Background

“You manage what you measure”: an axiom that has driven businesses in recent generations to constantly improve and strive for better value. It is understandable that until recently Australia has not considered the sustainability of its homes because the combination of temperate climates and cheap energy has meant it wasn’t necessary.

Energy efficiency requirements have been in the Building Code of Australia (BCA)/National Construction Code (NCC) since 2003, and since 2005 have been a mandatory requirement for building approval. Since that time, the awareness of building sustainability has increased through government decisions to increase minimum regulatory requirement, the successful Green Star and NABERs programs for commercial buildings, and the tireless work of many organisations and individuals.

Internationally, building sustainability has also become a significant issue with many countries – in particular the UK – setting policy targets to dramatically improve building sustainability, rather than just energy efficiency.

Against this background, Australia’s energy efficiency targets are falling behind international comparisons, not only through the delayed introduction of 6 star minimum legislation, but also the exclusive focus on energy efficiency.

Aim

The development of new building metrics that are aligned to the national carbon abatement policy goals, can be easily communicated to households, and facilitate improvement benchmarking.

Principles

·         Government can most effectively direct the market toward more sustainable housing through the establishment of appropriate, transparent and practical sustainable housing metrics

·         Houses built today will shape Australia’s energy demands until the end of the century. Minimum regulation is required to ensure that market barriers do not impede the transition to more sustainable housing, however, not all sustainable housing metrics require regulation.

·         Housing is a long life infrastructure that is more expensive to upgrade to improve energy efficiency than to construct to minimum standards.

·         Metrics should promote the outcome, not the process

·         National consistency of building metrics across all states and territories

Policy Solutions

·         Extension of metrics beyond heating & cooling loads to include other sustainability indicators (ie water, waste and embodied energy), all of which are translated to carbon dioxide equivalents

·         A sustainable housing framework understood by consumers that uses

o    Return on Investment & cash flow analysis to communicate the benefits of improved building sustainability rather than net present value or cost-benefit analysis

o    A range of energy indicators that link to consumer’s energy bills (ie kWh) and common understanding (kWh per annum or Co2^-e per annum), rather than benchmarking indicators such as MJ/m²

·         Minimum sustainability regulations for buildings to ‘raise the floor’ of building sustainability performance

·         Introduction of best practice indicators for the residential sector comparable with Green Star to inspire the builders and designers

·         Establishment and use of a national database to record the sustainability features (both fixed and plug-in) of existing houses

·         Expansion of tools to cover the whole life cycle

Action

·         Establishment of a specific residential building research institute based on the R&D corporation model used commonly in the agricultural and training sectors

·         Development of a sustainable housing framework understood by consumers that uses

o    Return on Investment & cash flow analysis to communicate the benefits of improved building sustainability rather than net present value or cost-benefit analysis

o    A range of energy indicators that link to consumer’s energy bills (ie kWh) and common understanding (kWh per annum or Co2^-e per annum), rather than benchmarking indicators such as MJ/m²