Date: 25 January 2010
The Building Ministers’ Forum has recognised the contribution that housing can make to energy savings for homeowners and occupiers as well as ongoing reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
According to the International Energy Agency, Australia lags other major developed countries in its implementation of recommended policies for buildings. Adoption of 6 Star standards is an important step forward for sustainability in Australia’s houses.
The new measures mean that modelling solutions will provide lower cost energy efficiency measures for the building fabric than deeming provisions.
“Reducing energy loss through the roof, walls, windows and floors of houses provides ongoing permanent savings in energy for the life of the building and should not be traded off for other short term measures, such as appliances,” said Rob Sindel, CEO of CSR Building Products Limited.
“Insulation will play an important role in meeting the new standard. However, in a typically otherwise well insulated house with ordinary clear single glazed windows, around 49% of unwanted heat losses in cooler months, and up to 87% of solar heat gain in summer, occurs through the windows,” he said.
The Australian window and glazing industry is well equipped to meet the new performance levels through a wide array of internationally proven technologies. Investments by CSR’s Viridian™ glass business in advance of this regulatory change have ensured that the local industry will not be left behind.
“The great virtue of the high performance windows and glass available today is that they can contribute significantly to meeting the 6 Star standards and provide a higher standard of home comfort. There is no need to compromise on aesthetics or amenity when designing new homes or renovations,” said Lachlan Austin, General Manager, Marketing Viridian.
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