Apartment living energy program
Do you live in an apartment and would you like to live in a more comfortable building powered by renewable electricity?
More than 30 percent of Hornsby Shire residents live in apartment buildings and townhouses. The Apartment Living Energy Program supports apartment buildings and strata schemes to reduce their energy use and save money.
Sustainable and energy efficient apartments can lower energy bills and reduce maintenance costs. Some of the best energy projects for strata are:
- installing solar and electric vehicle charging
- lighting upgrades in common areas
- variable speed drives on pumps and fans
- carbon monoxide sensors for car park fans
- lift upgrades
- heat pumps for domestic hot water and pool heating
- decommissioning central air conditioning systems.
There are also things you can do inside your apartment like:
- thick curtains and pelmets
- DIY films on windows
- efficient cooling and heating
- minimising standby power
- smart lighting.
Read the Energy Efficiency for Strata(PDF, 524KB) fact sheet for more ideas.
Sustainability on the strata agenda
From the 1 July 2025, every strata scheme in NSW needs to consider sustainability at every annual general meeting (AGM). Also, it is now necessary for every NSW strata scheme to include sustainability infrastructure each time they update the capital works plan for the building.
Solar for strata
Yes, you can install solar on strata buildings. There are four main options depending on your strata type.
- Individual solar/battery systems can be connected to individual lot electricity meters, e.g. townhouses or villas.
- A solar/battery system can be connected to the common area meter.
- A shared solar/battery system can be connected to individual apartment meters and/or the common area meter.
- Where an embedded electrical network is present, the solar/battery system can be connected to the gate meter.
Read the Solar and Batteries for Strata(PDF, 535KB) fact sheet for more detailed information The NSW Government is now running the Solar for Apartment Residents (SoAR) grant program, it provides funding to support the installation of solar panels on eligible apartment buildings and other multi-unit dwellings in NSW.
Electric vehicle (EV) charging for strata
A survey of 700 strata residents across Sydney found that 78 percent were in favour of installing EV Charging. There are some technical details to consider such as electrical capacity, charging load management, where to put a charger and how you could expand E charger access over time. Read the Electric Vehicle Charging in Strata(PDF, 509KB) fact sheet for more detailed information.
Webinars for strata
Council is running webinars for strata in August and September:
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