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Spark your interest

On this page we will be listing interesting articles, insights and recent news that has grabbed our attention. Happy reading!
06/01/2025 Energy Consumers Australia has released its latest Consumer Energy Report Card. Its pleasing to see (refer image below) Australian's putting the energy efficiency of their homes as the most important action to achieve Australia's net zero emissions ambitions. The task therefore is not to convince but rather empower Australians to make their homes more energy efficient for personal benefit and to save the planet. Building community energy literacy is a core mission of Scorecard assessors and is a key enabler of on-ground action to improve the energy efficiency of Australia's housing stock. Where the data exists, the evidence shows households that have had a Scorecard assessment are more likley to invest in energy efficiency and electrification upgrades, including accessing government financial supports.
06.08.2024 One of the real joys of helping people on their home energy efficiency and electrification journeys is learning a little of their life stories and lived experiences. Recently I completed a Scorecard assessment for Sarah and Peter and was more than amazed when Peter pulled out these two brochures from the 1990's with the same key messages and call to action as we have today. As it turns out Peter was head of Energy Victoria at that time and resposible for the very first home energy rating scheme in Australia. Standing on the shoulders of giants moment for me! Much has happened in the last 30 years such as minimum mandatory energy efficiency standards for all new residential homes and heightened public awareness of the multiple benefits from improving the energy efficiency of our homes and going all-electric. But, the task is far from complete and the next decade will decide how motivated we are as a nation to improve the performance of our older housing stock and leave no one behind in the process. The role of Scarecard assessors has never been more important. A point made by Sarah and Peter as thankful recipients of this wonderful service.
04.07.2024 Who's feeling the cold? It as been the coldest start to winter for decades in many parts of Australia which brings into sharp focus just how bad our homes are at keeping the cold out and the warmth in. Heating systems are working overtime to compensate for our leaky homes and the next energy bill will surely be an unwelcome hit to the hip pocket. It doesn't need to be that way as these insightful news articles point out. Got an old, cold house like Laine's? Here are seven ways to make it warmer and cheaper Baby its cold inside: here's how to warm up your chilly old Australian home How investing in green buildings, including cheaper home loans, is a win for banks, people and our planet Low cost solutions are in reach for just about everyone and low cost finance is available from most lenders to help make those bigger energy efficiency investments. So don't sit shivering in your living room or cowering under your duvet cover, organise yourself a Scorecard assessment to get the best pathway for you to reach optimal comfort and save on your energy bills whilst helping save the planet. You know you want to!
19.06.2024 If there is a "godfather" of the home energy efficiency movement in Australia it must be Tim Forcey. Founder of the wildly popular Facebook Group: My Efficient Electric Home and now author of this little nugget of gold. Do yourself a favour and grab a copy to tap the endless knowledge and insights on home energy effciency and electrfication from one of the best. Thanks for sharing your knowledge Mr Forcey.
01.04.2024 Personalised on-line electrification calculators powered by personal energy use data accessed under Consumer Data Rights (CDR) are proliferating. AGLs Electrify Now is one example. These on-line calculators can play an important role in raising consumer awareness of the multiple benefits of improving the energy efficiency of fixed household appliances and going all electric. However, one problem I see with many of these calculators is they ignore the dwellings thermal performance as an important driver of householder energy use, comfort and wellbeing. This blind spot risks being left with the same draughty, air leaky home despite the best shiny new energy efficient appliances. By making generally low-cost improvements to the thermal performance of your home, such as sealing air gaps and improving insulation, the payback will be lower energy bills, less workload on heating and cooling appliances (and thus longer service life), reduced GHG emissions and a more comfortable home to enjoy. So before spending all your hard earned on those shiny new appliances have a quick think about how comfortable you feel in your home (even with the cooler/heater turned on). If your answer is "not very" then you should consider getting a Scorecard assessment to identify how you can improve the thermal performance of your home. Trust me, your return on investment from improvements to the thermal performance of your home will be "felt" each and every day. Happy days!
20.02.2024 Extreme heat resilience: lessons from Spain for Australia (RENEW) This report outlines the findings of a research project conducted by RENEW in September-October 2023 in Spain with the support of the Gill Owen Scholarship 2023 from Energy Consumers Australia. It focuses on case examples of Spain's adaptation responses to increasing heatwave intensity and frequency and lessons for Australia. Key recommendations for Australia include, amongst others:
  • The needs of vulnerable communities and households should be at the centre of Australia’s heatwave response. The health and social impacts of heatwaves reflect existing inequality and can exacerbate existing vulnerabilities. Australia’s response should centre energy poverty and social exclusion. The lived experience of people with vulnerability to extreme heat events should inform Australian adaptation strategies.
  • Australia should extend policies to improve the resilience and energy efficiency of homes. Energy efficiency retrofits to existing homes and high thermal efficiency standards for newly built homes improve resilience to heatwaves. Australia should extend and deepen its policy response to residential thermal efficiency, including retrofit programs, finance, new home standards, energy ratings disclosure, and minimum energy efficiency standards for renters.
  • Australia’s response should not depend solely on air conditioning. A dependence on air conditioning is not resilient to energy price increases, energy poverty, blackouts, or other external pressures on energy systems. Future temperature increases will put further pressure on energy systems where air conditioning is a primary response to heat. Other measures to improve resilience must form part of Australia’s strategy.
20.02.2024 Homes built before 2005 pre-date minimum energy efficiency standards and perform very poorly in terms of thermal comfort and energy efficiency. According to The Guardian, the majority of Australia's 8M+ homes built before 2005 have an energy efficiency rating of between 1.5 and 2.0 on a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being worst and 10 being best). This makes Australian homes amongst the worst thermal performing homes in the world resulting in more energy use and carbon emissions to keep our homes comfortable in hot and cold weather conditions. For many Australian's this places considerable burden on household budgets and increases the burden on the public health system through increased sickness and poor health. Whilst we have mandated minimum energy efficiency standards for new homes built after 2005 there is currently no equivalent national program to measure and disclose the thermal and energy performance of older homes, which make up more than 80% of the current housing stock in Australia. You could say Australian's are literally flying blind when it comes to knowing the thermal performance and energy cost of homes when making major life decisions such as purchasing or renting a home. The Victorian Residential Scorecard Program provides a model for assessing and rating the energy performance of existing homes and providing households with valuable knowledge and information on retrofits that will improve the comfort and energy efficiency of their homes and reduce energy bills. In recognition of the success of the Victorian Residential Scorecard Program and its transferability nationally, all States and Territories have agreed to a National Residential Scorecard program modelled on the Victorian program to be administered by the national statutory home energy rating body Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NaTHERS). The so-called NatHERS for existing homes program is currently under-development and due to launch in mid 2025. In the meantime, the Victorian Residential Scorecard program is endorsed by NatHERS for adoption nationally. For anyone who wants to help drive the energy transition for the benefit of Australian households there is no better time than now to become an accredited Scorecard assessor to build your expertise ahead of the expected market uptick when the National Scorecard program launches in 2025 followed by mandatory disclosures of home energy performance at point of sale/lease. NatHERS will soon be piloting a new National Residential Scorecard assessment software so jump in now and get your Scorecard accreditation so you can be one of the first testing and using the new software.
14.02.2024 If you are a loyal follower of The Design Files like we are, this article on "Everything You Need To Know About Creating An Electric Home" is a great little read making the case for going all-electric and improving the energy efficiency of your home. The article provides practical guidance on where to start and what to prioritise depending on your location. Shout out to Momentum Energy (our Energy Retailer) for its on-going support of public education in this space and to the folks at Goodbye Gas for leading the charge on making the transition to an all-electric home a reality for so many.
13.02.2024 Australian Council of Social Services (ACOSS) is calling on all levels of Government to step up and provide sustainable financial supports to enable the most vulnerable in this country to equally participate in the benefits of the energy transition . They have just released a landmark report "Funding and Financing Energy Performance and Climate-resilient Retrofits for Low-income Housing" detailing the multiple benefits to governments, people and communities from government funding and financing of rapid and substantial energy performance and climate-resilience retrofits to Australia's 1.8M low-income housing. At a time of extreme cost of living pressure this is a timely report offering innovative and practical funding and financing solutions directed to where support is most needed. Its now in the hands of our elected officials (always remember the power of your vote)!
05.02.2024 Climateworks Centre Australia recently released its report: Climate-ready homes: Building the case for a renovation wave in Australia. The report shows a widespread home energy efficiency and electrification ‘renovation wave’ can be cost-effective, with considerable societal benefits from lower energy system costs and improved health outcomes. Check out this Climateworks Centre Blog for the key findings from the report and to view some compelling charts showing why it is so important to fix the thermal performance of the building shell ("fabric-first approach") when upgrading appliances to modern, energy efficient all-electric appliances.
05.02.2024 In November 2023 the Energy Efficiency Council (EEC) hosted the first ever Residential Energy Performance Summit in Melbourne. The Summit brought together leading thinkers and practitioners from across Australia and internationally. Read the EEC's wrap up of the Summit here. For me the key takeaway from the Summit came from Josephine Maguire, National Coordinator of the Better Energy Homes program at the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI). Josephine explained "upgrades can’t, of course, happen without householders taking the first step, the consumer journey is one that’s too easily broken. This can be as simple as people receiving clear advice on upgrading their homes, only to put it in a drawer for later". She went on to explain Ireland's consumer centred one-stop-shop approach designed around five activities: 1) Activating the consumer; 2) Having skilled workers and the supply chain in place; 3) Accessible, appropriate financing and funding; 4) Structures and governance; and 5) Ongoing consumer engagement. One final and salient anecdote from Josephine worth mentioning here: "while householders might initially be attracted by potential bill savings, for householders who’ve completed their upgrades, comfort becomes king, savings become secondary, and the focus turns to how much more pleasant their home has become.
05.02.2024 Have you ever wondered what Australian households think about their energy use and conserving energy in the home? What about their attitudes to going all-electric, embracing smart technology and digital automation? Energy Consumers Australia collects this type of information every year through consumer sentiment and behaviour surveys. Its fascinating data that can be viewed here. The survey data highlights much work is needed to build broad public understanding and awareness of the multiple benefits from making Australian homes energy efficient and all-electric. For business operators servicing the home energy renovation market the survey data provides a useful snapshot on currenty attitudes and appetites for embracing new "smart" energy efficient technologies and solutions segmented by household age, ownership and property type and by state/territory. This is invaluable data and we commend Energy Consumers Australia for collecting and sharing it.

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