Page 3106 - Week 11 - Tuesday, 10 September 1991
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MR JENSEN (9.07): I never let the opportunity pass to talk about one of my favourite hobbyhorses in relation to building codes within the ACT. I refer, of course, to the need for improvements in the insulation of our homes and the reduction of energy use, and also to the need for model codes for residential developments to improve the use of land and to move towards a more sustainable environment within the ACT, particularly in the area of Gungahlin and some of the urban villages that I am sure will be established around the ACT.
It is important to remember that much work has been done in recent years on model codes for energy use, for buildings in particular. The Victorian Government has recently implemented legislation which requires all new homes to be fully insulated. It is also proposing that guidelines be established in Victoria to enable people who are buying homes or are about to sell their homes to have an assessment done of the energy efficiency rating of a particular house. We have seen in newspaper advertisements over the last couple of years that the solar efficiency and energy efficiency of a home is being used by organisations to sell their homes on the market.
It is interesting to note that, after some initial period of resistance, the Housing Industry Association has finally agreed in its recent publications that in all new homes being built there is a case for mandatory insulation of walls and those ceiling areas that are not readily accessible at a later date. That turnaround took place in a period of about six weeks, after some initial concern.
I am aware also that the Royal Australian Institute of Architects, ACT Chapter, following that publicity commissioned a study on how they might be able to support this concept in the ACT. It was quite clear that, while there would be a requirement to increase the nature of insulation in new buildings in the ACT, compared to the Victorian experience there is a greater potential to save money in the ACT.
Mr Speaker, I point out that in the ACT 60 per cent of the energy used in your home and my home, on average, goes towards space heating. That is a quite incredible amount, when you think about it. If we look at the diagrams that show heat loss in homes, we find that if we fail to insulate the walls, for example, we lose in excess of 20 per cent of the energy through the walls, and even more through the ceiling.
For the average three-bedroom house, if you spend approximately $400 on insulation of the walls at the time you build that home, you can save a quite considerable amount of energy. You must remember that, if you try to do
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