7 Conclusions

The fast-track project has provided opportunity to explore and learn from previous and existing programs as well as consider the current landscape, the portfolio of action and the delivery model required for a large-scale home retrofit scheme in Australia. This has shown us that the task ahead is large and highly complex, yet feasible through collaborative efforts. And now more than ever before.

The fast-track project has allowed the development of scheme design principles which will guide further scheme development, testing and piloting. The home retrofit scheme must have clear and demonstrable goals as is shown in Table 34.

Table 34 Scheme design principles

The home retrofit scheme aims to create:

Future ready homes, meaning homes that are comfortable as well as highly thermal and energy efficient, with a path toward electrification

Improved NatHERS rating for each home

Market transformation

Culture shift toward demanding comfortable and energy efficient homes

Large-scale delivery of home retrofits across all states and regions in Australia

The home retrofit scheme will target:

National Construction Code (NCC) Class 1a single dwellings that are owner occupied or tenanted, mortgaged, or owned outright

Poor quality homes

The home retrofit scheme must build and maintain trust with homeowners:

Scheme must benefit the homeowner through a streamlined process, including finance and retrofit options

Scheme must provide an offering that the homeowner wants and/or needs

Retrofit options provide best case outcomes with comfort and ROI benefits understood for each homeowner

The home retrofit scheme must engage at trigger points:

Point of sale/purchase of home

Point of advertisement for lease

Point of renovation

The home retrofit scheme and its partners and advocates must provide clear messaging and influence for

government, industry, and homeowners:

Use a values-based approach to understand customer motivations and an effective way to overcome intervention barriers

Optimised Australian home comfort benefits must be further researched and communicated to the target market and government

An accredited assessment process that enables the homeowner to understand and receive independent technical guidance

A scalable yet stringent quality control process is required to ensure consistent and continued quality of workmanship and the scheme delivery model

The application of these design principles will be refined and developed through further research and market discovery, then tested in pilot applications before broader roll-out. Alongside this development and refinement process the broader suite of enabling actions must progress. In combination this will create the environment and the mechanism to allow for the thermal and energy efficiency retrofit of millions of homes across Australia.

Pathways to Scale: Retrofitting One Million+