This well written article reminds us that buildings in Australia (and NZ as well) are a large contribution to our CO2 emissions and we have the skills needed to significantly reduce that and at the same time save occupants on their energy bills with increased comfort. So if we have the skills and everyone benefits when we build Passive House why isn’t it building code?
“A paper submitted to the 18thAnnual Pacific-Rim Real Estate Society Conference (2012)found that in the UK, construction is responsible for about 50 per cent of carbon emissions. In the US it is 48 per cent, according to Architecture 2030.
While the Pacific Rim paper found it more difficult to find a number for the Australian construction sector, it notes that residential electricity consumption alone contributes 24 per cent of carbon emissions in Australia. ”“For a small increase in upfront costs to build a home – 5 per cent – the people of Norfolk, UK, have enjoyed 90 per cent savings on their energy bills in subsequent years. In Australia due to our lower temperature differentials, it is even easier to achieve the Passivehaus standard and the cost premium is between 0-3 per cent.
Australia ought to adopt Passivhaus as standard.”
Read more on this link.