ACT Building Minister Rebecca Vassarotti to push for home efficiency boost in national construction code

ACT Sustainable Building and Construction Minister Rebecca Vassarotti will call for the introduction of a minimum seven-star energy efficiency requirement for new homes at a meeting with her state and territory counterparts on Friday.

"Raising it to a minimum seven-star rating is not a particularly ambitious change - research shows that at seven stars, we'll still be behind the codes of other comparable climates and jurisdictions," Ms Vassarotti said.

"Now is the time for us to be ambitious and to future-proof new homes from a warming climate. The ACT, through its 10-year pathway to world's best practice, intends to do more."

An analysis commissioned by the federal government found detached home owners would be $107 a year better off in Canberra owning a seven-star energy efficient home from new if the changes were adopted.

Ms Vassarotti said everyone should live in a home that was comfortable where they were able to easily and efficiently regulate the internal temperature to cope with hot and cold periods.

"Rental properties that are not energy efficient lead to higher energy bills and sometimes dangerously cold or hot houses for the people that call them home. It is often the case that those with the least capacity to pay have no choice but to live in properties that are the most expensive to heat and cool," she said.

"While the ACT is moving forward to implementing minimum standard for ceiling insulation for rental properties, our national standards have not been changed in more than a decade and they are falling further and further behind international and best-practice standards."

The nationwide house energy rating scheme was first introduced in Australia in 1993 and is currently going through an overhaul.

Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council executive director Alison Scotland said shifting the requirement from six to seven stars could not be delayed.

"If we are serious about reducing emissions and living in a healthy, comfortable home, we need to continue the momentum towards stronger energy performance," Ms Scotland said.

The acting ACT executive director of the Property Council of Australia, Adele Lausberg, said the standards had not been meaningfully updated in a decade and the national construction code had sat idle.

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"During this time, the country has fallen further and further behind international standards, and the time has come to catch up with the rest of the world," Ms Lausberg said.

"Increasing the minimum energy efficiency ratings in new homes will slash the energy bills of Canberrans, ease long-term cost-of-living pressures and support the territory's net-zero ambitions.

"Our political leaders have an opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to reducing emissions and cost of living pressures by implementing these amendments."

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