State and territory governments recently introduced reforms to the National Construction Code designed to ensure homes of the future are climate change ready.
The reforms, which start in May, include an agreement to update the minimum energy efficiency requirement for new residential construction projects from six to seven stars. This will include requirements for additional energy efficiency measures on insulation, solar power, and glazing, as well as the need to make new homes EV ready.
It is a pretty big change. However, it is a change the development industry needs sooner rather than later.
The reforms highlighted that as developers, we hold a critical role in creating a sustainable future, one that makes reducing carbon emissions easy for our customers, particularly through EV use.
In 2020 just 0.75 per cent of new car sales in Australia were EVs. Norway boasts the biggest proportion of all new cars sold, with EVs comprising 70 per cent of the market.
Why is this the case? Because Australia simply did not have the infrastructure, supply or requirements to support the introduction of EVs. Every other developed country, other than Australia and Russia, have minimum requirements for fuel efficiency standards and the introduction of EVs.
There is no doubt this needs to change. These reforms were the first step, and developers can help by installing the infrastructure needed in tomorrow’s world today, and by planning accordingly.
Not only will this encourage a more sustainable future, but it will also result in a cheaper one.
Picture this, a resident moves into an apartment building with an EV and nowhere to charge it. The cost to incorporate a charging point could weigh heavily on everyone else in the building, with upgrades potentially costing tens of thousands of dollars.
Incorporating charging infrastructure into such construction projects would not only prevent this, but it will help to break down barriers to EV ownership and boost consumer confidence in EVs.
But it doesn’t stop there. In addition to incorporating chargers, developers need to have a plan for how charging will work in their apartment projects.
If every car in the complex was charging at the same time, it would be very costly.
Developers need to include systems that will schedule the majority of EV charging to off-peak times when electricity will be cheaper, such as at night when residents are sleeping and there is spare network capacity.
There is also a need to incorporate costs in a way that doesn’t impact residents who are not using EVs. This could be done through specified strata fees or an external network provider.
Monarch Apartments in Glenside, SA, incorporate this, which means EV infrastructure must be installed in a way that services all cars in the building. This includes switchboard sizing, off peak load management and cable trays for future EV charging installations.
Coupled with a multitude of other environmental features, the future proofing consideration here contributed to early success, achieving 70 per cent sold out within 3 months of launching and a 7.7 Star NatHERS rating. As a result, the apartments began construction five months ahead of schedule.
We have already installed EV chargers in our Huntington Apartments in Victoria, and they are proposed for our Aster Apartments at Jackson Green in Clayton South.
To break down the EV barrier, residents at Aster and Huntington Apartments will also be able to hire an electric vehicle, a Tesla Model Three by the hour. We are hoping the program will encourage uptake of EV’s in Australia, and is the first car sharing initiative at Cedar Woods.
There is no doubt our customers are becoming more environmentally conscious and increasingly they are expecting energy efficient features in homes.
Planning for tomorrow will future-proof today’s projects, with all aspects from initial design through to approvals and the cost of electricity to be considered in development projects that are currently in the early-stages.
With these new reforms, it’s only a matter of time before this becomes the new standard, and when it does, it’s important it’s done right, ready for a sustainable future.
The new NCC does not mandate, require or encourage new free-standing homes or townhouses to include Solar PV and EV infrastructure. This was an immense shortfall that was advocated for by multiple parties. It only stipulates the inclusion of solar PV and EV infrastructure for apartments (i.e. Class 2 builds), not Class 1.
The new NCC provisions do not mandate nor encourage new, standard, everyday homes to provide solar PV panels or EV infrastructure — this is where the NCC fell incredibly short. The solar and EV provisions only apply to apartments. Yet most of us live in free-standing homes and townhouses … a complete miss when these new homes are set to last the next few decades and lack the necessary infrastructure…
We are finding the fire engineering requirements for EV charging in apartment basements are becoming complex and prohibitive, sporadically administered (engineers and fire authorities) and that the international appreciation for risk/hazards relating to EVs is making this a tough area to be aspirational in, and that a blanket “more EV’s!!” approach is neither desirable nor deliverable.