Building sustainability means making your building more energy efficient and comfortable to live in.

Housing is long-life infrastructure. Houses built today shape the energy, water and resource demands for decades to come. Making them efficient now will reduce the cost-of-living for homeowners and benefit society over the full life of the building. Thermally efficient homes and units have:

• Lower operating costs – One of the biggest and most obvious benefits to reducing energy, water and resource consumption in buildings is that utility bills go down significantly. From a community perspective, less water and power consumption results in less demand for power stations and dams, freeing up public money for more useful investments.
• A lower environmental footprint and reduced greenhouse gas emissions – A building that uses less energy is responsible for fewer greenhouse gas emissions. Retrofits also present the opportunity to improve waste management, use more sustainable construction materials and improve water efficiency.
• Improved indoor environment quality – Indoor environment quality has become an important issue in modern buildings. A high performance home has greatly improved indoor air quality and thermal performance, which benefits the health and well being of homeowners.
• Reduced investment in energy infrastructure – If a building is built to be very energy efficient it is possible that future upgrades to switchboards and other electrical infrastructure can be avoided, saving both money and time.
• Improved resale value and marketability – Measures that improve energy and water efficiency are seriously considered by home buyers. For every $1 decrease in annual energy costs, the market value of a home should increase by $20 (Appraisal Journal, Oct 1998 www.appraisalinstitute.org).

David from Partners Energy is an Accredited Building Thermal Performance Assessor and he will check the design of your new home or unit and provide a NatHers Certificate.

This certificate details the energy efficiency performance the design of your home or unit is capable of achieving, including the NatHERS Star Rating and the simulated heating and cooling loads of the dwelling in MJ/m2/annum (mega joules per metre squared per year). A new home is the biggest investment you are likely to make and this certificate is proof that it was designed to save energy now and for the life of the building.