The Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council (ASBEC) welcomes the Government’s announcement of a $250 million program to finance the development of energy efficient homes for low income earners.

ASBEC President Ken Maher said: “Given that Australia’s housing is responsible for 13% of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions, this is a good first step towards improving the country’s building stock.”

Further efforts are required to ensure that we meet the great potential that the building sector holds, in improving energy efficiency and reducing energy consumption in Australia’s homes.

“A coherent, nationally consistent framework for rating housing sustainability is essential to ensure that any efforts to improve housing energy efficiency are properly delivered, credibly verified and clearly communicated.”

ASBEC has called for a new nationally consistent rating framework for housing sustainability, consisting of three key elements: minimum regulatory performance standards in new buildings; benchmarks for market comparison of best practice sustainability performance; and communication messages explaining the value of sustainability features to renovators and homebuyers.

“Investment in long term energy efficiency should be informed by a clear regulatory, market and communications framework to ensure that value and performance are delivered.” said Prof Maher.

Download the ASBEC media release here.