The Clean Energy Finance Corporation has released their latest Investment Insight on Clean energy and community housing.

The paper provides an update of CEFC-financed initiatives undertaken by community housing providers SGCH and Housing Plus to build sustainable homes for low income households. Both providers have targeted areas of high household energy demand to cut energy use, lower emissions and achieve higher NatHERS ratings. Their priority sustainability goals are:

• Develop portfolios of new homes that achieve an average minimum of 7 stars under the Nationwide House Energy Rating System (NatHERS)
• Increase tenant comfort through energy efficient heating and cooling
• Improve sustainability in existing properties through retrofitting

SGCH and Housing Plus invested an additional $5,000 to $6,000 per dwelling to achieve the targeted 7-star NatHERS rated homes compared with the minimum compliant home – a premium that was substantially lower than anticipated. In return, SGCH estimates that tenants save $500 a year on their energy bills.

In addition to emissions reductions, the economic advantages associated with more sustainable homes are particularly beneficial for low-income households; with research from ACOSS finding that low-income households spend an average 6.4% of their income on energy, compared to high-income households who spend 1.5% of their income on energy.

More information here