RP1041: Examining building compliance issues to improve thermal performance of dwellings for carbon positive and healthy homes

Australian dwellings are responsible for around 14% of the total energy (i.e. around 557 PJ) consumed in Australia (ABS, 2012) to fulfil household energy requirements. The largest share of energy consumption is to maintain indoor thermal comfort by using space heating and cooling appliances (Pipkorn, 2013). In future, the energy demand for space cooling will be higher due to global warming if building design, construction methods and household energy consumption behaviour are not addressed urgently. Decarbonising of Australian dwellings would require significant reduction or elimination of space heating and cooling energy consumption without compromising the occupants’ health and comfort. Although building energy efficiency measures are integrated in National Construction Code (NCC) of Australia, the actual energy performance (at post-occupancy stage) of dwellings are falling short than the estimated energy consumption at the design stage. A recent study (Ding et al. 2018) reported a significant performance gap in space cooling and heating energy consumption at the post occupancy stage. 

This project aims to examine building construction quality and its impact on energy performance for space conditioning. Most often, sub-standard construction practices are responsible for high level of energy performance gap. The project utilises data from the previous projects (RP1017 and RP1010) to explore building compliance issues associated with construction quality; particularly on building assemblies, insulation installations, building air-tightness, air-conditioning ducting and ventilation arrangements. The project further carries out an in-depth building diagnostic on a recently built house to develop compliance standards and methods of verifications to ensure high standard energy efficiency provisions are met at the construction of buildings. 

_{Publications related to this project}

RP1041: Improving the thermal performance of dwellings for carbon positive and healthy homes: Understand the local climate, design for it and build to perform

This study maintains that understanding the local climate is the significant step in developing energy efficient design and construction methods to address the growing energy needs in a dwelling.

This study provides a guideline for improving thermal performance of the dwellings while ensuring that a healthy indoor environmental condition is maintained. Taking a case study of Richmond in NSW, the study will first analyse local climatic conditions (understand the local climate), then it will recommend strategies for a suitable design for that climate (design for the local climate) and finally it will discuss building compliance issues that are important for an energy efficient building (build to perform).

Understand the local climate, design for it and build to perform (3407229 PDF)