Additionally, does Hebel require acid washing like bricks do? Because the builder is less likely to munt the finish on your aluminium windows if that acid washing isn't needed (I sadly speak from experience).
We'd probably have gone with Hebel and put up with the 10-yearly need to re-render (or at least paint), if the builder had been set-up to use Hebel. They offered it, but because it was a rare exception for them, it was considerably more expensive so we went with the low-maintenance face-brick instead. In a way I was glad, because rendered houses look very 1997 to me, and Sydney probably doesn't "need" the extra insulation (ie. it'd have made little difference to me). But … if the Hebel doesn't need acid washing, then in conditional hindsight I wish we'd paid the extra for the Hebel!
youre right, but with hebel you will put a 10mm coating of acrylic render over it which is super tough.
If you use a Rockcote colour in the render you should get 20 years out of it