Leading property data specialist CoreLogic released new data on Monday to show that the National Construction Code had led to the vastly improved quality of new housing in Australia. So why is the Coalition pushing to freeze the NCC?
The analysis is in. Typical detached homes built in 2010 or later are twice as energy efficient as those built before 2010.
According to estimates generated through CSIRO’s RapidRate and property data specialist CoreLogic newer homes built after 2010 achieved an estimated median Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) star rating of 5.9 out of 10. Prior to 2010, homes had a median of 2.8 stars.
The significant difference is shown in a new report, Amped Up: How Energy Efficient Are Australian Homes? can be attributed to the National Construction Code – which CoreLogic noted the Coalition last month pledged to freeze for 10 years.
The report said the energy efficiency of housing has been improving, with the best-performing areas concentrated around newly built housing. These show a median of more than 6 stars.
Head of banking & finance solutions, Tom Coad, said the report proved that setting a minimum standard through the NCC was extremely important.
“Residential buildings make up 24 per cent of overall electricity use and more than 10 per cent of total carbon emissions in Australia”, Coad said.
“The Coalition’s recent push to pause the National Construction Code for 10 years flies in the face of Australia’s commitments to reduce carbon emissions. Policymakers should be incentivising the construction of energy efficient buildings, not slamming the breaks.”
Difference in regions
The ACT government was found to be the nation’s most energy-efficient state, taking up many of the top 30 slots in median star ratings by sub-regions. On the other hand, no Sydney and Hobart areas made the top 30 list.
The region of Molonglo in the ACT was found to be the nation’s most energy-efficient area, featuring a higher NatHERS median rating of 6.1 stars. Molonglo is also the only region nationwide with a median star rating of 6 or higher across all dwellings.
The lowest median star rating for homes built before 2010 was in Hobart, with a median of 2.3 stars and 2.6 in regional Victoria. The lowest median star rating for homes built after 2010 in Sydney and regional NSW was 5.3.
CoreLogic’s research director, Tim Lawless, said, “What gets measured gets done. As standards for energy efficient design and construction rise, measuring energy resilience in our housing stock is also becoming more important.
“Minimum energy efficiency standards for new builds will continue to be important in supporting Australia’s greenhouse gas reduction targets, but there is likely to be increasing focus and incentives on established housing where most of Australia’s housing stock was built prior to recent minimum standards.”
“Many European countries are well advanced in their data collection and analysis of energy efficiency data, with the European Union mandating an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) must be obtained when homes are built, sold or rented. This is also true in the United Kingdom and some Scandinavian countries.”
At a national level, we are moving forward
On Friday last week, the national cabinet’s Energy and Climate Change Ministerial Council (ECMC) met in Adelaide to discuss their continued commitment to improving energy efficiency and release the updated Home Energy Ratings Disclosure Framework (Version 2).
The upgrade supports the federal government’s intentions to make Australian homes cooler in summer and warmer in winter while still easing the cost of living on a long term basis. The framework ensures a nationally consistent approach when it comes to disclosing home energy ratings.
The Green Building Council of Australia said that while they welcomed the upgrade, it was still up to individual states and territories to adopt and implement the requirements in their jurisdictions.
GBCA chief executive Davina Rooney said, “We strongly encourage all state and territory governments to adopt voluntary energy performance disclosure in line with the national framework as a matter of urgency.
“Taking this step now will lay the groundwork for transitioning to mandatory disclosure, delivering significant benefits for homeowners, renters, and the environment.”
Key Stats
Key statistics on median star ratings across the nation include:
- In NSW, Sydney’s Blacktown and Bringelly–Green Valley recorded the highest ratings for energy-efficient homes, with both areas recording a median star rating of 5.2
- In Victoria, the Surf Coast-Bellarine Peninsula in regional Victoria, along with the suburbs of Armstrong Creek, Curlewis and Mount Duneed, all recorded a median star rating of 6 or higher
- South Australia had five sub-regions on the table of the nation’s top 30, with the Port Adelaide–East sub-region recorded as the highest median star rating at 5.5
- In Perth, Western Australia, the highest ranking area was Serpentine-Jarrahdale, with a median star rating 5.8, followed by Armadale and Kwinana, with a median of 5.6.
- In the Northern Territories and Darwin, the highest median star-rated region was Palmerston at 5.8.
- In Tasmania, energy efficiency is mixed, with Hobart recording one of the highest median star ratings for newly built homes at 6.3. Yet, dwellings in other sub-regions had ratings at the bottom of the list. The highest star rating recorded in these regions was Hobart-Northeast, with a star rating 2.6.
Hobart has a larger amount of older housing stock, with Tasmania historically shown to have a low dwelling completion-to-population ratio, heritage restrictions and higher heating demand because of the colder climate.
Star rating has very little to do with overall energy usage. Show us the empirical data from monitoring- not sure there is any wide scale monitoring. Most claims based on modelling. We are not very good at monitoring and reporting of performance in Australia; fear of failure means we don’t really learn.
NCC is working!!! – delusional! If NCC is working for you, then you don’t remotely understand the scale and urgency of the climate emergency, even as the news announces a new record trashed and a new disaster unfolding somewhere globally. You have been pre-conditioned from decades of capitulation to the minimal movements of the Luddite Housing Industry. You have totally lost the plot for the purpose of REGULATION. REGULATION is for the public to DEMAND the minimum standards of safety, economy and equity that the PUBLIC require of industry, not to accept what the industry grudgingly concedes. There has simply NEVER been an issue of safety and economy greater than that providing a safe and survivable future for our own children from climate.
We SHOULD be demanding Net Zero NOW! for the NCC V2 and BASIX. This would make all new houses immediately more affordable (the energy cost savings are up to 8 times greater than the additional mortgage payments to achieve net zero) it would put solar on all new houses (not adding to the problem of houses needing retrofit for net zero), it would accelerate decarbonisation of the housing sector (the easiest to decarbonise) 4-fold faster than 7* energy efficiency and it would eliminate gas (and it’s health risks) from new houses. Net Zero is easier to build (excess solar covering any other building deficiencies) and simple to verify – the first year’s energy bills will show zero emissions without an army of consultants verifying compliance.
In 2024, we have a vanishing few years to get to zero emissions to avoid triggering climate runaway and we are failing everywhere. We cannot wait another 13 years to fix NCCV2 – we NEED Net Zero Now. Lastly, Net Zero homes are even better for homebuilders, providing many opportunities for value add in oversized solar, bi-directional charging for electric vehicles, heat-pump hot water etc.