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House energy rating


A House Energy Rating is the index of a building's thermal performance (i.e. heating and cooling requirements) for residential homes in Australia.

The Australian Building Codes Board introduced energy efficiency measures for houses into the Building Code of Australia (BCA) on 1 January 2003. It has been adopted by all Australian states and territories which did not already have an equivalent system in place. Victoria and South Australia have gone beyond the standard, and mandated, instead of 4-stars, a 5-star rating (enacted July 2004) – all new homes and apartments built in Victoria must since 2010 comply with the 6 Star standard. This means it is compulsory for new houses to have:

During 2006, requirements for 5-star energy ratings were introduced for new homes through the BCA in Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory. As of mid-2007 Tasmania and the Northern Territory have not adopted 5 star requirements for new homes. As of 2010, Queensland has adopted 6-star requirements for new homes.New South Wales has not adopted requirements under the BCA and operates its own Building Sustainability Index or BASIX. Victorian consumers and building practitioners can find out more about the 5-Star energy ratings by visiting Make Your Home Green – Building Commission

A 6-Star rating indicates that a building achieves a higher level of thermal energy performance than, say a 5 star rating. As of November 2011, 6-Star equivalence is the current minimum requirement in most of Australia.

A 5-Star rating indicates that a building achieves a high level of thermal energy performance, and will require minimum levels of heating and cooling to be comfortable in winter and summer. Houses which achieve a 5 star rating, compared to the average 2 star home, should be more comfortable to live in, have lower energy bills, and costs to install heating and cooling equipment should also be lower.

Energy assessments take into account different climatic conditions in different parts of the country and are benchmarked according to average household energy consumption particular to a given climatic region.


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