Energy Efficiency in Residential Buildings

• The housing industry acknowledges the need to build environmentally responsible housing.
• Voluntary, market-based solutions (such as our successful GreenSmart program) must be encouraged before government contemplates regulations to achieve improvements in the energy efficiency of new residential buildings and to promote innovation and new practices in energy efficient housing and land development.
• Where regulation is required to achieve energy efficiency in housing, HIA supports minimum necessary regulations through the Building Code of Australia, developed in consultation with industry and which delivers a clear net benefit to the whole community.
• The Building Code of Australia should retain a simple, deemed to satisfy method for achieving minimum energy efficiency regulations which has comparable results to that achieved through computer simulation assessments.
• Building standards for energy efficiency should not be incorporated into planning regulations. Any state based regulations should be pursued through a variation to the BCA, justified through a proper cost benefit analysis, and based on a proven difference due to geographical, geological or climatic conditions for a variation.
• Further escalation of energy efficiency regulations on new homes or alterations and additions should be rejected until such time as government funding is made available to retrofit existing homes to an equivalent standard to new housing.
• Any new energy efficiency regulations must be developed according to the Council of Australian Governments’ (COAG) principles for regulatory best practice.
• Passive solar design principles should be incorporated at the estate design level to improve the energy efficient design opportunities in the built form. 
• HIA supports the use of Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS) for the energy efficiency of fittings and fixtures, such as hot water services, to complement efficiencies gained through the building fabric in new homes and any regulations for existing homes.
• Federal and State Government should support rebate programs for energy efficiency measures undertaken to reduce to the energy consumption in existing homes.
• Federal and State governments should focus on the non-residential building sectors and existing buildings, including housing, to achieve improved energy efficiency outcomes across the whole community. Government should support consumer awareness campaigns which highlight the benefits of a more energy efficient home.
• Federal and State governments should provide support through the upgrading and development of new infrastructure which has the capacity to be more energy efficient and further reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
• Governments must review existing energy pricing policies to adequately address the impacts of energy generation and the real savings in greenhouse gas emissions that can be made through improved energy delivery infrastructure.