Is it harder or more expensive to achieve a 7 star home?

And how does the ‘Whole of Home’ Rating Scheme impact your project, your team and your approvals?

Learn more here, with Jeremy Spencer, Positive Footprints.

This episode is part of a special series on the National Construction Code, and NCC 2022.

Listen to the episode now.

Hello! This is episode 293, and in it, I’m talking with Jeremy Spencer, builder, thermal performance assessor and co-owner at Positive Footprints.

Long time listeners to the podcast will remember Jeremy’s previous appearance on Episode 232 and Episode 233, where he talked about low carbon and zero carbon homes, as well as his work in Positive Footprints (and more broadly across the industry) to educate and improve knowledge and execution in this area.

He’s back in this series on the National Construction Code to help us understand more about the upgrades in NCC2022, the new seven star rating, what will impact you achieving it, and in particular the introduction of a ‘Whole of Home’ scheme for energy performance.

My conversation with Jeremy will run over this and the next two episodes, as he shares so much wisdom, detail and actionable information. 

It’s seriously useful knowledge for anyone who is building or renovating, and especially for anyone needing to know more about achieving seven stars, and the Whole of Home rating system.

Before I jump in, let me remind you about Jeremy Spencer, Positive Footprints, or introduce him to you if it’s the first time you’ve met!

Jeremy Spencer is a long time builder, thermal performance assessor, and co-director with his wife Chi Lu at Design & Building company Positive Footprints. 

Positive Footprints is a multi award winning construction company, dedicated to making high performance sustainable homes and renovations easy to achieve and affordable. 

His company has worked for 2 decades to show that energy efficient design and high performance construction is a cost effective option and can be a mainstream reality.

Jeremy currently sits on the Design Matters National board, the NatHERS Stakeholder Committee, and the board of directors for Builders Declare. 

He is an annual judge at the National Sustainability Awards, helped create the True Zero Carbon Challenge, and designed and presented programs with Sustainability Victoria and the SA Government, to educate industry on how to achieve 7 star+ Design and Net Zero outcomes on the ground. 

An educator, and previous Master Builders GreenLiving instructor, he is passionate about making low carbon, sustainable housing a mainstream reality in the residential sector.

Let’s jump into Part 1 of my conversation with Jeremy.

LISTEN TO THE EPISODE NOW.

RESOURCES:

Please note, the links to some of these pages may be out of date or superseded as the NCC2022 adoption occurs, or (later) the NCC2022 is superseded by newer legislation.

National Construction Code 2022 >>> https://ncc.abcb.gov.au/editions/ncc-2022

NCC2022 state and territory adoption dates >>> https://abcb.gov.au/ncc-2022-state-and-territory-adoption-dates

NCC 2022 overview of key changes: articles >>> https://ncc.abcb.gov.au/ncc-2022-overview-key-changes-articles

Find out more about Jeremy and Positive Footprints here >>> https://www.positivefootprints.com.au/

This is a general guide to ratings:

• a 0-star rated home is quite uncomfortable – too hot in summer and too cold in winter. It will require a lot of energy to heat and cool.
• a home reaching a 7-star rating will need some mechanical heating and cooling to keep it comfortable to live in.
• a 10-star home is very energy efficient. It will remain comfortable year-round, with limited, or no mechanical cooling or heating.

A great PDF produced by the ABCB on the Residential Energy Efficiency Upgrades >>> https://abcb.gov.au/sites/default/files/resources/2022/NCC-2022-Residential-Energy-Efficiency-Overview-of-Provisions.pdf

Builders Declare Instagram (Now Sustainable Builders Alliance) >>> https://www.instagram.com/sustainablebuildersalliance/

The Sustainable Builders Alliance Website >>> www.theSBA.com.au

Free information session produced by Builders Declare called “Great, all houses now need to reach 7 stars……but what now?”

>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKEdBE4FJ2I

Free information on the Builders Declare YouTube called “Acing 7 Stars” 

>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XhW8T1KjoM

Top Tips for Building for 7 Stars (Australian Government) >>> https://www.nathers.gov.au/sites/default/files/2022-09/22726_Nathers_Newsletter.pdf

Listen to Jeremy’s previous episodes on the podcast:

>>> Episode 292 ‘Building Carbon Zero Homes’ https://undercoverarchitect.com/podcast-carbon-zero-homes-jeremy-spencer-positive-footprints/

>>> Episode 293 ‘Choosing a Sustainable Builder’ https://undercoverarchitect.com/podcast-choosing-a-sustainable-builder-jeremy-spencer-positive-footprints/

Hear more about Jeremy’s story on the Sustainable Builders Yak podcast here >>> https://open.spotify.com/episode/0ZYzh5BScMtLH1tEIuEqCV?si=Qyl5FSwSRXGl–uGZoS2qg

Net Zero Homes – Skills Training >>> https://netzeroenergybuilder.com.au/netzero/net-zero-homes-skills-training

Access the support and guidance you need to be confident and empowered when renovating and building your family home inside my flagship online program, HOME METHOD >>> https://undercoverarchitect.com/courses/the-home-method/

Learn more about how to interview and select the right builder with the Choose Your Builder mini-course >>> https://undercoverarchitect.com/courses/choose-your-builder

Access my free online workshop “Your Project Plan” >>> https://undercoverarchitect.com/projectplan