Buildings are particularly important when considering energy efficiency; they con sume approximately 20 per cent of all energy used in Australia, according to the Report of the Prime Minister’s Task Group on Energy Efficiency.
Fortunately the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) did acknowl edge this at their 30 April 2009 meet ing, outlining their vision for a National Strategy for Energy Efficiency. Its impact on the architectural industry being, in short, that the Building Code of Australia (BCA) would increase its energy efficiency requirements for both commercial and residential buildings. And that, at the time of sale or lease, commercial and residential owners would be required to disclose data on their building’s energy, greenhouse and water performance.
The intention is that access to this environmental performance informa tion will allow buyers and renters to better compare different properties. As a spokesperson for Commonwealth Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency (DCCEE) explained it, “The scheme will also allow and encourage environmental performance to be factored into prop erty promotion and provide an addi tional stimulus for smarter design, construction and renovation.”
As with all such grand plans the devil is in the detail. For, as the federal gov ernment has discovered, to its chagrin (following the embarrassment of the home insulation and green loans schemes) a great idea is only as good as its implementation.
The pertinent details from the joint media release from the then Acting Environment Minister Senator Penny Wong and Senator Kim Carr, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research read thus: “Implementation of the new commercial building standards will commence in May 2010, and the States and Territories have undertaken to implement the new residential standards no later than May 2011. Minimum requirements for residential buildings will rise from five stars to six stars.”
Has reality matched the vision? To their credit, the government have launched the website www.cbd.gov.au, an information portal for Commercial Building Disclosure (CBD), the national program designed to improve the energy efficiency of Australia’s large office build ings. The main thrust being that, “from 1 November 2010 most sellers or lessors of office space of 2,000 sqm or more will be required to obtain and disclose an up- to-date energy efficiency rating.”
Not that it’s been all plain sailing. As of 29 November 2010 the scheme underwent its first revision. After the commercial property industry raised some concerns about the scheme, a negotiated change was implemented, whereby buildings with less than 75 per cent total office spaces, like warehous es, shopping centres, hotels and hospi tals won’t be required to comply with the disclosure requirements. Another exemption has also been to major com mercial refurbishments. But the govern ment points out these exemptions are only, “an interim measure during the transition year of the program and will be subject to review.”
The roll out of the energy efficiency residential program has not gone quite as smoothly.
When the commercial scheme launched on 1 November 2010 Peter Verwer, CEO of the Property Council of Australia, was quoted as saying they welcomed “… measures that promote the energy efficiency of commercial buildings and schemes that support companies to disclose their energy efficiency ratings.” Such industry sup port has been less than forthcoming for the residential scheme.
Master Builders Australia published a report in November of last year, which concluded, “Forcing home owners to build houses with higher star ratings (using mandatory minimum standards) will be financially detrimental to most new home owners and economically detrimental to the community. It will manifest itself in higher house prices and lower disposable incomes of Australians and it will not result in effi cient reductions in greenhouse gases.”
Similarly, the Housing Industry Association didn’t take kindly to the scheme’s proposal of increasing the mini mum energy rating of all new housing, (of which approximately 150,000 are constructed annually in Australia).“The focus for energy efficiency in new homes needs to be expanded to address the other major contributions to household emissions — being hot water heating and other appliances, rather than continuing to seek marginal improvements through the building fabric. […] Increasing the stringency from 5-stars to 6-stars will have only limited impact on reducing GHG emissions from new homes.”
When we contacted the federal Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency (DCCEE) to enquire how they were responding to such con cerns, a Departmental spokesperson advised us that the implementation of the scheme is subject to the outcomes of a regulatory impact analysis (RIA), exploring the costs and benefits of vari ous regulatory options. We were told that “The RIA development is currently approaching completion and it is expected that it will be ready for release for public comment early in 2011.” The DEECC spokesperson informed us the RIA was looking at the scope of the scheme and what elements are assessed, the tools and processes used for the assessment and the requirements and skills of the assessor. It was explained that “in some models [assessment] could require the use of a qualified assessor and in other models could be an online or checklist assessment com pleted by the homeowner.”
Australia’s two existing disclosure schemes (Australian Capital Territory, since 1999, Queensland since January 2010) were proffered as examples of the range of models being considered. “The ACT scheme requires disclosure of a star rating using qualified assessors, while the Queensland scheme requires completion of a sustainability declara tion (essentially a checklist of key sus tainability features) by the homeowner.”
But in any event, the Departmental spokesperson advised, “the Committee is taking the time to ensure this [regula tory impact] analysis is robust even if this delays implementation.”
We wondered if a revised commence ment date for Residential Mandatory Disclosure could be attributed to such delays. The answer from the ever diplo matic Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, was that, “as the measure will be implemented through State and Territory legislation, the actual commencement date for individual State and Territory schemes are a matter for those Governments to decide, how ever, most states have determined that these new information requirements will commence from 2012 onward.”
Peter Jacobs, a freelance assessor undertaking contract work, with energy effi ciency companies such as Green Alliance, wasn’t sure if he was disheartened or encouraged by the delay. With the federal government pulling the pin on their two resi dential assessment schemes, and a possible change of government in NSW after March likely to wind up the current Energy Efficiency for Small Business Program, options for energy efficiency assessors were fast thinning out. On the other hand, Peter, reflecting the frustration of his industry at large, did concede the need to get any new scheme right. “This inconsistency of govern ment initiatives has become too political. We need solid direction; not these ‘come and go’ policies, that have no substance. Don’t start something and then drop it.”
When a program for mandatory disclo sure of environmental performance for resi dential properties does come into effect, Peter Jacobs believes it will “absolutely drive the real estate market.” He reckons, “the Joneses will say ‘what do I have to do in order to get my house up to five stars, six stars, or 10 elephants, or whatever I need.’ And they’ll be off down to Bunnings to get what it takes to bring their homes up to standard.”
Peter was excited about the prospect of TV reality shows, dispatching building blitz teams to - instead of beautifying gardens - improve the energy efficiency of a dwelling, thus increasing its star rating and making it a stronger auction day con tender. However he remains gun shy of any temporary programs, preferring to put his faith in a price on carbon. “When that is law, it will fuel everything.”
As noted above, the mandatory disclosure of environmental performance of commer cial buildings has already hit the ground running. The Commercial Building Disclosure (CBD) website lists, at time of writing, 612 commercial premises that have so far listed on the Building Energy Efficiency Register. These structures ranged from 0 Stars to 5 Stars, with a 0-star rating suggesting the building is “performing well below average and has considerable scope for improvement”, whereas a 5-star rating “demonstrates market leading performance”. Additionally, for those commercial building owners about to sell or lease their building, 637 accredited assessors were listed, to help them rate their premises.
A spokesperson for the Association of Building Sustainability Assessors (ABSA) told us that, “Despite facing ongoing challenges associated with failed government programs, a significant percentage of our assessors still view home sustainability assessment as a viable job for the future.” However there is some level of frustration. “…without know ing what tool or tools (for assessment and measurement) will be used for mandatory [residential] disclosure, we cannot begin to develop the framework needed to transition our assessors into this new program. In the meantime, we are providing our assessors with an assessment model to fill the vacuum, so householders who wish to seek help about how to lower their power bills or improve the comfort of their home can access good infor mation based on real data.”
