MEDIA RELEASE
For immediate release
Study reveals West Australians are ignoring energy efficiency
Revolutionary online tool launched removes guesswork from
sustainable home design
Friday July 17th, 2009: A new survey
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shows that 2 in every 3 (65 per cent)
West Australian homeowners believe that energy efficiency was either not
relevant or only a minor consideration when purchasing their home.
In launching Think Brick Australia’s revolutionary online Climate Design tool,
Wheeler believes this thinking will need to change as more severe weather
conditions become the norm and energy prices start to soar.
“As Australia continues to experience more extreme weather patterns –
meaning longer, hotter summers, more severe storms and ongoing drought
conditions -
it is bewildering that energy efficient house design is not at the
forefront of Australians’ minds. And the key to energy efficiency is designing
the home to fit the climate,” said Mr Wheeler.
To address this issue and make it easier to design more sustainable new
homes, Think Brick Australia has developed an online Climate Design Wizard,
which provides homeowners, builders and architects clear and simple
information about their local climate, as well as simple design strategies which
when adopted achieve a more environmentally sustainable outcome.
Such
accessible information has never before been available and is based on over
a century of climate data across 27 Australian climate zones.
By simply clicking on the desired climate location on the wizard, design ideas
and advice for local conditions such as air temperature, humidity, heating and
cooling degree hours, solar irradiation and sky condition, rainfall and wind
data are instantly available.
Linda Ginger, CEO of Think Brick Australia warns that if Australians continue
to ignore the benefits of sustainable design they do so at their own peril.
“The benefits of learning how
to live in the Australian climate, no matter
where, is profound. Not only are we reducing the burden on the environment
and therefore future generations but as energy costs set to soar, total reliance
on mechanical and heating will become cost prohibitive,” Linda Ginger says.
“A key objective of this initiative was to provide simple and easy advice to
anyone who is looking to reduce their reliance on space heating and cooling
and achieve natural thermal comfort. Our survey reveals that many people still
do not know how to go about the basics when designing and building so
hopefully this will give them some assistance to make better choices.”
The survey also shows that the vast majority of Australian homeowners said
they want to make their homes more energy efficient, including 84 per cent in
West Australia. However the
common solution adopted by Australian
homeowners to being too hot or cold was to install energy intensive air-
conditioners (59 per cent) or some form of mechanical heating (70 per cent).
In contrast little interest has been shown in energy efficient design strategies.
Only a small minority of homeowners said they had adopted
environmental
sustainable design strategies to help keep their home cool, such as installing
shading
(8 percent), planting trees to shade the house
4 per cent), installing
roller shutters (2 percent) or investing in window coverings (16 per cent).
“A house designed with environmental sustainable design principles looks like
a normal house, but it is responsive to the local climate, making it more
comfortable to live in but also has the added benefit of lower ongoing energy
costs,” said Mr Wheeler.
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ends
For further information or to arrange an interview please contact:
Reservoir Network on 02 9955 8000 / Suzanne Beaumont on 0414
623 708
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Think Brick Australia’s research is based on a Newspoll random telephone survey of
1700 Australians aged 18+, including 1180 people who own their own house /
townhouse or villa. Survey results have been postweighted using the latest ABS
population statistics and reflect the opinions of approximately 10.4 million Australian
homeowners.
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