00:02Compare the pair, two ordinary homes with starkly different energy ratings.
00:08The first, in central Perth, is a pretty typical 1960s brick and tile, cold in winter and hot in summer.
00:17Part of the charm of beautiful homes of this era is they've had a bit of time to move.
00:22That can be a source of draft.
00:24Kel Lupus is a CSIRO home energy assessor.
00:28So these are halogen globes?
00:29He's rating Scott's house.
00:31We already know that we have star ratings on dishwashers, washing machines and so on.
00:36But one of the things we probably spend more money on in our whole life than anything else is a
00:40house.
00:41But we don't have an indication of its performance before we buy it.
00:44I don't think we'll have a high rating.
00:47Across town, Jason has been slowly retrofitting his 90s home.
00:52LED lights, double glazed windows, solar and batteries.
00:56The biggest winner for us is comfort.
00:59That is, and then the side arm to that is energy savings and being able to save money.
01:06For the past 30 years, it's been mandatory for new builds to meet a certain level of energy efficiency.
01:12The minimum, now seven stars.
01:15But most Australian homes were built before mandatory energy standards.
01:19The average ranking, below three stars.
01:22Australian homes are like tents.
01:24Real estate agent and sustainability expert, Chiara Pichupici, would like to see home energy ratings disclosed to all prospective buyers
01:33and tenants, which is already standard in the ACT.
01:36Research has identified that improving a home from three to five star can actually reduce electricity need, demand, by about
01:4540%.
01:46The federal government is investing $30 million to extend the national energy rating system to apply to existing homes.
01:54You can't fix what you can't measure.
01:57So by extending this rating system to existing homes, we create the opportunity for people to understand the energy performance
02:03of older homes and also get guidance on how to improve it.
02:07But here's the catch. These home energy assessments cost at least a few hundred dollars.
02:12And that's before you have to spend the money on retrofitting your home to make it more energy efficient.
02:17As for our pair, Jason's home scored 7.2, Scott's 2.6.
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