ABSTRACT
All new houses in Australia have to include energy efficient housing features to meet the National Construction Code minimum requirements, which are recorded in the local government database. The dominant household energy uses are heating and cooling, and although building designs can increase the energy efficiency and performance of a house, it is neither measured nor communicated to stakeholders. Some researchers have endorsed a building passport as a user manual to improve occupant understanding of their house’s energy efficiency and performance, however, a building passport is not currently available in the housing transaction database. Homebuyers have limited access to sustainable housing feature information and therefore may not use this information as a price determinant in their purchasing decision. It may need the active involvement of the government, financiers and property professionals to inform and promote the sustainable features. Well-informed buyers can increase the demand for sustainable housing and so impact the value of housing if they include energy efficient and sustainable features.
