Page 1616 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 1 April 2009
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energy audit. Currently, if someone’s hot-water system breaks down, they have to wait weeks for a HEAT audit before they can get a rebate to buy a new energy efficient system. This is obviously not an ideal system, so we suggest that the ACT government change the HEAT system so that it is available immediately for more energy efficient hot-water services, so that ACT residents can take immediate advantage of the commonwealth government’s generous support.
This bill tries to achieve its environmental and economic objectives by also taking a realistic and equitable approach to hot-water efficiency problems in the ACT. Rather than singling out new homeowners, the bill will also apply the energy saving standard to existing homeowners. The Greens recognise that different residents in the ACT live in different circumstances, so we have tailored this bill accordingly.
Under this bill, the energy standard will only apply to class 1 buildings under the Building Code of Australia. It will cover houses and townhouses, as well as guesthouses such as bed-and-breakfasts. It will not apply specifically to multi-unit residential apartments. Multi-unit apartments face extra complexities which require a careful approach. There are ways to solve these issues and I look forward to being able to extend this standard to these residences in the future. We also need to look at how any changes would interact with the separate metering of apartments, which I understand is being rolled out by the government under the unit titles legislation.
Under this bill, the efficiency standard will not apply to the replacement of small electric hot-water systems in areas where there is no gas available. This will cover the situation where a single person lives in a house and does not use much hot water but they need to replace their small electric hot-water system because it is broken. In this case they would be permitted to replace it with an electric system provided that they also take additional measures to increase the thermal insulation of their hot-water system. This is actually something that is quite cheap to do. Bunnings and Magnet Mart sell kits to do it. I would recommend it to any owner of an electric hot-water system. You simply put a blanket around the system and it will reduce the standing losses from the system, which are about 25 per cent of the total energy. It is a good, cost-effective way of saving energy and greenhouse gas emissions.
The bill also recognises that a small number of rural residents in the ACT use multipurpose solid fuel heaters, which they also use to heat water. When wood is used for fuel and comes from a sustainable source, it creates only a low amount of greenhouse gas emissions. The ACT already has strong guidelines in place to ensure that wood is used sustainably. The bill therefore recognises the unique situation of the territory’s small number of rural residents by exempting these solid fuel burners from the energy saving standard.
With respect to timing, the requirement for all new houses to be built with energy efficient hot-water services is designed to apply from July this year. The standard will apply to replacement hot-water services from 2010. These implementation dates are designed to allow sufficient time for industry to prepare for the expected increase in demand for efficient hot-water systems. Tradespeople will also have time to prepare by undertaking installation training, and people building new houses will also have lead-in time to consider their purchases.
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