Review of the National Construction Code (NCC) – Energy Efficiency

Representatives from the Property Council’s ESD Committee will be meeting with Phil Harris from Troppo Architects (Chair of below established committee) to further provide information and expertise to the Review of the National Construction Code.

After meeting with Minister Tollner’s office, they are now advised that we have an active ESD committee and that the newly formed group would benefit from.

Please see below detailed information on the newly formed group and their objective. 

 “The NCC provides the minimum necessary requirements for safety, health, amenity and sustainability in the design and construction of new buildings (and new building work in existing buildings) around Australia”

The Northern Territory Minister for Lands, Planning; the Environment established the Domestic Building Code Review Group (“the Group”) in August 2015 to broadly review the operation of the NCC in the Territory in relation to residential construction.  The Group is:

• made up of building professionals nominated by representative industry associations
• an independent, non-statutory, advisory body
• required to report to the Minster by March 2016.

Terms of Reference

The Terms of Reference for the Group, as set by the Government, are to:

• having regard to the National Regulatory Framework, analyse the comment received and recommend suggested amendments to the application of the NCC for residential buildings in the Northern Territory
• recommend variations that allow design flexibility in the varying climatic regions of the Territory
• remove unnecessary additions to the code that increase residential building costs for no valid reason
• recommend ways to streamline or improve related Territory Government administrative processes.

The Group will therefore broadly consider NCC-related issues throughout the Territory, taking a regional approach.  The advice to the Minister will consider how better-fitting, more easily delivered, housing can be delivered in the Territory, under the following broad topics:

• Climatically responsive, energy efficient housing

As a part of Australia’s commitment to reducing Greenhouse Gas emissions, the NCC includes provisions for “energy efficiency”.  A national methodology for calculating the energy efficiency of a building has been created to support these provisions. The methodology measures the likely heating and cooling loads required if you wanted to maintain the building within a certain temperature range.  Local data is used to account for Australia’s diverse climates.  In the Territory, a 5-star rating (out of 10 possible stars) is considered the “minimum” requirement to be approved for construction

There are differing views in the community and amongst building professionals about whether this national methodology fully describes the most energy efficient, or regionally appropriate, housing, particularly in relation to tropical housing.  The Group will explore these views and propose any improvements to the NCC to provide for more inclusive “minimum” requirements for energy efficiency in Territory housing.

• Housing affordability

The Group will identify any detail within the NCC which, in the opinion of the Group, unnecessarily adds to the cost of residential building in the Territory. Without compromising the NCC’s purpose of delivering “safety, health, amenity and sustainability in design and construction”, the Group will consider whether the NCC provisions are appropriate for the Territory’s unique environmental and social contexts.

• Administration

The NCC is the primary “control tool” in the development and construction industries.  The Group will therefore identify any areas for improvement in the administration of the NCC, including building approval, construction administration, regulation and auditing processes in the Territory. 

Representative of	Name
Troppo Architects	Mr Phil Harris (Chair)
Association of Building Sustainability Assessors (Energy Assessor)	Mr Ray Fogolyan
Association of NT Building Certifiers	Mr Christopher Lovewell
Australian Institute of Architects	Ms Joanna Best
Australian Institute of Building Surveyors (Building Certifier)	Ms Penny Whinney-Houghton
Building Design Association of the NT	Mr Darron Lyons
Building Designers Association of Victoria (Energy Assessor)	Mr Edward Zajc
Engineers Australia	Mr Adam James
Housing Industry Association (Residential Builder)	Mr Justin Gill
Master Builders Association	Mr Paul Nowland
Self-nominated	Mr Michael Watt