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.
The Trump administration is rolling back a regulation that requires showerheads to conserve water, which saved owners an average of US$70 and nearly 3,000 gallons of water yearly per showerhead.
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.
Voters who own housing are strongly invested in increasing the value of their wealth-generating assets. And they strongly favour the Coalition, which knows to protect their interests.
The first floating offshore wind turbine “floatgen” is pictured off La Turballe, western France on September 28 2018.
Sebastien Salom Gomis/AFP
Can Europe’s response to the Covid-19 health crisis put its economy on a greener path? To help answer this question, the recent GEM Energy Barometer polled around 100 energy experts in France.
Better energy efficiency lowers electricity bills, manages energy demand and helps the climate. Unfortunately, Australia is going nowhere on this cheap, simple measure.
Homes powered by renewable energy in Denmark.
Maria Galvin/Shutterstock
Governments are throwing billions of taxpayer dollars on stimulus measures after COVID-19. But they must do it diligently, and transparently.
Lochiel Park in South Australia has demonstrated the benefits of building homes to a higher standard – a minimum 7.5-star rating in this case.
Stephen Berry/UniSA
There has never been a better time for public money to go into improving the performance of Australian housing. We could have cut household bills and emissions, as well as saving construction jobs.
A long-term housing stimulus package that focuses on retrofitting to cut energy demand would also help households repay the debts being accumulated during this crisis.
Artist rendition of the National Western Center, a net-zero campus under construction in Denver to house multiple activities.
City and County of Denver | Mayor’s Office of the National Western Center
Net zero energy buildings produce at least as much energy as they use. Designing whole net zero campuses and communities takes the energy and climate benefits to a higher level.
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.