The Building Code of Australia will adopt five-star energy efficiency measures for new homes from May 1, raising concerns about the potential impact on construction costs.
The Building Code of Australia will adopt five-star energy efficiency measures for new homes from May 1, raising concerns about the potential impact on construction costs.
A phase-in time of 12 months is expected to help the market adjust to the new provisions, which will require external walls to meet higher thermal performance levels, higher quality insulation and external glazing for a new home.
Department of Environment and Heritage figures indicate the building sector is one of the fastest growing sources of greenhouse gases, with energy used in buildings accounting for 27 per cent of all energy-related greenhouse gases.
Housing Industry Association WA executive director John Dastlik said the regulations would not apply to existing homes. He said the government was continually adding to the cost of housing through additional regulations, and the five-star requirements were no exception.
“The government has under-estimated the cost of the five-star requirements to consumers, par-ticularly if building in harsher climatic zones like the Great Southern region where meeting the energy efficiency criteria would represent significant additional cost,” Mr Dastlik told WA Business News.
He said that, when analysing the cost versus value of the scheme, the five-star regulations would not provide any measurable improvement to energy efficiency on existing four-star regulations.
Many people would not be able to afford the additional thousands of dollars the new requirements represent, he said.
Mr Dastlik said consumers should be able to choose energy efficient measures that would suit them, and suggested the sustainable demonstration home located in Subiaco as an example of energy efficient and passive solar design that could be applied to all budgets and in all regions.
The home was built by Glenway Homes and designed by Solar Dwellings. Open for public viewing for the past two years, it combines ecologically sensitive design and technologies.
Master Builders Association director of housing Gavin Forster said the five-star regulations were particularly bad news for regional areas with new housing, especially of frame construction, costing an additional $10,000 for a typical home to meet the energy efficiency rating.
Mr Forster said consumers should drive energy efficiency provisions, and that a significant proportion of the energy lost from homes was through “consumer usage” rather than through the building structure.
“People typically stay in a home for five years, and when presented with the additional costs on top of the mortgage, many may avoid spending too much to save little in the time they are there,” he said.
Mr Forster said the LandCorp estate at Harvest Lakes in Atwell was a good example of a scheme where developers encouraged new residents to adopt energy efficient measures by providing a $5,000 rebate on all new homes.
“The only way to increase take up is if developers give residents a direct payment,” he said.
Mr Dastlik said more public education was necessary to encourage new homeowners to “go green”, as energy charges had not increased for eight years.
The Department of Housing and Works is currently undertaking an independent review to measure the cost impact to consumers of the five-star energy efficiency regulations, with findings due early may.
The introduction of energy provisions into the BCA in 2003 followed wide consultation between the federal government and the building industry to devise a comprehensive strategy aimed at making homes and commercial buildings more energy efficient.