The government hasn’t gone far enough to tackle the carbon pollution from homes and buildings in today’s emissions reduction plan says the Green Building Council.

The built environment makes up 20 per cent of New Zealand’s carbon footprint, and a typical new Kiwi home emits five times too much carbon to stay within two degrees of warming.

Much of the government plans for homes and buildings have either already been announced or lack ambition, say the Green Building Council.

And government officials are already wobbling on the introduction of one key insulation measure.

The emissions reduction plan says it will be ‘improving insulation standards so new buildings will be warmer and drier while requiring 40 per cent less energy to heat.’ Not only has this already been announced, but government is reportedly actively considering delaying its implementation.

However there were some measures to welcome, said the not-for-profit Green Building Council, including a mandatory energy transparency programme for public and commercial buildings, which the group had repeatedly called for.

Andrew Eagles, chief executive of the Green Building Council, said:

“Carbon pollution from homes and buildings is responsible for a very significant 20 per cent of New Zealand’s climate change emissions. But, despite a few good measures, the plan to slash these emissions announced today just isn’t ambitious enough.

“In some parts, the ambition is as damp as a Wellington flatshare.

“The big missing piece is a plan for low carbon, pollution busting renos for hundreds of thousands of homes.

“The cleanest, cheapest form of energy is the energy you don’t use. Low carbon renos for our homes would cut the amount of energy needed to keep them warm, dry places for families to thrive in.

“Moves to expand the Warmer Kiwi Homes programme are welcome, but there’s little details, only warm words. And warm words alone won’t go far enough to warm up hundreds of thousands of homes.

“The plan does however include moves to make new homes warm, cosy and lower carbon by improving insulation standards and cutting the energy needed to heat them by 40 per cent. However, not only has this already been announced some time ago, government officials are already, right now, wobbling on the timeframe and considering delays that could leave tens of thousands of homes colder.

“It is very good to see energy labels for homes and a commitment to a mandatory energy transparency programme for public and commercial buildings in the plan, whereby they have to reveal their energy use.

“This is something we’ve been calling for, and has been successful overseas, in slashing emissions and cutting costs for businesses.

“We also called for a plan to support workers, so it’s welcome too to see the plan investing in making sure New Zealanders have the right skills to build and look after low carbon buildings and homes.

“The plan is right too to have a focus on embodied carbon, which is the pollution emitted when manufacturing building products. But, again, there’s far too many words like ‘explore’, ‘identify’, and ‘showcase’ and little concrete action. Climate change is happening now. Let’s get far more definite about reducing it.”

Across the emissions reduction plan, the climate emergency response fund, and Thursday’s Budget, the Green Building Council called for a multi-billion dollar government investment over eight years to slash the carbon pollution of around 300,000 homes.

This investment would provide New Zealanders with grants to cover half the costs of a low carbon home renovation. This would not only reduce emissions – it would also make all those homes warm, dry and healthy places, improving New Zealanders health, and slashing household energy bills.

A low carbon home renovation, often called a deep energy retrofit by building experts, includes measures such as improving insulation in walls, ceilings, and floors, which help keep a comfortable, healthy temperature with less need for constant heating and cooling, alongside installing heating and cooling appliances, like heatpumps, that are energy efficient and suitable for the size of the home. It can also include making sure hot water is heated efficiently, and keeps its temperature through the pipes.

A government investment in deep energy home retrofits could provide the certainty needed for the construction sector to get behind the changes, say the Green Building Council.

As well as significant health benefits, households would save considerable amounts in their household energy bills, added the Green Building Council.

Many European Union and OECD countries have deep retrofit programmes. Ireland, similar in population and economy size to New Zealand, with a similarly poor amount of homes, is working to deep retrofit 500,000 homes by 2030.

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