Page 22 - Climate Control News April 2020

Residential Air Conditioning
Green makeover to lift building activity after a glum 2019
IN A BID to reach net zero targets in the built environment and to drive construction activity, a range of initiatives have been introduced in re- cent months that will bolster the local residen- tial air conditioning market.
The Victorian government has created a scorecard that can be used to get access to dis- counted loans for buying, building or renovating homes based on energy efficiency.
The Victorian Residential Efficiency Score- card is an Australian-first program that provides a star rating and certificate for new and existing homes based on their energy efficiency.
Home loan provider Bank Australia is offering discount home loans to customers who use the Scorecard assessment.
Bank Australia’s Clean Energy Home Loan of- fers a 0.4 per cent discount on home finance, us- ing the Scorecard to determine eligibility.
The Scorecard gives householders an easy way to understand how energy efficient their home is and where they can make improvements to help save on energy costs.
Expert assessors use the Scorecard to enter in- formation about the fixed features of a home such as heaters, air conditioners, hot water sys- tems, wall and floor materials, insulation, win- dows and solar power systems – they can then
generate an overall energy efficiency star rating and certificate on the spot.
The cloud-based web app gives a star rating out of ten for their home’s energy costs. The high- er the star rating, the more energy efficient a home is and the lower the energy costs.
The certificate breaks down how much energy is being used on heating, cooling, lighting, hot water, pools and spas – as well as what propor- tion of energy is renewable if for instance a home has solar panels.
Scorecard is also being used in various pro- grams to improve energy performance for Victo- rian households in regional areas, public housing and targeting homes with health issues.
Visit: victorianenergysaver.vic.gov.au/scorecard.
The Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) first announced plans for green home loans with discounted interest rates for residents that utilise solar, energy efficient air condition- ing and hot water systems in January, 2020.
The loans are designed to spearhead the construction of market leading, energy effi- cient housing.
Bank Australia is the first home loan provider to take up the CEFC finance, which will deliver discounted interest rates to qualifying builders and home buyers.
The discounted rate will apply for up to five years for customers who buy or build homes which achieve a minimum of 7-stars under the Nation- wide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS).
The 7-star rating materially exceeds the mini- mum standards of the National Construction Code, and homes built to this rating require less energy for heating and cooling.
“NEW HOME BUILDING STARTS WILL BOTTOM OUT DURING 2020/21 AT AROUND 159,000.” - MBA CHIEF ECONOMIST, SHANE GARRETT.
CEFC CEO Ian Learmonth said this green home loan will fill a gap in the market, giving builders and new home buyers a financial incen- tive to adopt sustainable design principles from the start of the project.
“Australians are already leading the world in residential rooftop solar. Our next challenge is to embrace better building design and construction methods, as well as energy efficiency, to cut our energy use and reduce our emissions,” he said.
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