Add $10000 value to your project per energy rating star.

[Adam Lancaster]

Did you know that in 2011, if you want to sell residential property you will have to include your homes energy rating.

Yep, you know those energy stickers on appliances you see all over the place. You'll effectively have to put one of those on the sales board when you're selling.

In October 2008, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) agreed to develop a National Strategy on Energy Efficiency to accelerate energy efficiency efforts, streamline roles and responsibilities across levels of governments, and help households and businesses prepare for the introduction of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme. (taken from http://www.coag.gov.au/coag_meeting_outcomes/2009-07-02/docs/Energy_efficiency_measures_table.pdf )

So how do you add $10000 to your project?

Well mandatory energy rating disclosure has been around in Canberra for around 5 years. Studies have shown (Master Builders Talk) that the same house on the same block in Canberra with the only identifiable marketing difference being the energy rating of the home, shows that 1 extra star = around $10000 added to the sale price.

So if your building or renovating at the moment should you be keeping this in mind, will something done in construction cheaply or affordably add that $10000 to your place?

Here are some ideas learnt from a few of our builders:

Pump up the insulation in the roof / walls / floor
East West blocks are going to become even more important due to the path of the sun
Northern Aspect living areas again will become even more an important consideration
High energy rated appliances. Think Gas cooktops and Gas and/or solar water heating
Double glazed windows, timber has better ratings than alluminium, although there are new products that are catching up

 

[Ausprop]

in my experience the public will not pay extra for green homes, they are just a nice bonus. And in WA in particular, there is still an unhealthy obsession with double brick regardless of which environment it is built in. the bigger builders have such marketing muscle that they have even managed to convince the public that bricks are green and create good energy ratings,

I am very cycnical of the methods used to assess building enery ratings too

 

[RumpledElf]

If you're building new you need to comply to 5 star *anyway*, and after July its 6 star. In SA at least.

And I have two north-south blocks ... living areas facing north, west and east

 

[Fudge]

Allready have to do in Qld when selling.

It is called a sustainability declaration.

Just came into effect a few months ago

F

 

[rugrat]

I think you will find the $10000 extra (here in Canberra) is due more to the fact that the houses with the best energy efficency just happen to be the brand new houses, because they all have to be built with a min 5 star rating - so it is in fact the "new" tag rather then the energy rating upping the price.

But otherwise a very Spammy post....

 

[Melbournee]

Building new houses - do these new ratings mean a big difference in building costs?

 

[RumpledElf]

Not a big difference but it can be annoying in some areas. We just needed to pay extra for a tank, subfloor insulation (house has timber floors) and we could have kept the HWS on *bottled* gas (expensive++) but chose to cough up $5000 extra for a solar HWS. Still peeves me that you can get a rebate for an optional change from a tank to solar HWS on an existing house but you pay full price and then some for solar hot water (and rainwater tank and insulation) on a new house, where it is compulsary.

When the 6 star ratings come in and siting becomes more important those east-west blocks might become more valuable and north-south ones less so. Northern aspect isn't something you can fix with pink batts.

 

[reeco]

I am very cycnical of the methods used to assess building enery ratings too

Give it a few years and few "damning" News features and youl see some regs. Takes awhile for real regs to come in place. The usual watch, learn, implement.

 

[deejay]

It depends on the area.

In a temperate climate I don't think green measures add anything much at all. But we live in a high-altitude area with high water costs, and I can tell you, every house we look at, we consider those things very carefully. A house that doesn't have good insulation, or the right sort of heating, or a water tank will have us ticking off on our fingers how much it will cost to get it up to speed (and of course we know exactly what those costs are). And we'll also factor in a buffer because we'll have to find that money as cash rather than as part of the purchase. Does it reduce what we're willing to pay? You bet.

For IPs, we're a little less picky. Tenants are used to sucking up high water costs. But they'll leave if they're cold in winter, so insulation and good heating matters there, too.

 

[rugrat]

On a side note, I used to go to school with an Adam Lancaster. You didn't happen to live in Grafton NSW as a teenager by any chance, did you?

 

[The Fence]

Here are some ideas learnt from a few of our builders:

Pump up the insulation in the roof / walls / floor
East West blocks are going to become even more important due to the path of the sun
Northern Aspect living areas again will become even more an important consideration
High energy rated appliances. Think Gas cooktops and Gas and/or solar water heating
Double glazed windows, timber has better ratings than alluminium, although there are new products that are catching up

It is my understanding that appliances are not counted in this energy ratings legislation as they are replacement bound and not a part of the fixed building.
I thought it was assessed on the block aspects, building materials used and insulation qualities....

Anyone have any further thoughts on this scheme coming in next year...it's bound to affect everyone owning a home, OO or LL....?