Victoria
The Victorian Government estimates that demand for stationary energy will grow by an average of 1.9 per cent per year until 2010, and grow by an average of 1.5 per cent per year after that.
ICANZ has been active in providing informed argument and reliable data to the Victorian government concerning the need for improved building energy performance for new and established homes.
Whilst 72.2 per cent of Victorian homes are recorded as insulated (ABS rpt 4602.0 29). ICANZ believes there is an important need to reduce energy waste through retrofitting older energy inefficient homes with inadequate insulation as well as homes still without insulation.
Victoria was the first Australian state to introduce minimum energy performance standards for residential buildings, during 1991.
In June 2005 the Victorian Government was the first state government to adopt 5-Star energy efficiency building regulations for residential homes and is implementing programs outlined in its Greenhouse Strategy. A twelve-month extension for homes constructed with raised timber floors has been grated to allow the building industry time to adopt the AccuRate system which determines the star rating of buildings.
Prior to the adoption of 5-Star, the Victorian Competition and Efficiency Commission (VCEC) conducted an inquiry into building regulation with a focus on the 5-Star energy efficient housing regulations. ICANZ submission to the inquiry follows:
ICANZ Submission VCEC housing construction inquiry 010305
The draft report ‘Housing Regulation in Victoria: Building Better Outcomes’ claimed that costs and benefits of the 5-Star energy efficiency regulations had serious shortcomings. ICANZ strongly disagreed with these findings for the reasons outlined in the following submission.
VCEC Inquiry draft finding submission 260805
During July 2006, the government released ‘Our Environment, Our Future’, a $200 million Environmental Sustainability Action Statement listing 150 priority sustainability initiatives. The Action Statement is geared to save 3.5 million tones of greenhouse gas emissions.
However, while the statement included an increased renewable energy target to 10 per cent by 2016, retrofitting incentives or encouragements to tackle the energy inefficient building stock (eg poor insulation levels and other building infrastructure) did not feature.