Building ratings considered

WELLINGTON: Energy efficiency ratings for buildings are on hold while the government decides whether to intervene to improve the country’s housing.

Building energyefficiency ratings — similar to the starrating on home whiteware — indicate how much a home or commercial office would cost to heat in winter and cool in summer.

Building industry leaders who support the ratings say experience overseas shows once tenants and buyers can see a building’s running costs, owners start raising the quality. Australia, the United Kingdom and other countries have ratings schemes.

Under changes drafted — but not passed into law — by Labour, some large offices and apartments were in line to start disclosing their energy efficiency. The law change was due to happen this year, under a programme called Building for Climate Change.

The programme is also aimed at tackling emissions from construction, improving housing’s resilience to extreme events, and lowering the energy used to operate new homes and commercial buildings by upgrading the building code.

When he took over the job, Building and Housing Minister Chris Penk was warned by officials that the building code had not kept up with climate change. Tackling this was one of four top priorities he was urged to act on.

Mr Penk said Cabinet had not decided whether to bring in compulsory ratings, though he appreciated people were familiar with the concept.

The issue of whether to raise minimum energyefficiency standards on new homes, or the option of purely voluntary incentives, was also under consideration.

‘‘There are positive moves by the sector, so the question is do we allow nature to take its course or do we push things along a little bit? Are there changes we can make to encourage people in that direction, maybe giving them an easier ride through consenting process (for new builds), or using government procurement to show leadership?‘‘

Before the election, Labour raised insulation standards for new homes.

He wanted to see how that went before bringing in any further requirements.

In a regulatory impact statement, government officials estimated Labour’s plan requiring ratings to be displayed on some buildings would generate $1.70 in benefits for every $1 spent, despite not covering all homes and buildings.

Green Building Council head Andrew Eagles believed the real costs would be lower, and the relative benefits higher, based on experience in Australia.

Constructing and operating buildings makes up to 21% of New Zealand’s carbon dioxide emissions, or about 10% of total greenhouse gases (including methane).

The traditional issue with existing homes was cold and damp, but Mr Eagles said new builds could also be inefficient, for other reasons.

Heatwaves were in line to get worse with climate change, meaning more new homes overheating in summer, he said.

‘‘We are getting frequent reports of, particularly apartments and terraced homes, significantly overheating and that’s a real issue if you have elderly people or vulnerable people like infants in the household. We’re building tens of thousand of homes each year and many of them are going to need retrofit measures.’’

Action on buildings and energy use will be part of the government’s Emissions Reduction Plan to be released this year. — RNZ

❛ There are positive moves by the sector, so the question is do we allow nature to take its course or do we push things along a little bit? Building and Housing Minister Chris Penk