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.
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.
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.
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.