Posted 5 February 2019 - 4:07pm
The CRC for Low Carbon Living (CRCLCL) welcomes the COAG Energy Council’s Trajectory for Low Energy Buildings report.
The Trajectory proposes a pathway towards “zero energy (and carbon) ready buildings”, as well as increased energy efficiency provisions in the National Construction Code and further consideration of options for existing buildings.
The CRCLCL-funded Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council (ASBEC) and ClimateWorks report, Built to Perform, was considered by COAG when establishing the Trajectory. The report demonstrated that energy standards in Australia’s National Construction Code must be urgently upgraded for new buildings to be fit for a zero carbon future and was supported by ASBEC’s 27 industry members.
“I’m very pleased to see CRCLCL research having an influence on government policy,” said CRCLCL CEO Scientia Professor Deo Prasad. “One of our Centre’s goals is to help deliver resilient, sustainable cities of the future and this is evidence that the Built To Perform report has already contributed to that.”
ASBEC Executive Director and CRCLCL Project Leader Suzanne Toumbourou said more energy efficient homes and commercial buildings can deliver increased resilience to extreme weather, better comfort and reduce stress on the electricity grid, providing an imperative to act now on improving the energy performance of Australia’s building stock.
Ms Toumbourou said the energy performance of buildings isn’t just about energy bills and comfort.
“Almost all buildings built today will still be operating in 2050, at a time when Australia will need to be at or near net zero emissions," she said.
“The National Construction Code sets minimum standards for all new Australian buildings, so it is the best place to start to improve building energy performance. By strengthening the National Construction Code we can ensure new buildings are ‘zero carbon ready’ to plug into a net zero emissions economy by 2050.