Sustainable Design Assessments, Sustainability Management Plans and BESS reporting for planning permit applications.
Most councils require a development to demonstrate its environmental performance as part of the planning permit application. The deliverable is either a Sustainable Design Assessment (SDA) or a Sustainability Management Plan (SMP), depending on the scale of the works. Many councils require the assessment to use BESS, the Built Environment Sustainability Scorecard.
SDAs and SMPs assess a project's energy efficiency, stormwater management, indoor environment quality, water efficiency, transport, waste management and urban ecology. These include assessments such as NatHERS calculations and Blue Factor assessments.
Typically for smaller projects, an SDA demonstrates that a threshold has been met, where an SMP forms a broader argument and justification for the sustainability measures in the project. BESS covers water, stormwater, indoor environment quality, transport, waste, urban ecology and construction management, and the pass condition is not a single number. An overall score of 50 per cent is required, with minimums in energy, water and indoor environment quality, and a stormwater category that must reach 100 per cent.
Studio Bun offers a holistic approach, developing a preliminary report outlining required compliance measures, and offering a clear pathway to council approval.
Environmental performance assessment and reporting for planning permit applications, delivered as a Sustainable Design Assessment or a Sustainability Management Plan, with the supporting BESS assessment where the responsible authority uses it.
A Sustainable Design Assessment is generally required for smaller residential developments of two to nine dwellings and small non-residential projects. A Sustainability Management Plan is typically required for developments of ten or more dwellings, mixed use and larger commercial projects. Both address energy, water, stormwater, indoor environment quality, transport, waste, urban ecology and construction management.
Required by developers, architects and owners at planning permit stage in councils with an adopted ESD policy, which includes most metropolitan Melbourne municipalities and a growing number of regional ones.
Stage 1 — Project Initiation. Studio Bun reviews your drawings, confirms whether the council requires a Sustainable Design Assessment or a Sustainability Management Plan and which assessment tool applies, and issues a proposed pathway together with a fixed fee covering the full process.
Stage 2 — Preliminary Assessment & Design Advice. The proposed design is assessed and scored against the applicable ESD policy. We issue a Preliminary Assessment Report setting out what is required for compliance. This stage identifies the key challenges to the project and the improvements available, whether to exceed compliance or to reduce the cost of meeting it.
Stage 3 — Design Iteration & Optimisation. Between the preliminary and final reports, we allow two rounds of changes to the design, and a meeting to review the recommendations. From here we can focus on cost efficiency or on performance, as the project requires.
Stage 4 — Final Reporting. Once the design is settled, we issue the final Sustainable Design Assessment or Sustainability Management Plan with the supporting scorecard, ready for submission with your planning application. Responses to council requests for further information beyond those included are charged at an additional rate.
Review of architectural, landscape and services documentation
Confirmation of the applicable council ESD policy, targets and required report type
BESS assessment, or the equivalent tool required by the responsible authority
Stormwater assessment to satisfy the stormwater category, coordinated with the WSUD scope where engaged
Preliminary energy assessment through the NatHERS pathway, where applicable
Assessment of water efficiency, energy usage, indoor environment quality and green travel plans
A preliminary report identifying which categories fall short and the options to lift them
A commitments schedule setting out what the score relies on
Two rounds of minor changes between preliminary report and finalisation
A final Sustainable Design Assessment or Sustainability Management Plan for submission
A few items sit outside this scope and can be quoted separately:
Green Star and NABERS accreditation, which are separate certification streams
Section J and NatHERS compliance reporting and certification for building permit (available as their own services)
Waste management reports
Acoustic assessments
Mechanical, electrical or hydraulic design
Landscape design and planting schedules
Native vegetation and biodiversity assessment beyond the urban ecology category (see biodiversity sensitive urban design)
More than two rounds of changes affecting the content of the preliminary report before submission to council
Responses to council requests for further information beyond two rounds
Post permit compliance verification and reporting
This service assumes a residential, mixed use or commercial development in a council with an adopted ESD policy, with architectural, landscape and site plans sufficiently developed to assess.
Studio Bun offers fixed sum packages for ESD planning reports, priced on the number of dwellings, the development type and whether a Sustainable Design Assessment or a Sustainability Management Plan is required. This service can be packaged with NatHERS certification if required.
Contact us for a quote.
Do I need an SDA or an SMP?
It depends on scale, and the thresholds are set council by council. As a general rule a Sustainable Design Assessment covers two to nine dwellings and smaller non residential projects, while a Sustainability Management Plan applies from ten dwellings up, and to mixed use and larger commercial developments. We confirm which your council requires before any fee is agreed.
What is BESS?
The Built Environment Sustainability Scorecard, developed by the Council Alliance for a Sustainable Built Environment and used by around thirty Victorian councils. It scores a development across energy, water, stormwater, indoor environment quality, transport, waste, urban ecology and construction management, and produces the evidence that sits behind the report.
What score do I need to pass?
An overall score of at least 50 per cent, with minimums of 50 per cent in energy, water and indoor environment quality. Stormwater is the exception: that category must reach 100 per cent, which in practice means meeting best practice targets through a STORM rating or a compliant MUSIC model.
Can this be done after the planning permit is lodged?
In some cases, it can, but it is the most expensive approach. The report is generally a requirement of the application, and if the design does not score well the changes needed to lift it are the kind that are cheap on paper and costly once a permit has been sought.
Do you do the stormwater report as well?
Yes, and it is usually more economical to run them together. The stormwater category has to reach 100 per cent for the scorecard to pass, so the two pieces of work overlap substantially.
Send through your drawings and site plans for a fixed-fee quote.
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