New home buyers in the future should receive a housing
performance manual which will provide them with information to
maximise the environmental management of their new home.
Commenting on the Federal Government's move to introduce ten star
environmental labelling on all housing appliances such as air
conditioners, washing machines and plasma screens, Robert Caulfield
Managing Director of Archicentre said, "the success of any code will
largely depend on behavioural change by Australian home owners.
"You can put the most water
efficient shower head available in the home but if people continue
to have half hour showers the initiative is considerably
downgraded."
Image right: Robert Caulfield, Managing Director of
Archicentre
Mr Caulfield said, the introduction of the Home Owners Green
Manual for every new home would provide builders with a major
marketing opportunity to stress the environmental advantages of
their home design and provide maintenance tips to protect the home
owners' asset.
Every household in Australia on average produces 14 tonnes of
carbon emissions a year, which is almost a fifth of Australia's
total greenhouse gases.
Mr Caulfield said that one of the major problems in cutting green
house gas emissions is to upgrade existing homes to a minimum
standard and this could be done by mandating the compulsory
fitting of water efficient shower heads, dual flush toilets and
energy efficient light bulbs before a home could be sold.
"As houses are sold on average of every seven years this would
lead to the continual upgrading of Australia's existing housing
stock of some 3.5 million homes."
