Achieving 6 Star Energy Rating for Buildings in Victoria

With a multitude of products and small appliances on the market designed specifically to make your power and water consumption considerably more efficient. We now have water saving showerheads, efficient globes, smart thermostats and switches that control the energy consumption of the certain device

Yet the most important factor that determines how efficiently your home operates, is the manner in which it has been constructed. In accordance to the state government's compliance requirement, it is necessary to achieve a 6 star energy rating in Victoria to have your building plans be given the go ahead. It's always preferable to hire an experienced energy rating consultant working in your corner through the process. It also pays to understand a little about what factors can make a difference.

So if you are in the initial planning stage, you might consider the following points.

Climate in Your Area

How energy efficient a house is has a lot to do with how well it maintains temperature. If a home doesn’t require much energy to heat and cool itself, chances are it’s extremely energy efficient. Climate considerations obviously impact on this, as does the orientation of a home. If for example, you live in a colder climate, you want to ensure your home makes the most of the sunshine it is exposed to. You’d have to make sure your windows and the main parts of the house will have good solar access.

There a several climate zones in Victoria, but generally a northern orientation is ideal whereby the summer sun is minimised and the winter sun maximised. Your designer also needs to consider the specifics of your property, for example, how much shade there is and what part of the house will be shaded when.

Materials Used

The building process can be quite wasteful if not managed correctly, so it’s important to choose durable, recycled and sustainable materials if possible. While this doesn’t necessarily make your home cheaper and more efficient to run, it ensures that you are supporting efforts to find more efficient means of producing these materials. It also ensures that you’ll get used out of them for longer, and not need to replace certainly or repair certain aspects of the home down the road.  Basically, it can be a mistake to choose shoddy materials just to save a few bucks.

Going back to the previous example, it’s also important to think about how certain materials used to affect your homes ability to warm or cool itself. Concrete, for instance, absorbs hear and can make the most of winter sunlight.

Consider the Size

We often equate the size of one’s home with a person’s socioeconomic status, but if you are serious about supporting the well being of the environment, it’s worth being realistic about how much space you really need. We are blessed in Australia in that we have a small population relative to the amount of space we have to work with. This being the case, our houses are some of the biggest in the world.

But this isn’t always necessary and when you consider that smaller houses are significantly more efficient, you might just be doing your hip pocket favour when you choose to go a little smaller.

Insulation

Another hugely impactful factor is the insulation in your home, something that you should invest in consideration when building. Not only does insulation keep heat inside the house and allow it to stay warm for longer, but it reduces the amount of heat that comes inside the house too. Essentially, it makes managing the house temperature much easier.

Ideally, you’ll insulate not just your roof but your walls and floor too for the best results.

There are many other considerations that you and your builder need to consider when designing your home or extension. So if you don’t want to take any chances, we recommend you to speak to our experts who are specialised in providing 6 Star rating for residential buildings in Victoria.