State Government
Through COAG (Council of Australian Governments) a cooperative arrangement between Australia's state and federal governments includes the development of the national building code is directed through the Australian Building Codes Board on which each state has representative voting powers.
However, the execution of building efficiency regulation and policy is largely a state jurisdication which includes local government planning regulation.
As such ICANZ is proactive in working with state governments to achieve improved energy efficiency in our commercial and residential buildings.
While the introduction of the new 5-Star BCA in May 2006, will help to ensure that these benefits continue to be delivere at no further cost for the life of the buildings (typically 60 years), many older buildings, a major portion of Australia's building stock, remain uninsulated and consume more energy in heating and cooling.
According to a recent study by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS report No. 4602.0, Environmental Issues: People's Views and Practices, 29 Nov 2005), only 60.5 per cent of Australian homes are insulated. The findings for each state are as follows:
SA 78.2% TAS 74.6% VIC 72.3% WA 65.6%
NSW 54.4% NT 49.2% QLD 43.2%
The ABS also found that among households with no insulation, not being a home owner or responsible to insulate the home was cited as the main reason for not having insulation (34 per cent), followed by cost (16 per cent) and not getting around to do it (12 per cent).
One of the barriers to retro-fitting is that many uninsulated homes are rental properties, so the cost savings from reduced energy consumption do not flow to the owner but to the tenant. This is the area where the market has clearly failed to deliver energy efficiency reform and where ICANZ believes government intervention is well justified.