NatHERS Year in review – 2024
Celebrating NatHERS milestones!
As we wrap up another transformative year, it’s time to reflect on Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) key achievements for 2024.
In this newsletter, we celebrate these achievements and the collective effort behind them, extending a big thank you to the NatHERS community for your dedication, feedback, and collaboration.
Firstly, some stats. The Australian Housing Data portal shows that NatHERS ratings are still the most popular way to meet the National Construction Code (NCC) requirements with around 9 out of 10 new homes using NatHERS in 2023-24. That’s over 181,800 NatHERS Certificates and Residential energy rating reports generated during the year!
Highlights from 2024
The teams’ hard work, in collaboration with our dedicated partners, has seen significant projects finalised this year and great progress towards NatHERS expansion to include existing homes assessments.
The accreditation and roll out of the new Whole of Home tool and software to support changes to the NCC 2022 energy efficiency provisions was one of the most significant updates the scheme has gone through in its 30-year history. These changes help NatHERS to shape the sustainable, resilient homes of the future.
A series of webinars hosted by experts offered opportunities for assessor professional development, covering key topics including NCC 2022 Whole of Home changes.
Feedback from consultations and stakeholder engagement have shaped the expansion to existing homes, and a new calculation method for centralised services.
The team has also been working behind the scenes to set up critical trials of ratings of existing homes for next year, that will guide data collection and assessments using mobile devices.
Looking forward
Next year, we look forward to working with our long-term partners once again, including the states and territories, the ABCB, the CSIRO, Assessor Accrediting Organisations (AAOs), software tool providers, Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) and valued advisory groups. We will also be welcoming new and emerging stakeholders from the finance and real estate sectors.
But for now, from the NatHERS family to you and your families, have a safe and enjoyable break over the Festive Season.
Keep reading below for all the latest news, and stories reflecting on the year that was.
– The NatHERS Team @ DCCEEW
In this edition
- Expansion plans powering ahead
- Disclosure reaches major milestones
- Supporting assessor education
- Accredited assessor workforce growing
- Updated Design For Place supporting NatHERS growth
Expansion plans powering ahead
Progress to expand NatHERS assessments to existing homes has gained significant momentum this year. This has involved extensive stakeholder engagement with various groups during 2024, including energy assessors, the finance and real estate sectors.
Public consultations were held during August, through which stakeholders had the opportunity to help shape the future of this ambitious program of work.
An initial consultation sought feedback on how NatHERS for existing homes could be delivered, including objectives and design principles, tool accreditation, assessor training, accreditation and auditing processes. Draft home energy rating certificates and information on the approach to upgrade advice was also shared. Three webinars were attended by over 750 people and 40 submissions were received.
Further consultation was held on the assurance strategy, assessor accreditation requirements and complaints policy. This featured a workshop with 30 stakeholders from the property and real estate sector, energy assessors and the states and territories. There was strong engagement, positive feedback and insights that will inform future work.
You can see recordings of the consultation webinars on the NatHERS expansion page.
Existing home rating trials set to commence
The team has been busy recruiting assessors to help trial NatHERS for existing homes, with training commencing now and home assessments to start early in 2025. The trials will help test the scheme’s systems and processes as well as consider how it could be delivered at scale.
The core stream trial will involve over 40 current accredited assessors, professionals with broader property or construction experience and individuals new to the field. After training, they will conduct around 20 trial assessments each, to both produce ratings for households and provide critical feedback to help refine the program ready for launch.
Training for core stream participants commenced on 16 December. It includes piloting the delivery of the new training unit on conducting ‘in field’ existing home assessments, which was developed with our Training Advisory Group.
A second scale stream trial includes partnering with banks and will see property valuers collecting data onsite to share with a NatHERS accredited assessor, who will complete the rating and produce a certificate offsite. This stream will help investigate possible delivery models for how the scheme may be ramped up and delivered at scale in the future.
New tool for existing homes trials
AccuRate Enterprise is ready to support trials for the expansion of the scheme. New assessor resources for the trial include dedicated Technical and Guidance Notes.
The User Interface Protocol (UIP) Technical Working Group was also established in October. This group will help shape the mandatory user interface requirements for existing homes energy rating tools. These tools are proposed to use CSIRO’s new cloud-based AccuRate Enterprise software to complete energy rating calculations. Expressions of interest are still open. Visit the expansion updates webpage for more information.
Disclosure reaches major milestones
The Home Energy Ratings Disclosure Framework – Version 1 was published in July 2024. It established a national approach to providing ratings and certificates at the point of sale or lease for single dwellings.
The Home Energy Ratings Disclosure Framework – Version 2 was developed in collaboration with all states and territories, and industry and consumer stakeholders. It was published on 6 December 2024. This version includes apartments, guidance on using and communicating disclosure ratings, certificate validity periods, and options for phasing in schemes nationally.
Detailed consultation during July and August informed the development of the updated framework. Multiple webinars were attended by 189 people and 37 submissions were received, all supporting the initiative. See more on the consultation here.
A cost benefit analysis provided evidence of the considerable gains associated with upgrading homes based on energy ratings, and the significant economic benefits for implementing mandatory home energy ratings disclosure. Additional supporting research will be published shortly.
In 2025, the team will work closely with states and territories on pilots for disclosure schemes to test the settings outlined in the Home Energy Ratings Disclosure Framework.
Supporting assessor education
After finalising tool updates and accreditation to support major changes to NCC 2022 early in the year, the team shifted focus to support assessor education. A series of webinars hosted jointly by NatHERS, BERS Pro, HERO, and FirstRate5 demonstrated a Whole of Home assessment in each tool. A total of 748 assessors and industry professionals attended the workshops in March.
The updated NatHERS Assessor Handbook was also released to support the NatHERS Technical Note (updated in May and October 2024). A new trouble shooting technical Q&A, collated from NatHERS inbox enquiries was added to the NatHERS Assessor Toolkit. Various webinar recordings, training and research documents have also been uploaded during the year.
A consultation paper was circulated mid-year for feedback on a draft method for calculating energy demand for apartments using centralised services. A final version is expected to be released in coming weeks. Keep an eye on NatHERS news for a release date soon to be announced.
Accredited assessor workforce growing
This year the number of accredited assessors increased by 6% with a total of 765 assessors registered across three AAOs. NatHERS Assessors are living and working in every state and territory, with the highest numbers located in Victoria and NSW.
Nearly 130 new assessors became accredited while 80 gave up accreditation for various reasons including retirement and business or career changes.
Assuring quality assessments
The scheme’s Compliance and Enforcement Framework released earlier this year, sets out how the NatHERS Administrator, AAOs and software providers work together to manage non-compliance and ensure the scheme’s integrity.
Four Assessors lost their accreditation in 2023-24 for failing to address unsatisfactory Quality Assurance (QA) outcomes, not maintaining insurance and breaches of the Assessor Code of Conduct.
During the year, 26 complaints were received. Aside from one ongoing, complex matter these were addressed in liaison with partners and/or state and territory regulators.
The AAO Protocol was updated to ensure the standards expected by NatHERS are upheld and assessors receive the highest levels of support and professional development.
A new procedure is being developed with AAOs to underpin a consistent approach to managing QA issues in the future.
Updated Design For Place reflects NatHERS improvements
Your Home’s free Design For Place house designs were updated and expanded this year to support new developments in the NatHERS program and the adoption of NCC 2022.
Design For Place house plans are free to use and can be adapted to meet the unique needs of homeowners, construction methods and specific sites.
The plans are a great resource for understanding how to reach NCC 2022 requirements. They have predicted NatHERS Whole of Home and thermal star ratings, and plenty of information to help you build an efficient and compliant home. Each house has three design options demonstrating how simple changes can increase energy performance above minimum standards.
As well as supporting the roll out of NatHERS Whole of Home ratings, Design For Place is an excellent educational tool for assessors and builders, and a source of inspiration for renovating existing homes.
The plans are free to download and some customisation by a builder, designer, or architect is required to produce localised construction drawings for a selected site and climate.
Check out the expanded and updated Design For Place now.
