In our article reporting on the APSRC, we cite our paper on this subject delivered on the morning of Thursday 7 December.
On Tuesday 12 December we received the advice below from the Minister’s Office on their recent un-publicised work in this field.
The ACT Government’s Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate (EPSDD) commissioned Common Capital, in December 2022, to undertake a review of the ACT Energy Efficiency Rating Disclosure Scheme to assess its effectiveness and identify options and opportunities for improvements in the context of the ACT Government’s current climate and energy policies and the National Trajectory for Low Energy Buildings (the Trajectory). The objective of the review was to document findings and opportunities provided by the scheme for the ACT Government to consider and use to inform future bodies of work.
Advice that the review was being undertaken and when it was completed was provided on the ACT Government’s Build, Buy Renovate website throughout the year.
As part of the review, Common Capital interviewed a number of external stakeholders, including:
- CSIRO (RapidRate rating tool);
- Victorian Government (Residential Energy Scorecard rating tool);
- Australian Government (NatHERS Whole of Home rating tool);
- Real Estate Institute ACT;
- Better Renting (tenancy association);
- A number of assessors; and
- Real estate agency representatives.
Published commentary on the scheme was included as part of the review and the findings were delivered in March 2023. These findings are currently under consideration.
As you would likely be aware, work on a National Framework for Disclosure of Residential Energy Efficiency Information was agreed to by all state and territory Energy Ministers in November 2019 (see report here). Work is progressing and is expected to be introduced in 2025. In this context the ACT Government is considering the findings of the report into the scheme with a view to achieving national consistency, while making sure the trust the ACT community has in the scheme is maintained and enhanced over time.
Another publication on this subject of interest is the “Domain Sustainability in Property Report 2022” by Dr Nicola Powell which cites an overall conclusion, “An ACT marketwide case study confirms a higher energy-efficiency rating (EER) commands a greater price per square metre for houses. The higher the EER the greater the jump in price. This was consistent in all areas of the ACT.”