Page 882 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 20 March 2019
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that are unlivable without air conditioning in extreme heat and some which appear to be unlivable anyway during extreme heat. This is a public policy failure. We need to keep in mind that for vulnerable people, for the younger and older members of our community, this can be a serious, life-threatening health issue.
My motion draws the Assembly’s attention to this problem. It calls for potential solutions to be investigated and for the government to report back to the Assembly with a way forward to address the problem. I urge all members to support my motion, because this is an important issue. As everyone here knows, we are in the middle of an apartment building boom. Judging by what I have heard from the community, many of the apartments being built right now will really struggle with hot weather. These apartments will be with us for many years. Their owners and their occupiers will be struggling for many years to deal with living in them in increasingly hot climates. We need to take quick action to stop more hot apartments being built. My motion will start that process.
MR RAMSAY (Ginninderra—Attorney-General, Minister for the Arts and Cultural Events, Minister for Building Quality Improvement, Minister for Business and Regulatory Services and Minister for Seniors and Veterans) (5.07): While the government supports the intent of the motion, I foreshadow that I will shortly be moving a series of amendments that have been circulated in my name. I thank Ms Le Couteur for the opportunity to update the Assembly about changes that are being made to building standards and work that is underway to improve how apartment buildings are designed and constructed in the ACT.
Firstly, however, it is relevant to outline the difference between the building performance standards and energy efficiency ratings. The building code, which aligns with the national construction code, is performance based and it sets overarching performance requirements for a building. The code provides a range of methods by which to comply with those requirements.
The most popular way to comply is what is known as a deed-to-satisfy pathway, including the use of an energy efficiency rating. It is not mandatory to use an energy efficiency rating—in other words, the building standard is not a star rating. It is merely one way to achieve the requirements of the standard.
For energy efficiency in apartment buildings there are standards for common areas in the building and there are standards for individual dwellings. Standards cover the design of the building fabric, including the requirements of insulation in the building’s ceiling as well as lighting and household appliances. The building standards are complemented by the minimum energy performance standards for air conditioners and water heaters. The performance standards require that a building and its features must facilitate the efficient use of energy appropriate to the geographic location of the building, which means the local climate. That includes the degree to which heating and cooling may be required over the year.
All of the tools that can be used to produce energy ratings can model the building in any one of 69 different climate zones. Climate is the weather conditions prevailing in an area in general or over a long period; it is not the extreme weather in particular
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