IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v132y2019icp602-610.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Aiming for mediocrity: The case of australian housing thermal performance

Author

Listed:
  • Moore, Trivess
  • Berry, Stephen
  • Ambrose, Michael

Abstract

Concerns about climate change, energy security and energy productivity are driving countries to improve energy and thermal efficiency of their housing. Australia established a Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) in the mid-1990s to encourage improved energy performance, before regulating minimum energy standards in the 2000s. While minimum standards in Australia have improved, they fall short of requirements for a low carbon future. Resistance to new standards has been predicated on the argument that consumers will drive the market. Others argue that market failures result in lower than optimal house energy performance. There has been limited investigation of this in the Australian context. This paper analyses over 187,000 NatHERS certificates from 2016 to 2018 to determine the response to market desires and the regulatory environment. The research finds 81.7% of housing is designed only to meet minimum standards, and 98.5% falls below the economic and environmental optimum. This demonstrates significant market failure and indicates that building energy regulation is a powerful instrument for delivering improved performance outcomes. If governments are seeking a larger contribution from the housing sector to carbon abatement and other energy policies, systematically raising minimum building energy regulations is probably the most important and effective mechanism.

Suggested Citation

  • Moore, Trivess & Berry, Stephen & Ambrose, Michael, 2019. "Aiming for mediocrity: The case of australian housing thermal performance," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 602-610.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:132:y:2019:i:c:p:602-610
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2019.06.017
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421519303878
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2019.06.017?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stern,Nicholas, 2007. "The Economics of Climate Change," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521700801, September.
    2. Jenkins, D.P., 2010. "The value of retrofitting carbon-saving measures into fuel poor social housing," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 832-839, February.
    3. Geels, Frank W., 2010. "Ontologies, socio-technical transitions (to sustainability), and the multi-level perspective," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(4), pages 495-510, May.
    4. Garnaut,Ross, 2008. "The Garnaut Climate Change Review," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521744447, September.
    5. Karl Widerquist, 2018. "The Bottom Line," Exploring the Basic Income Guarantee, in: A Critical Analysis of Basic Income Experiments for Researchers, Policymakers, and Citizens, chapter 0, pages 93-98, Palgrave Macmillan.
    6. Míguez, J.L. & Porteiro, J. & López-González, L.M. & Vicuña, J.E. & Murillo, S. & Morán, J.C. & Granada, E., 2006. "Review of the energy rating of dwellings in the European Union as a mechanism for sustainable energy," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 24-45, February.
    7. Willand, Nicola & Horne, Ralph, 2018. "“They are grinding us into the ground” – The lived experience of (in)energy justice amongst low-income older households," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 226(C), pages 61-70.
    8. Dixon, Robert K. & McGowan, Elizabeth & Onysko, Ganna & Scheer, Richard M., 2010. "US energy conservation and efficiency policies: Challenges and opportunities," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(11), pages 6398-6408, November.
    9. Geller, Howard & Harrington, Philip & Rosenfeld, Arthur H. & Tanishima, Satoshi & Unander, Fridtjof, 2006. "Polices for increasing energy efficiency: Thirty years of experience in OECD countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 556-573, March.
    10. Kolk, Ans & Pinkse, Jonatan, 2004. "Market Strategies for Climate Change," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 22(3), pages 304-314, June.
    11. Berry, Stephen & Davidson, Kathryn, 2016. "Improving the economics of building energy code change: A review of the inputs and assumptions of economic models," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 157-166.
    12. Berry, Stephen & Whaley, David & Davidson, Kathryn & Saman, Wasim, 2014. "Near zero energy homes – What do users think?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 127-137.
    13. Jason Scorse, 2010. "What Environmentalists Need to Know About Economics," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-0-230-11404-3, October.
    14. Ekins, Paul & Lees, Eoin, 2008. "The impact of EU policies on energy use in and the evolution of the UK built environment," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(12), pages 4580-4583, December.
    15. Lowe, Robert & Oreszczyn, Tadj, 2008. "Regulatory standards and barriers to improved performance for housing," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(12), pages 4475-4481, December.
    16. Walker, Gordon & Day, Rosie, 2012. "Fuel poverty as injustice: Integrating distribution, recognition and procedure in the struggle for affordable warmth," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 69-75.
    17. Willand, Nicola & Ridley, Ian & Maller, Cecily, 2015. "Towards explaining the health impacts of residential energy efficiency interventions – A realist review. Part 1: Pathways," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 191-201.
    18. Berry, Stephen & Davidson, Kathryn, 2015. "Zero energy homes – Are they economically viable?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 12-21.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Johnston, David W. & Knott, Rachel & Mendolia, Silvia & Siminski, Peter, 2021. "Upside-Down Down-Under: Cold Temperatures Reduce Learning in Australia," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    2. Yi Lu & Gayani Karunasena & Chunlu Liu, 2022. "A Systematic Literature Review of Non-Compliance with Low-Carbon Building Regulations," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-20, December.
    3. Berry, Stephen & Moore, Trivess & Ambrose, Michael, 2019. "Flexibility versus certainty: The experience of mandating a building sustainability index to deliver thermally comfortable homes," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    4. Nicole T Cook & Sophie-May Kerr, 2024. "Assembling high-rise: The uneven agencies of air in suburban densification in the Anthropocene," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 61(7), pages 1308-1326, May.
    5. Baker, Emma & Moore, Trivess & Daniel, Lyrian & Caines, Rachel & Padilla, Hector & Lester, Laurence, 2023. "Sustainable social housing retrofit? Circular economy and tenant trade-offs," SocArXiv bn42s, Center for Open Science.
    6. Georgia Warren-Myers & Monique Schmidt, 2023. "The Evolving Nature (or Not) of Sustainability Communications in New Home Building in Australia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-20, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Berry, Stephen & Davidson, Kathryn, 2016. "Improving the economics of building energy code change: A review of the inputs and assumptions of economic models," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 157-166.
    2. Sheng, Yu & Xu, Xinpeng, 2019. "The productivity impact of climate change: Evidence from Australia's Millennium drought," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 182-191.
    3. Nelson, Tim & Pascoe, Owen & Calais, Prabpreet & Mitchell, Lily & McNeill, Judith, 2019. "Efficient integration of climate and energy policy in Australia’s National Electricity Market," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 178-193.
    4. Adrian Amelung, 2016. "Das "Paris-Agreement": Durchbruch der Top-Down-Klimaschutzverhandlungen im Kreise der Vereinten Nationen," Otto-Wolff-Institut Discussion Paper Series 03/2016, Otto-Wolff-Institut für Wirtschaftsordnung, Köln, Deutschland.
    5. Mabroor Hassan & Manzoor K Afridi & Muhammad I Khan, 2018. "An overview of alternative and renewable energy governance, barriers, and opportunities in Pakistan," Energy & Environment, , vol. 29(2), pages 184-203, March.
    6. Guest, Ross, 2010. "The economics of sustainability in the context of climate change: An overview," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 45(4), pages 326-335, October.
    7. Huw McKay & Ligang Song, 2010. "China as a Global Manufacturing Powerhouse: Strategic Considerations and Structural Adjustment," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 18(1), pages 1-32, January.
    8. Garnaut, Ross, 2012. "The contemporary China resources boom," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 56(2), pages 1-22.
    9. Trivess Moore & Andréanne Doyon, 2018. "The Uncommon Nightingale: Sustainable Housing Innovation in Australia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-18, September.
    10. Altwies, Joy E. & Nemet, Gregory F., 2013. "Innovation in the U.S. building sector: An assessment of patent citations in building energy control technology," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 819-831.
    11. Dobes Leo & Jotzo Frank & Stern David I., 2014. "The Economics of Global Climate Change: A Historical Literature Review," Review of Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 65(3), pages 281-320, December.
    12. Thomas A. Tsalis & Ioannis E. Nikolaou, 2017. "Assessing the Effects of Climate Change Regulations on the Business Community: A System Dynamic Approach," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(6), pages 826-843, September.
    13. T. R. C. Curtin, 2009. "Climate Change and Food Production," Energy & Environment, , vol. 20(7), pages 1099-1116, November.
    14. Andrew Macintosh, 2013. "Coastal climate hazards and urban planning: how planning responses can lead to maladaptation," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 18(7), pages 1035-1055, October.
    15. Stephen Howes & Paul Wyrwoll, 2012. "Climate Change Mitigation and Green Growth in Developing Asia," Working Papers id:5059, eSocialSciences.
    16. Howes, Stephen & Wyrwoll, Paul, 2012. "Climate Change Mitigation and Green Growth in Developing Asia," ADBI Working Papers 369, Asian Development Bank Institute.
    17. Martina K. Linnenluecke & Andrew Griffiths & Monika Winn, 2012. "Extreme Weather Events and the Critical Importance of Anticipatory Adaptation and Organizational Resilience in Responding to Impacts," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(1), pages 17-32, January.
    18. Galarraga, Ibon & Abadie, Luis M. & Ansuategi, Alberto, 2013. "Efficiency, effectiveness and implementation feasibility of energy efficiency rebates: The “Renove” plan in Spain," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(S1), pages 98-107.
    19. Ross Guest, 2009. "The Economics of Carbon Abatement: An Integrated Diagrammatic Framework," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 28(2), pages 93-101, June.
    20. Murray R. Hall & Anthony Priestley & Tim H. Muster, 2018. "Environmental Life Cycle Costing and Sustainability: Insights from Pollution Abatement and Resource Recovery in Wastewater Treatment," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 22(5), pages 1127-1138, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:132:y:2019:i:c:p:602-610. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.