15 January 2014 – They must have hit a nerve with the BASIX (Building Sustainability Index) Target Review with the New South Wales Government announcing an extension until February 14 for submissions on the proposed changes, due to the high level of interest from stakeholders.
The extension was in response to “considerable community and stakeholder interest”, a department spokeswoman said.
The interest is also evident in the strong comments on our previous article.
- See Getting the BASIX right in NSW will bring economic rewards
- See comments on the article from Dick Clarke who has serious concerns about compliance; Dr Chris Reardon, who said the ASIX benchmarks is indeed well overdue, but that “BASIX remains a world best practice regulatory tool”; David Eckstein, who wants other jurisdictions to match the standard; and Scott Hanson, who says that because “anyone can perform an assessment” (except on multi unit developments) “most houses in NSW are being designed and built without expertise in the areas of orientation, shading, glazing, insulation and materials” and are not properly checked.
Since 2004 BASIX ratings for water and energy efficiency have been a requirement for all new homes constructed in New South Wales, and the proposal is to increase the original targets by around 10 per cent, depending on region.
The state government is also proposing caps on heating and cooling, and changes to the zone boundaries and zone requirements in order to more closely reflect what is achievable and appropriate in the different regions and climates.
The Department of Planning and Infrastructure released the proposed changes to BASIX targets in December.
The proposal documents, reports and supporting research are available here. You can make a formal submission here or participate in an on-line survey here.