In the wake of Australia sweltering through its hottest month on record, academics and environmental advocates are calling for urgent changes to the country’s building codes.
Poorly designed homes are ill-equipped to handle sustained heat, leading to soaring energy bills and contributing to global warming, University of South Australia Professor of Environmental Mathematics John Boland said.
What’s needed are brand new building codes which make things like wall insulation, double glazing and restrictions on window placement mandatory for all new homes.Professor John Boland, University of South Australia
“Our increasing reliance on air conditioning is causing untold damage to the environment, emitting greenhouse gases and warming the globe even more,” Professor Boland said.
“What’s needed are brand new building codes which make things like wall insulation, double glazing and restrictions on window placement mandatory for all new homes.”
Given Ballarat’s cool winter and warm summer climate and growing housing estates, local environmentalists have advocated for stricter regulations for builders for more than 10 years.
Ballarat Renewable Energy and Zero Emissions president Ian Rossiter said the lack of state and federal government leadership to change uniform building codes was frustrating.
“In the absence of good policy it really has come down to consumer preference driving change which we are starting to see more and more of,” he said.
“But for people renting properties, they don’t have the purchasing power to decide how their buildings are constructed. It is important all constructions are sustainably designed and built.
“What we would hope is we can see some of the volume builders moving to normalise energy efficiency in their homes as a prime selling point. In the past when electricity and gas were reasonably cheap, the extra expense of investing in thermal efficiency often wasn’t top of mind to home buyers, whereas today people are really aware of ever rising energy costs and the impacts extreme heat and cold is having on peak demand.”
Professor Boland said simple things like ensuring houses have less than a quarter of their windows on the west-facing side, installing wall as well as roof insulation and double or even triple glazing windows should be considered in designs – and energy savings would offset upfront costs.
“Simply complying with a 6-star rating (the current requirement) is useless because not only is that energy rating rarely checked; it does not consider climate change,” he said.
“Moreover, since the star rating is done on total energy use over the year, a design can be highly rated based on its energy use in winter. The house can still cause a lot of heat stress in summer.
“We need to get away from this idea that everything is voluntary in relation to building codes. Alternative energy sources like solar are great, but nothing beats a good design.”
Michael Robinson and Jo Taylor built a house following sustainable design principles in Mollongghip and share a vision that all builders and architects will follow sustainable building practices.
The household is completely self-sufficient, powered by an 11kW PV system with battery storage, water harvesting and storage for all water requirements and wood heating.
Other sustainable design elements help them live in comfort, including northern orientation to maximise sun exposure, air lock entry to prevent heat loss and gain, a thick 200 mm of insulation and double glazed windows.
Mr Robinson said building sustainable houses “just makes sense” and reassured those interested that it was “completely doable”.
Mr Rossiter said there were changes consumers could make to existing houses too, by considering how to improve shading, reduce solar penetration, stop drafts and leakages and treating windows with double glazing.
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The Smart Building and Living Expo held in Buninyong on February 24 will feature information on sustainable building and design features, as well as tips for sustainable living.
BREAZE will be set up at the festival to assist with inquiries and provide information on its residential energy scorecard program – some BREAZE members are now accredited to assess energy efficiency in homes and provide a rating and a list of changes that can be made to improve efficiency.
Visit smartbuildingandlivingexpo.com.au for more information about the Buninyong event.