A “step change” in how the 2019 National Construction Code tackles energy efficiency is here. How will you prepare your projects for a zero-carbon ready future?
Changes to Section J of the National Construction Code, which take effect on 1 May, represent a substantial overhaul to the energy efficiency provisions for commercial buildings.
“These are the first changes to the Code’s energy efficiency provisions since 2010,” says Neil Savery, chief executive of the ABCB.
Improved energy efficiency is squarely in the sights of building ministers and the board, and this “step change” to the Code introduces a “significant increase in stringency”.
The Australian Building Code Board’s work was initiated following the COAG Energy Council’s adoption of the National Energy Productivity Plan, which committed to review energy requirements in the Code.
“In the past, the Code addressed the built environment’s low-hanging fruit,” Savery says.
“But to establish high levels of energy efficiency in commercial buildings, we must reach further into the design, construction and performance of buildings – and into areas that the Code hasn’t addressed before.”
Savery points to numerous examples. Buildings must now meet minimum energy efficiency performance requirements during all four seasons. Airtightness provisions are more specific, wall and window thermal performance is more stringent, and some design features, such as curtain walls, will be much harder to deliver.
Francesca Muskovic, the Property Council’s national policy manager for sustainability and regulatory affairs, urges people to prepare early.
“We haven’t seen any change to energy efficiency in the Code for close to a decade. It’s not just ESD specialists that need to understand what the changes mean. Professional services from architects and façade engineers to building services managers will need to change the way they work.
“Given how substantial the changes are, a 12-month transition period for Section J will mean it becomes mandatory on 1 May 2020 but can be used from 1 May 2019.”
In February, COAG’s energy ministers confirmed their support for a Trajectory for Low Energy Buildings, a national plan towards zero energy and carbon buildings. This builds on years of hard work undertaken by industry and will “chart out future changes to energy efficiency provisions in the NCC 2022 and beyond”, Muskovic says.
“The Property Council has spent the last three years engaging with members and has supported the Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council’s (ASBEC’s) industry-led pathway to a zero-carbon ready building code,” Muskovic adds.
Professor Tony Arnel, global director of sustainability for NDY, a Tetra Tech company, and chair of ASBEC’s Building Code Task Group, emphasises the urgency of the task ahead.
“Fifty-one per cent of Australia’s buildings in 2050 will be constructed after 2019. By 2050, Australia will need to be at or near zero emissions,” Arnel says.
“The National Construction Code sets minimum standards for all new Australian buildings, so it is the best place to start to improve building energy performance.
“We know all countries must accelerate their efforts if warming is to be kept under 2°C. Australia needs to act now to begin a rapid transition to net zero emissions.”
The 2018 Emissions Gap Report from the United Nations listed Australia as a G20 country that will not meet its 2030 target.
“Buildings generate 23 per cent of Australia’s carbon emissions – so we need to accelerate our energy efficiency efforts,” Arnel adds.
ASBEC’s Built to Perform report, published in July last year, outlines the case for a “zero carbon ready” building code.
“We’ve found that setting stronger energy standards for new buildings could reduce energy bills by up to $27 billion, cut energy network costs by up to $12.6 billion and deliver at least 78 million tonnes of cumulative emissions savings between now and 2050,” Arnel says.
These savings could be achieved through simple, cost-effective energy efficiency measures such as improved airtightness, double-glazed windows, increased insulation, outdoor shading, and more efficient air conditioners, hot water systems and lighting.
Savery says industry feedback to the Code updates has been the predictable mix of pragmatism, positivity and those that “inevitably think we’ve gone too far”.
“Recent modelling from CSIRO finds 25 per cent of new buildings exceed minimum requirements. While this varies across the country, it suggests that industry is already striving to go beyond minimum requirements.”
What’s most important, now, is for industry to understand what the changes to the Code will mean to their projects, Savery adds.
Arnel expects regular increases in stringency with each three-year update to the code.
“As an industry, what we want is certainty. We aren’t fearful of increased regulation or standards – we just want to know it’s coming so we can plan, invest in new technologies and deliver higher building energy performance at lower cost,” Arnel says.
The Property Council and the Australian Building Codes Board are hosting a roadshow around Australia, Section J Transformed: Stepping into energy change for commercial buildings, in May. These free sessions will deep dive into the intent and content of the new requirements. Some states are already oversubscribed, but a waiting list is available as we roll out further events. Find out more and book your ticket today.