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New data from CoreLogic has shown a big benefit to newer builds.
According to the data firm, homes built after 2010 are, on average, twice as energy efficient as homes built prior to that year, considerably reducing the quarterly bills for buyers of newer builds who are able to save on costs like heating and cooling.
Based on metrics generated from CSIRO’s RapidRate tool and CoreLogic data, homes built after 2010 achieved an estimated median star rating of 5.9 out of 10, compared with a median of just 2.8 stars for homes built prior to 2010.
Canberra emerged as the nation’s most energy efficient state or territory. The capital’s region of Molonglo, in the territory’s west, was also named the most efficient region in the country, with the highest median star rating of 6.1. It’s the only region nationally with median star rating of six or higher across all dwellings.
Of the national top 30 regions with the highest average star ratings, most capital cities’ inner-city areas made an appearance, with a high level of representation from the ACT, Adelaide and Melbourne. Sydney and Hobart, however, were absent from the list.
Across the broad regions of Australia, the median star rating for homes built prior to 2010 ranged from 2.3 in Hobart and Regional NT, to 3.6 in Regional Victoria.
In contrast, the lowest median star rating for homes built from 2010 or later was 5.3 in Sydney and Regional NSW and as high as 6.4 in Darwin.
In the eyes of CoreLogic’s head of banking and finance solutions, Tom Coad, the findings paint a clear picture of how construction standards impact the quality of homes being produced, with states that were early adopters of recent National Construction Code (NCC) changes coming out ahead in the rankings.
“The significant difference in energy efficiency between relatively modern homes and older homes can largely be attributed to changes in the NCC which has progressively placed more emphasis on energy efficiency requirements for newly built homes,” he said.
Recently, the Coalition promised that if it were to form a government at the next election, it would halt any further changes to the NCC for at least the next 10 years while reviewing the current standards.
It’s a policy that Coad believes “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,” he said.
CoreLogic’s research director, Tim Lawless, would like to see increased tracking of Australia’s energy efficiency as it comes to dwellings, noting that the country is behind other nations when it comes to mandating energy reports during real estate transactions.
“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 the case in the United Kingdom and some Scandinavian countries,” he said.
Noting that “what gets measured gets done,” Lawless added that with residential buildings making up 24 per cent of overall electricity use and more than 10 per cent of total carbon emissions in Australia, the energy efficiency of homes is set to become a bigger focus both of policymakers looking to achieve emissions targets, as well as conscientious consumers.
“As standards for energy efficient design and construction rise, it’s also becoming more important to measure energy resilience in our housing stock,” Lawless said.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Juliet Helmke
Based in Sydney, Juliet Helmke has a broad range of reporting and editorial experience across the areas of business, technology, entertainment and the arts. She was formerly Senior Editor at The New York Observer.
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