Carbon plan for residential and commercial buildings
Peak property industry groups have launched a sweeping plan to reduce carbon emissions from the built environment to zero by 2050, including the use of federal financial incentives to drive energy efficiency.
The package includes 75 recommendations to federal, state and territory, and local governments, put together by the Property Council of Australia and Green Building Council of Australia. Federal Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction Angus Taylor is due to launch the plan on Tuesday.
The plan takes in residential, commercial and public buildings, both existing and new.
Its proposals include the introduction of a single national rating for the energy performance of homes and calls for the Climate Solutions Fund and other federal government policies such as City Deals, to drive emissions abatement.
One group of recommendations centre on financial incentives such as the expansion of the 10 per cent green building withholding tax regime and an extension of the instant asset write-off scheme to include energy efficiency upgrades of buildings up to $100,000.
Another set of initiatives focus on innovative financial mechanisms in the housing sector such as green mortgages, equity loans and home improvement loans.
“Buildings are a quarter of our emissions and consume over half of our electricity, so we need a plan to guide this transition for all of the built environment,” Property Council chief executive Ken Morrison said.
“Energy efficiency has been the forgotten part of energy policy for the past decade as governments have debated energy supply.
“With the right policy frameworks in place, we can minimise the costs of a transition to net zero emissions and create economic opportunities across all parts of industry, from sole traders and homeowners to large businesses.”
Davina Rooney, the GBCA’s chief executive, said all the proposals in the emissions reduction plan had been tested and would drive “real improvement” in the property sector.
“As Australia heads towards a low emissions economy, governments must provide a clear pathway of policies that give certainty to industry and create economic opportunities for Australian businesses,” she said.
