An Energy Smart Home is designed to work with the climate, not against it. It stays warmer in winter, cooler in summer, uses less energy, costs less to run, and provides a healthier and more comfortable environment for the people who live in it.
Creating Energy Smart Homes
A beautiful home should do more than look good—it should perform exceptionally.
An Energy Smart Home is designed to work with the climate, not against it. It stays warmer in winter, cooler in summer, uses less energy, costs less to run, and provides a healthier and more comfortable environment for the people who live in it.
Whether you are a homeowner or designing a new home, an energy assessment equips you with science-based knowledge to make informed decisions that create more comfortable, energy-efficient and climate-resilient homes.
What is a Home Energy Rating?
A Home Energy Rating sets the standard for measuring the energy efficiency of Australian homes. Backed by government and grounded in science, Home Energy Rating assessments give Australians the confidence to build and upgrade homes that use less energy and are more comfortable to live in.
A Home Energy Rating is issued under the Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS), which for more than three decades has provided tools and policies for designers, builders and households to assess and rate the energy efficiency of homes.
A Home Energy Rating (NatHERS) can be applied to assess new homes and major renovations, ensuring they meet the energy efficiency requirements of the National Construction Code (NCC). NatHERS also provides energy ratings for existing homes, along with guidance on actions households can take to improve energy efficiency.
Certificates showing a building rating are issued by a NatHERS-accredited assessor, who uses specialised NatHERS software to model house plans or assess existing homes. This software evaluates how a home’s design, construction, and appliances perform in the local climate.
Also, the certificate issued by the accredited assessor can support access to green loans and other finance options, helping make energy-smart choices more affordable. It also equips you with the tools to understand your home’s energy efficiency before making major decisions, such as renovating or retrofitting. Together, these ratings help households reduce energy bills, lower emissions, and create homes that are healthier and more comfortable to live in.
Ready to improve the performance of your home? Get in touch with Mantle Sustainable today to discuss how we can help you upgrade comfort, efficiency and long-term value through tailored, expert advice. As certified assessors in line with the Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme, we provide trusted, accredited guidance you can rely on.
NatHERS FOR NEW HOMES
As fully accredited NatHERS Assessors we use the house plans and building specifications of a home to input data into a NatHERS accredited software tool. This software is based on scientific research by the CSIRO, and has been refined over many years and it takes account hundreds of factors such as the local climate ad orientation of the construction.
NaTHERS software will then estimate the amount of heat that needs to be added or removed to keep that home comfortable. Finally, we will generate a NatHERS star rating out of 10 and a Certificate. This star rating measures the home’s thermal performance, based on its structure, design and materials.
The use of energy efficiency ratings help to identify improvements to thermal performance of your residential project, whether to comply with the minimum requirements to be approved by your council or to boost the energy performance of your building.
Having a higher score means your will spend less money to keep your home comfortable year round, as a consequence you will collaborate to reduce the level of carbon emissions needed to heat and cool your premises.
Usually thermal modelling simulations are carried as a way to get approval once the drawing has been finalised, so at this stage is too late to arrange major design changes and improvements get limited to upgrades on insulation(limited to the width of wall cavities) and window technology in most of cases.
By getting Sustainable design advice on early stage wise decisions about orientation, solar gain or thermal mass location can have an important effect on the performance and cost of your project, allowing you to invest in comfort and efficiency in an informed way.
BASIX
The Building Sustainability Index (BASIX) requirements apply to all residential dwelling types and are part of the development application process in NSW. This way, a project approved by the consent authority (usually your local council) needs to have been previously assessed to assure it meets the BASIX requirements. The assessment is made using the online BASIX tool which estimates the water and energy consumption and the thermal comfort. Once completed, the project must have a BASIX certificate that lists the key elements of the design, which are referred to as sustainability commitment.