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House Energy Rating




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 has gone beyond the standard, and has mandated a 5-star rating, instead of 4-stars.


STAR RATINGS


, by star rating. See image page for details.]]
A 5-Star rating indicates that the house has achieved a high level of energy efficiency, 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.


SOFTWARE

For calculating the efficiency of a house, the software tools used are NatHERS (the Nationwide House Energy Rating scheme/software, which is to be replaced by the CSIRO's AccuRate ), BERS and FirstRate . Which software packages and versions are approved varies from state to state.


AUSTRALIAN STATE-BASED INITIATIVES


  • In connected to all flush toilets or a Solar Hot Water System . There are two approved software packages: FirstRate and NatHERS.



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