Research undertaken by Environment Victoria has revealed the lack of knowledge and information about residential energy performance in the real estate industry.

To find out how much real estate agents know about the energy efficiency of their properties, Environment Victoria conducted under-cover surveys of over 300 real estate agents at open-for-inspections across the state. Environment Victoria found that estate agents’ knowledge of energy efficiency is very low across the board:

• 91% could not identify the property’s energy rating
• Only 1% could offer any information about likely energy running costs
• 46% could not identify any energy-saving features of the home
• 68% could not say whether the home had insulation

Home Truths: A Lack of Information about Household Energy Needs outlines these research findings and argues that if energy efficiency information was more readily available, house hunters would be able to make more informed housing choices. To address this challenge, the report presents two key recommendations:

• The Victorian government should require real estate agents/vendors to disclose the energy rating of their property at point of sale (“mandatory disclosure”)
• Minimum energy efficiency standards for rental properties should be introduced, since disclosure alone is unlikely to lead to significantly improved energy performance

More information here