Sustainability Victoria

Volume home builders are companies that construct a large number of homes from existing designs. Thermal performance assessors are accredited professionals focused on measuring the efficiency of building shells. In this pilot program, Sustainability Victoria wanted to look at sustainably-designed homes that factor in daily energy use – like people cooking and showering. The idea was to help volume home builders draft (and market) designs for new homes that met the Zero Net Carbon Homes program standard from the outset. This is where the Zero Net Carbon tool came into play – it would calculate the energy use of the home’s fixed appliances like lights and heating to help the design gain a zero net carbon ‘pass’ rating. Early in the research phase, it became clear that success would rely on making it easy for assessors to pick up the tool and run with minimal training.

In partnership, we designed a web tool that calculates the building’s energy usage, sustainability offsets and sizes its solar PV system to arrive at a Net Zero Carbon home accreditation. The tool will support volume home builders with developing more zero net carbon homes throughout Victoria. It brings Sustainability Victoria one step closer to broader uptake of the Zero Net Carbon standard. With opportunity to scale following the pilot program’s success, this tool could become key in ensuring Victoria meets its greenhouse gas emission targets in the residential sector.