NZ lagging as US salutes the sun
Compulsory solar panels are laudable, but let’s address the basics first – that’s the New Zealand Green Building Council’s response to the news that California will become the first state in the US to make solar panels compulsory for all new houses.
NZGBC chief executive Andrew Eagles says that before New Zealand looks to draft a similar law, we should first look to improve the way our houses are built.
‘‘We lose twice the amount of heat from our houses compared to houses in the UK and Europe,’’ Eagles says. ‘‘Our building code still doesn’t even provide for minimum standards relating to efficient heating, lighting, house orientation (for passive heat gain), ventilation that can significantly reduce moisture build-up, and thermal bridging, which address those areas around doors and windows.
‘‘The biggest issue here isn’t solar panels, but improving the basics in our houses.’’
Eagles says the building code in the UK has been improved three times since 2002, and from 2020 the UK will be building nearly zero-energy homes.
‘‘Both the OECD and the International Energy Agency have recommended our Government amend the Building Code (to better align it with what is happening overseas).’’
The 2017 OCED report said the Government ‘‘should consider modernising the Building Code – its standards are less stringent than those of many OECD countries’’. And the energy agency report said the New Zealand Building Code is ‘‘below the standards required of most IEA countries with comparable climates’’.
Minister of Housing Phil Twyford said in November the new Government would be reviewing the building codes.
Meanwhile, the NZGBC is heartened by the fact that 20,000 households have taken their own initiative and are currently going through the Homestar process, which will see these new homes have a significantly higher energy performance and better health outcomes. The council notes that most new retirement villages are also aiming for a Homestar rating.
The new California law, to take effect in two years, brings solar power into the mainstream in a way it has never been until now. But it will add thousands of dollars to the cost of a home when a shortage of affordable housing is one of California’s most pressing issues.
Ivan Penn, alternative energy consultant for the New York Times said that made the relative ease of its approval – in a unanimous vote by the five-member California Energy Commission before a standing-room crowd, with little debate – all the more remarkable.
State officials and clean-energy advocates say the extra cost to homebuyers will be more than made up for in lower energy bills. That prospect has won over even the construction industry, which has embraced solar capability as a selling point.
‘‘This adoption of these standards represents a quantum leap,’’ Bob Raymer, senior engineer for the California Building Industry Association, said during the public comments before the vote. ‘‘You can bet every state will be watching to see what happens.’’
California law requires at least 50 per cent of the state’s electricity to come from noncarbonproducing sources by 2030. Solar power has increasingly become a driver in the growth of the state’s alternative energy production.
And a new rate structure next year will charge California customers based on the time of day they use electricity. So homeowners with energyefficiency features – a battery in particular, allowing energy to be stored for when it is most efficiently used – will avoid higher costs.
‘‘Any additional amount in the mortgage is more than offset,’’ said Andrew McAllister, an Energy Commission member who led a building-code review that produced the proposal. ‘‘It’s good for the customer.’’
The building-code change is one dimension of a broader transition away from centralised power. As with the breakup of the phone monopoly, changes in the way energy is delivered put more control into consumers’ hands.
Those goals have been furthered with smart meters that help control consumption, along with a choice of electricity retailers in many places. And with a combination of residential solar power and battery storage, homeowners can minimise their resort to the grid altogether.
Under the new requirements, builders must either make individual homes available with solar panels, or build a shared solar-power system serving a group of homes. Rooftop panels can either be owned outright and rolled into the home price, or made available for lease on a monthly basis.
The requirement is expected to add up to US$12,000 (NZ$17,000) to the cost of a home.