What if we could cut energy bills, reduce pollution and help vulnerable Victorians all at the same time? That’s the clever idea behind this campaign to make one million homes more energy and water efficient.
Our vision
Imagine a Victoria where electricity price rises didn’t cause a ripple because all Victorians – homeowners and renters alike – lived in energy-efficient homes, even making their own electricity from the sun. Where homes were more comfortable to live in – warmer in winter and cooler in summer – and vulnerable Victorians were shielded from the health impacts of extreme weather events like heatwaves. Where thousands of Victorians were employed in a thriving energy efficiency industry, manufacturing, selling and installing efficiency measures like insulation, efficient lighting and draught-sealing in our homes. And where smart energy and water use in our homes was helping us cut greenhouse emissions, fight climate change and save water for our rivers. That’s our vision for Victoria.
Read our Six Steps to Efficiency Leadership report which spells out how the Victorian government could deliver on its promise to lead on efficiency. And what’s more, taking real action to upgrade the water and efficiency of our homes could stimulate $10 billion of investment and create up to 13,000 jobs. The Six Steps report builds on the 2025 Roadmap: Overcoming the barriers to efficient housing published by the One Million Homes Alliance in August 2015, which outlines a plan for turning our vision for efficient homes into reality. Since 2010, the One Million Homes Alliance of Victoria’s leading environmental, consumer and social sector organisations has been calling on government to set a clear goal to upgrade our housing stock to an average 5 star and 100 litre/person/day performance standard within ten years.
Our plan could be achieved through a mix of targeted assistance for home-owners in the lowest income bracket, as well as policy measures and financial incentives to assist all other home-owners and landlords invest in improvements. It’s practical, cost-effective and could be funded by the estimated $2.5 billion the government stands to save over the next 20 years from its energy concessions budget. The One Million Homes Alliance welcomes the Victorian government’s commitment to an “efficient, productive and resilient state” as outlined in the June 2015 energy efficiency and productivity statement “Saving energy, Growing Jobs”. The August 2015 announcement by the Victorian government of increased Victorian Energy Efficiency Targets to 2020 is a good first step. There is now an opportunity to follow up with further important reforms to strengthen the scheme further. We’re looking forward to the Victorian Government’s forthcoming Energy Efficiency Strategy (expected in early 2016) to outline an ambitious plan for transforming Victoria’s building stock.
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Upgrading Victoria’s 2 million residential buildings to an average 5-star equivalent and 100 litre/person/day standard would stimulate investment of $10 billion and create up to 13,000 jobs. And targeting government investment to Victoria’s one million low-income households would save the State Government $2.5 billion over 20 years in energy concession payments.
Why does it matter?
Every time we experience a record-breaking heatwave like ones in 2009 and 2014 or a severe cold snap, the costs mount up. Electricity and water use soars, as do our household bills and our greenhouse emissions. The electricity grid struggles to cope with the spike in demand, threatening blackouts and fuelling high prices. And tragically, hundreds of Victorians lose their lives, making extreme weather events (particularly heatwaves) responsible for more deaths each year than any other natural disaster. But there’s nothing inevitable or unavoidable about many of these impacts – a large chunk of which can be blamed on the ineffectiveness of our responses and in particular the poor quality of our housing.
Too many of us live in homes that use too much energy to stay comfortable, generating millions of tonnes of greenhouse emissions every year and costing us money in unnecessary power bills. For many Victorians that cost is simply unaffordable, consequently costing the Government millions more in energy concessions. Raising the efficiency of a home from 2 to 5 stars could save a household up to $600 a year on their energy bills. But low-income households – those who need the savings the most – are missing out because they can’t afford the up-front costs, and/or because they rent. Energy efficiency is also one of the cheapest and fastest ways to cut our greenhouse emissions, and is a premium area for employment growth.