Australia Govt: NCC 2022 public comment draft consultation now open

The Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) has released draft National Construction Code provisions on energy efficient residential buildings for public consultation.

The release of the public consultation draft is an important step change towards more healthy and comfortable homes for Australian families.

Minimum energy efficiency standards for housing haven’t been upgraded for over a decade. The proposed update is to ensure the National Construction Code meets the targets set out in the Australian Government’s Trajectory for Low Energy Buildings.

Significant amendments are proposed in this final stage of the draft. They include:

a stringency increase in the thermal performance of homes from 6 stars to 7 stars
whole-of-home annual energy use requirements
new provisions designed to allow easy retrofit of on-site renewables and electric vehicle charging equipment
additional ventilation and wall vapour permeability requirements.