For the next few years, house-hunters comparing energy credentials across borders will meet both old and new scales.
Articles on Energy ratings
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Before buying or renting your next home, take a closer look at how it will cope with the heat. Try this expert 12-point guide to avoiding ‘hot boxes’.
Improving the performance of nearly 11 million existing homes will make a much bigger difference to housing energy costs and emissions than an incoming 7-star energy standard for new homes.
Almost 8 million Aussie homes lack sufficient insulation, use sub-par heating and cooling equipment, or are badly designed. These homes account for 18% of Australia’s emissions.
Analysis of 5,500 apartment developments across Australia found many individual units were far below the average energy ratings for the complex as a whole.
Victoria’s $800 million energy efficiency plan promises to lower power bills, make homes more comfortable and help meet our climate goals. It’s high time other states picked this low-hanging fruit.
Buyers and renters are very rarely told the energy rating of housing, but don’t blame the agents. As it’s voluntary for existing homes, very few are rated, so it’s not a big factor in the market.
Builders compete for customers by touting the features of their homes. Some builders promote ‘six-star’ home energy ratings in ways that could mislead consumers and breach Australian Consumer Law.
Buyers pay more for a home they know has a good energy rating. That’s worth an extra 2.4-9.4% in the only part of Australia where energy ratings must be disclosed at the time of sale.
Buildings are central to creating more sustainable cities, and green ratings are often used to assess how well a building measures up against this goal. But the current system has serious flaws.
While new buildings may be the glamorous eco-home pinups, retrofitting existing homes is the main game when it comes to creating energy-efficient, comfortable housing stock for all Australians.
The law says that newly built houses should have a six-star energy rating, to help residents afford their heating and cooling bills. But some builders seem to be findings ways around this requirement.
Homebuyers want energy-efficient homes. The challenge is to present the relevant information in a way that taps into the typical house-hunter’s mindset.
Top contributors
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Associate Professor in Property, Construction and Project Management, RMIT University
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Associate Deputy Vice Chancellor in Research & Innovation, RMIT University
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Associate Professor in Housing, School of Property, Construction and Project Management, RMIT University
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PhD candidate, Curtin University
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Professor of Housing Research, Adelaide University
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Lecturer In Construction, Deakin University
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Professor at the Lancaster Environment Centre and previously co-director of the DEMAND Centre, Lancaster University
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Operations & Project Manager, Swinburne University of Technology
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Research Fellow in Climate Change Adaptation, La Trobe University
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Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the Sustainable Buildings Research Centre, University of Wollongong
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Senior Lecturer, School of Property, Construction and Project Management, RMIT University
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Research Team Leader, CSIRO
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Associate Professor in Property, The University of Melbourne
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Senior Industry Fellow, Environment and Planning, RMIT University
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PhD Candidate, Energy, University of Galway; Atlantic Technological University