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.
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Articles on Energy ratings
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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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Senior Industry Fellow, RMIT University
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Senior Lecturer, School of Property, Construction and Project Management, RMIT University
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Senior Lecturer, School of Property, Construction and Project Management, RMIT 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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Ronald Henderson Research Fellow Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research & Brotherhood of St Laurence, The University of Melbourne
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Associate Professor, QUT Law, Faculty of Business and Law, Queensland University of Technology
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Research Director: Grids and Energy Efficient Systems, CSIRO
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Research Fellow at the Sustainable Buildings Research Centre, University of Wollongong
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Senior Professor, Sustainable Buildings Research Centre (SBRC), University of Wollongong
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Associate Deputy Vice Chancellor, Research & Innovation, College of Design & Social Context, RMIT University, RMIT University
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Professor of Housing Research, University of Adelaide
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Associate Professor in Property, The University of Melbourne
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Operations & Project Manager, Swinburne University of Technology
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PhD candidate, Curtin University
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Senior Lecturer, School of Property, Construction and Project Management, RMIT University
