Work is now underway to develop a single rating tool to assess the comfort and performance of New Zealand's new and existing homes.
A partnership has been formed between the New Zealand Green Building Council (NZGBC), BRANZ, and Beacon Pathway to develop a system that will assess the performance of our homes, provide information for home owners considering improvements to their home, and provide a performance scale that creates value around warm, healthy, and efficient homes.
This industry initiative aligns with Government activities to form a public/private sector partnership to create long-term value for all New Zealanders.
"A rating will help owners compare new and existing homes on the basis of the comfort and performance, in addition to the location, size or aesthetic qualities of the home," says Jane Henley, NZGBC Chief Executive.
Home owners or occupiers performing home improvements that make their home warmer, drier, or more energy efficient will be able to link these improvements to the capital value of their property.
Home Performance Rating Tool in Summary
The rating tool will:
- Enable home owners, by using a web-based tool that generates information on the expected building performance of their home, to compare the costs of improving home performance through free or low-cost assessments based on data about the house.
- Create a value proposition for investment into homes; recognising investment into performance with a rating.
- Create a common language around building performance, becoming the way we talk about our homes.
- Address the whole building envelope and assess a home's performance, including energy, water, health and comfort, materials used and more.
- Provide a framework to help deliver Government housing initiatives, aligning with the home insulation fund and other relevant work.
- Provide achievable and consistent advice on standards over time that enable the building and construction industry to produce, install and maintain solutions that deliver real results for home owners and occupiers.
- Overseas research shows homes with performance ratings sell and rent faster, for higher prices than non-rated homes. The UK, Europe and North America have developed similar rating tools, such as LEED for Homes in the USA and Canada and the Code for Sustainable Homes in the UK.
Technical Development
The development of the tool will occur in two phases. A Technical Working Group has been formed to develop the tool in the first phase, focused on determining the basis for the technical detail.
In the second phase of development the overall framework will be completed, and will include the final technical detail, upgrade improvement packages, certification and assessment systems and processes, as well as education and consumer marketing of the home performance assessment tool.
