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Premier Carr launches new approach to home design to save money, water and energy - July 1, 2004From today, all new homes built in Sydney will contain special features to make them more environmentally friendly - as well as reducing the size of homeowners water and energy bills. The Premier of NSW, Mr Bob Carr, today launched BASIX, the NSW Government's innovative new plan to slash domestic water and energy use. "This is a new approach to meeting the challenges of 1,000 people moving to Sydney each week and the demands that go with it. "Over the next ten years the full implementation of BASIX is expected to save 287 billion litres of water - or the equivalent of 15 percent of Warragamba Dam. "It would also reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 9.5 million tonnes - the equivalent of removing 2.6 million cars of the road over the next ten years. "BASIX is a world first, an outstanding example of thinking outside the square to help tackle major environmental problems," Mr Carr said. From today all new homes in Sydney must be designed to use 40 per cent less water and 25 per cent less energy to get building approval from local council. These reductions can be achieved by:
"These are simple commonsense measures which should cut water and electricity bills by between $300 and $600 a year," Mr Carr said. "If you were to reinvest a saving of $500 a year on a $350,000 loan you could save over $18,700 over the life of the loan and reduce the term by over a year." For an average home it is estimated the cost of complying with BASIX will be between $3,000 to $8,000. This is offset by the estimated saving on electricity and water bills of $5,000 over ten years. Craig Knowles, Minister for Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resources said the BASIX package had been cleverly designed to be as simple and effective as possible. "BASIX is an online computer programme requiring the homeowner - or one of their building professionals, to enter some information about the design of the dwelling. "The programme measures how much energy and water is saved by using energy efficient materials, fittings and design. "When you've reached or exceeded the targets you can simply print a BASIX certificate straight from the web and take it to council when applying for building approval," said Mr Knowles. The official launch of BASIX was conducted today at Stockland's Smart Living display village at their Bridgewater Estate in South Camden, where eleven BASIX compliant homes have already been developed for the market. "This home shows how easy and cost-effective it will be for homebuilders to comply with the BASIX requirements. "They really are homes of the future without being 'futuristic' - showing you be environmentally friendly without losing any of the comfort you want in your new home." BASIX web site: www.basix.nsw.gov.au What is BASIXBASIX is the Building Sustainability Index. It is a web-based planning tool designed to assess the potential performance of new homes against a range of sustainability indices: Landscape, Stormwater, Water, Thermal Comfort and Energy. BASIX aims to reduce the environmental impact of these features of new development and to produce homes that are more comfortable and cheaper to run than most existing homes. The first stage of BASIX focuses on reducing Water and Energy use. BASIX has set targets for these indices, which all new development must meet. Landscape, Stormwater and Thermal Comfort indices are also activated because information relating to these indices impacts on water consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The BASIX online assessment requires information about the proposed development, such as site location, dwelling size, floor area, landscaped area and services. BASIX compares the proposal to average existing homes. The proposal is scored according to its potential to consume less mains supply water and energy than an average existing home. |
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