Elsevier

Energy and Buildings

Volume 156, 1 December 2017, Pages 40-50
Energy and Buildings

Analysis of the transition effects of building codes and regulations on the emergence of a low carbon residential building sector

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2017.09.059Get rights and content

Abstract

It is now established that energy use in buildings is a significant source of global greenhouse gas emissions and that abatement by the building sector can provide significant social, economic and environmental benefits. This paper examines the application of socio-technical transition theory to the building sector with Australian energy policy as a case study. The relatively high level of local building construction offers significant opportunities for market transition with appropriate policy settings so this national case has international implications. Evolution of building energy efficiency standards through the Australian National Construction Code is scrutinized by benchmarking the building energy code against international best practice. The benchmarking underscores the contribution high performance energy efficient buildings could make to a low carbon transition with appropriate policy settings. Specifically government intervention in the building sector through direct regulation was shown to have substantial potential to effect this transition. Nevertheless, such intervention has proven to be politically controversial in Australia. The paper provides a twofold contribution to research in the domain of building energy policy. Firstly, by making the connection between transition theory and the role of building energy codes; secondly, by demonstrating the practical application and utility of a structured building code benchmarking process.

Section snippets

Introduction and objectives

It is now well established that the building sector contributes both to the economy and employment of developed countries and regions and also crucially, contributes significantly to energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions [1]. Energy use in the building sector has been estimated at 25–40% of typical total consumption in economies of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member countries. In the Australian setting recent estimates of GHG emissions from

Methodology

This analysis comprises a series of interconnected elements that are developed in a logical sequence in order to progressively address: the question of GHG emissions from buildings; application of socio-technical transition theory to the building sector; followed by consideration of technical aspects of building design; coupled with a case study benchmarking Australia’s building code against a best practice archetype.

Firstly, the general question of GHG emissions from the built environment is

Theoretical foundation

This paper has its theoretical foundation in the application of systems theory to achieving sustainability outcomes; in government’s role as an agent for socio-technical transition; and in policies for government market intervention. This theoretical section flows through into the discursive investigation of the Australian case study that in turn is referenced against international practice.

Setting building standards

This section of the analysis explains the general process of formulating building standards and begins developing the connection between these regulations and their potential to effect socio-technical disruption in the residential building sector. Australia’s Building Code is referenced herein as a case study in order to provide context for the structural benchmarking exercise undertaken in a subsequent section of the paper.

Benchmarking Australia’s building energy code against international best practice

In this section of the paper Australia’s building energy code is benchmarked against international best practice policies by utilizing the assessment framework developed by the GBPN [12], [41], [63]. The aim of this benchmarking exercise is to use the Australian situation as an exemplar for the process of identifying improvement opportunities in the way that building standards and related policies are developed and progressively upgraded over time.

Discussion

Building policy makers must address two key objectives: firstly, defining a role for government policy interventions in the property sector to capture the economic benefits of high performance, energy efficient buildings; secondly, selecting energy policy instruments that are optimal for this task. By viewing the building industry as a socio-technical system [7] it is possible to draw upon contemporary concepts in transition theory and related disruptive innovation processes to seek answers to

Conclusions

A recent paper prepared for the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group highlights the contribution that the world’s cities could play in containing GHG emissions to levels consistent with a 2 degree Celsius global temperature rise [73]. It was demonstrated that urban actions could produce a significant decrease in global emissions through a range of actions whose salient constituents include improvements in residential building energy efficiency coupled with a transition to efficient public

Conflict of interest

We declare no conflict of interest in relation to the research presented in this paper.

Acknowledgements

Robert Enker acknowledges support for this research from the Cooperative Research Centre for Low Carbon Living and the Victorian Building Authority.

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