife Sanctuary.

Stockland Halcyon's General Manager of Sales and Construction Scott Ng said Stockland Halcyon’s commitment to each project starts at the very beginning of each project.

"We make sure we have plans in place to ensure the ecosystems that our homeowners are living in are maintained," he said.

“What that’s attracted to the area is a multitude of wildlife, we have new bird species and lots of koalas.”

"Our homeowners are constantly taking beautiful photographs of the nature all around them."

Queensland's Minister for Housing and Public Works Mick de Brenni toured Stockland’s Halcyon Greens and was impressed with the environmental considerations taken during construction.

"The properties themselves come with solar and they are built with the very latest in building materials," Minister de Brenni said.

"All of that saves money in construction, but importantly for the homeowner long term is that they save every single day."

More than 40 per cent of homes at Halcyon Greens have Tesla powerwalls in their homes, helping to provide power and lower costs.

The community currently has around 7500 solar panels, which is around 2100kw in panels and an estimated output of 8000kw a day, enough power to charge 130 Tesla cars per day.

Stockland Halcyon homeowner Marie May is featured in the video and reveals that she regularly uses an app for her Tesla battery wall, which gives a visual guide to her home's power consumption and whether she is self-powered each day.

“I do have to pinch myself sometimes to think that I am living here in this beautiful resort, with all the lovely people around me," she said.

"I do have to pinch myself to make sure I’m not dreaming."