They say that good things come to those who wait and, when it comes to strengthening Australia’s minimum energy efficiency requirements for new homes, the wait has indeed been a long one.
In fact, it has been 12 years since there has been any meaningful change to these standards in the National Construction Code (NCC).
But important progress has finally been made with building ministers across Australia deciding to increase standards that will see the minimum energy performance requirements for residential buildings lifted from 6 to 7 stars (National Household Energy Rating Scheme equivalent), together with the introduction of a “whole-of-home” energy budget for fixed appliances, such as heating and cooling, hot water, lighting, and pool pumps.
The decision follows a three-year collaborative process led by the Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) and a strong advocacy campaign from an alliance of more than 100 organisations, including architects, health advocates, property developers, charities, and social housing providers.
Lower cost of living
With cost of living pressures mounting, the calls of this powerful campaign to reduce household energy costs found fertile ground.
National not-for-profit organisation Renew modelled energy use, energy bills, and upfront costs to homes, to test the impact of better energy performance requirements. Its research showed that 7-Star, net zero energy homes can cut bills by over $1000 a year for many households.
These energy bill savings are greater than the potential monthly home loan cost of meeting the higher performance levels. This means that housing affordability improves from the moment these increased standards are implemented.
The benefits extend far beyond the individual home-owner’s hip pocket.
Lifting energy standards reduces carbon emissions, creates healthier and more climate-resilient homes, and reduces pressure on the electricity grid at peak times.
In real terms, these modest changes will save the public $12.6 billion in additional network costs and cut wholesale power prices by up to 11% by 2050.
A win for social equity
It also makes good sense when it comes to social equity. Spending on energy as a proportion of income has increased for most households over the last decade, with people on low incomes spending disproportionately and significantly more of their income on energy bills.
Better home energy standards are a key measure that can reduce energy poverty and improve the health and wellbeing of people experiencing financial and social disadvantage.
Everyone living in new housing, including social housing and private rentals, will benefit.
This shifts the emphasis from the personal, where only those who have had the wherewithal to build beyond the current NCC requirements have benefited, to the collective, significantly enlarging the overall impact of these enhanced performance standards.
As important as the decision to raise energy efficiency requirements is, there is still much to be achieved.
There’s more to be done
There are more steps that must be taken, and fast. We now need to expand the dialogue on sustainable housing as part of the broader transition to renewable technologies.
Given that 11 per cent of Australia’s carbon emissions is from energy used in our homes, housing must be a central component of the shift away from fossil fuels.
More sustainable homes have a critical role to play in any ecologically responsible vision of the future and this ought to extend to existing housing stock.
Complementary actions such as low income retrofit programs, consumer labelling, setting minimum energy standards for rental homes, and social housing upgrades, can work alongside improved new home standards to provide a more holistic, multi-pronged approach.
Issues of climate resilience, cost of living, and equity all intersect in our homes and there can be no just transition that doesn’t include bringing all homes up to scratch.
Getting our homes off gas is another key move that needs to happen. The fact that new homes are still being hooked up to gas is a disappointing indicator of just how far we still have to go if Australia is serious about reaching net zero.
Stopping all new gas connections should form part of the next NCC review in 2025.
The Climate Change Bill 2022 is set to enshrine emissions reduction targets into law. Whether we see government take these next steps to improve housing efficiency standards will be a real test of its commitment to delivering on these targets.
To be sure, slow progress is better than no progress and lifting the current energy performance is to be commended, but we must still demand more. We can no longer afford the level of impotence that led to more than a decade-long wait to increase energy performance standards for new homes.
Government must dutifully address these issues, applying its political will to implement far-sighted legislative change to make truly sustainable homes the new normal.
This calls for nothing short of a revolutionary transformation of the way we build our homes that will ultimately change the way we all live for the better.
