By Cecille Weldon, Sustainability Advisor and Board Member
Proptech Association of Australia is a non-voting member in the Residential Energy Efficiency Disclosure Initiative (REEDI) Governance Forum.
This gives us a seat at the table where the big decisions are being made … the development of a National Framework for disclosing the Energy Efficiency of new and existing Residential Property
Background
The Trajectory for Low Energy Buildings, is a national plan agreed by all Energy Ministers in 2019 that sets a path towards zero energy (and carbon) ready buildings for Australia (both new and existing buildings). A targeted building policy that specifies the development of a national framework for residential energy efficiency disclosure.
In February 2022, Energy Ministers agreed to release the draft Framework and to the establishment of the REEDI Governance Forum to support the finalisation of the Framework, so that jurisdictions can consider the best approach to their respective scheme implementation.
The WHY
The core issue is that residential buildings are not as energy efficient as they could be, and not as energy efficient as they need to be to meet the long-term goals of the Australian Government. The residential sector has been slow to adopt readily available energy-efficient designs, materials and technologies, and disclosure of energy-efficiency information is rare. Recent research has found that 98.5% of housing in Australia falls below the economic and environmental optimum. This is despite clear health, comfort, financial, economic, environmental benefits and incentives.
The Challenge
In Australia (with exception of the ACT), there are no energy efficiency performance ratings required to be disclosed when purchasing or renting homes. This prevents consumers from easily distinguishing between high and low energy efficiency options, restricts government initiatives to reduce and manage electricity demand, and makes household-level emission reductions difficult to facilitate.
A national Framework will provide harmonised settings for state and territory governments to implement their own energy efficiency disclosure schemes, and will support a market environment that encourages this.
What will be included?
It will include the measurement and communication of a home’s energy performance, as well as governance and compliance settings, transitional arrangements to prepare the industry, and communications strategies to consistently and effectively communicate energy efficiency information, including potential actions, to end users.
Impact and opportunity: Property marketing, management and upgrades
The establishment of the Framework is intended to ensure residential building occupants and consumers have information related to the disclosure on the home’s energy performance. In doing so, they can make informed choices about their prospective purchase of a home and any energy efficiency improvement upgrades.
The aim of the Framework is to support consumer choice and to address information barriers for consumers about a home’s energy performance at the point of sale and/or lease, by informing:
- Home buyers about which homes have the potential for lower energy bills when they are making choices about which homes to purchase.
- Home buyers, sellers and landlords about how to upgrade the energy efficiency and comfort of their homes.
- Home renters about which homes have the potential for lower energy bills and greater comfort when they are making choices about which homes to lease.
Alert for Proptech Members
This is important for any Proptech solution which targets the management, marketing or climate performance of residential properties – both in terms of the likelihood of compliance and in relation to new data insights for residential homes.
The Framework will also play a key role in assisting the finance and insurance sectors to generate greater emissions reductions in the residential sector and to report on the decarbonisation of their portfolios. These sectors are driven by the need to manage their exposure to physical and transitional climate risks in their residential building stock.
This is due to changing expectations to report in line with the Taskforce on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations, as encouraged by various Commonwealth agencies and international governments, some of which are mandating it. Many corporations, including in the Australian real estate and manufacturing sectors, are already disclosing their climate risks according to the TCFD recommendations.
What will a successful framework look like?
The Framework recognises that the success of disclosure schemes is dependent on the broader operating environment, not just through the provisions of a star ratings for homes – which is why industry engagement (including our feedback as the Proptech Association) is an important aspect of the REEDI forum.
The Framework is not intended to constrain or impede existing disclosure schemes such as NatHERS ratings for new homes and EER ratings for new and existing homes in ACT. Rather it seeks to establish policy parameters and settings and the appropriate market environment to support consistency across all the states and territories disclosure schemes.
About The REEDI Governance Forum: the Collaborative Group that will be deciding the final Framework
The REEDI Governance Forum consists of representative from all states and territories which are voting members and 26 non-voting members representing key stakeholders in the residential property sector.
They will make decisions on the strategic direction of the final Disclosure Framework including: supporting development of market settings; and the broader ecosystem. It will be an iterative process that may move beyond finalisation of the Framework.
The Proptech Association of Australia was chosen as one of these 26 key stakeholders – and is represented by Cecille Weldon, board member and sustainability advisor.
The REEDI Governance Forum will:
- provide oversight and support coordination of the Framework
- support development of the market environment for disclosure
- assist with disclosure data and energy efficiency information.
The Timeline for the Decisions
The priorities for the REEDI to deliver a final Framework to Energy Ministers for decision by mid-2023 are:
- Work with all relevant stakeholders to identify the gaps in the policy parameters and settings, including the market environment, and undertake activities to strengthen these components.
- Undertake a national Cost Benefit Analysis and incorporate its findings into the finalisation of the Framework, to support jurisdictions’ consideration of disclosure schemes.
A Behavioural Insights Project – including behavioural insights and interventions in the final Framework will improve uptake, implementation and energy outcomes of residential energy policy measures. This work will inform the Communications Strategy.
- Develop a Communication Strategy that identifies the communication needs of target audiences within the market environment.
- The Communications strategy will outline the information tools that will be available to key stakeholders and common branding to support scheme development and implementation across jurisdictions.
- Finalise the draft National Framework for Residential Energy Efficiency Disclosure and submit to Energy Ministers for decision to support jurisdiction considerations of individual disclosure scheme from mid-2023, as outlined in the Trajectory.
- Any additional priorities required to achieve the objective of finalising the Framework from which Jurisdictions will consider establishing disclosure schemes.
Any Questions?
Please contact Cecille Weldon at cecille@weldonco.com.au
