06 Nuts & Bolts
Nuts&Bolts
Public Comment version of NCC 2022 By Tony Isaacs and Matthew Graham, TASC Members
A summary of changes for NCC 2022 energy efficiency provisions.
Summary of changes for NCC 2022 energy efficiency provisions:
The public comment version of NCC 2022 was released on 30 August, including a significant upgrade to the energy efficiency provisions. The Regulatory Impact Statement was due to be released in late September 2021. Comments on the new regulations close on 17 October. The changes are extensive.
• Increase building fabric to 7 star in general for Class 1, with an average of 7, minimum 6 star in Class 2. There is no trade-off between the building fabric and the appliance measures (called Whole of Home). • The ‘Whole of Home’ measures require you to meet an annual energy usage budget requirement using a holistic assessment for heating, cooling hot water, pool pumps, and on-site renewable (PV). It proposes a target of 30 per cent below the energy budget with benchmark appliances in Class 1. Note that GEMS sets the minimum efficiency of appliances. The NCC simply uses the star rating/efficiency of the appliances to calculate the target energy use.
To help TPAs understand the new regulation, here is a quick summary from Tony Isaacs who has been working with the ABCB to help develop the energy efficiency upgrades over the last 18 months with assistance from TASC Member Matthew Graham. The brief for the energy efficiency upgrades arose from the federal government’s Trajectory for Low Energy Buildings, developed and endorsed by the former Council of Australian Governments (COAG) Energy Council. See: https://energyministers.gov.au/publications/trajectorylow-energy-buildings. Note that issues regarding compliance are a state government responsibility and, while obviously important, are therefore not a part of the current consultation. Requirements for reducing air leakage, such as those in Passive House which require a heat recovery ventilator, were not part of the brief.
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In Class 2, a less stringent Whole of Home option is used (100 per cent of the energy use with benchmark appliances, as opposed to 70 per cent for Class 1) due to the practical limitations around the use of PV in this Class. e.g., Restricted roof area and the relative difficulty in getting the PV fed in ‘behind the meter’ on a unit-by-unit basis. PV will still count towards the calculation of the target where it is possible to install it. Note that common areas of Class 2 are considered as part of commercial buildings, which is out of the scope for discussion for the NCC 2022 residential energy efficiency changes, but is covered by other parts of the NCC, as per NCC 2019.
