City of Cockburn - Wetlands to Waves

Energy Efficiency Design Requirements for Residential Buildings Class 1 Buildings And Attached Class 10

Since 1 July 2003 all new residential dwellings and additions (Class 1 & 10a) have had to comply with the mandatory energy efficiency requirements as defined in the Building Code of Australia.

From 1 May 2006, The Building Code of Australia (BCA) 2006, has incorporated new energy efficiency provisions for the design and construction of all Class 1 single residential houses. However, the implementations of these new provisions were delayed until the 1st May 2007.

It is now mandatory to comply with these new measures and the major areas of change include new Performance Requirements and Deemed-to-Satisfy Provisions for the following aspects of single residential buildings:

• Increased thermal performance of walls, ceilings, floors, glazing including shading in order to avoid or reduce the use of artificial conditioning (heating and cooling).
• The sealing of buildings to reduce energy loss through air leakage. 
• Natural ventilation and internal air movement, where appropriate, to avoid or reduce the use of artificial conditioning. 
• The energy efficiency of hot water and air conditioning systems.

In addition, these new measures affect all Class 2 to 9 buildings (Commercial, Industrial and Multi Residential), as defined in the Building Code of Australia. Information on energy efficiency for commercial buildings can be obtained from the Commercial Energy Efficiency webpage on the Citys website.

When submitting a building application to the City of Cockburn for new buildings or major additions to a building, (other than most Class 10) the application will need to be submitted with a completed and signed Glazing Calculator sheet, Air Movement Data Sheet and the Deemed to Satisfy Compliance Report.

Alternatively Certification from a Registered First Rate or NatHers energy efficiency assessor for the proposed design may be submitted.

Details in regard to registered First Rate or NatHers assessors can be found at the ABSA website. 

For more information, you can download the Department of Housing & Works guidelines document for the 5 Star Energy Efficient home.