For almost two decades Victoria has led the charge on delivering Australia’s most energy efficient homes. Starting wit h the introduction of the 5 Star energy efficiency standard on all new homes in 2005, our State boldly set the pace for other Australian states to follow.
While the announcement was easy, the delivery was not. Building increasingly energy efficient homes didn’t just require new materials and technology, but smarter design and improved industry practices. Reforms like that required time, research, and funding, and against the backdrop of declining housing affordability, it added an unwelcome pressure on an industry being routinely hounded to produce more stock.
Yet despite these challenges, our industry persevered. Our workforce reskilled, we pioneered new materials, and our domestic supply chain evolved to better meet the expectations of an increasingly environmentally conscious community.
Starting today, JG King Homes will be building on this legacy by delivering our standard range of 8 Star homes at 7 Star prices.
Our decision to go beyond the minimum regulated standard of 7 Stars is driven by our desire to do the right thing by the climate, provide energy bill savings to our customers, and prove we can deliver a high quality and affordable sustainable housing product within financial reach of the everyday Australian homebuyer.
Our approach to enabling a more sustainable future has also been matched by a growing number of Australian lenders offering discounted interest rates on loans for high-performing energy efficient homes. Working in combination with our new 8 Star homes, significant savings are now within reach of a whole generation of future homeowners.
According to our research, our 8 Star homes will on average us e up to 30 per cent less energy and customers will enjoy significant savings on their annual energy consumption bills compared to the market standard 7 Star home (Source: NatHERs). Better still, these savings are even greater when compared to those moving from a home that is less than 7 Stars.
Under JG King Homes’ new 8 Star standard, families will be able to upgrade their future and downgrade their bills.
JG King Homes’ ability to do this is the result of years of research and investment into mastering the science and methodology of delivering energy efficient design.
Moving beyond traditional strategies like northern orientation and smart floorplan design, we’ve advanced the science of high-performance windows. By refining double and triple glazing technology, optimising bulk and internal wall insulation, and applying cutting-edge methods to pinpoint areas of greatest heat transfer, we’ve been able to achieve superior energy efficiency performance as well as improvements in overall thermal design.
Our new Project Windows and Doors factory located in Ballarat has been critical to achieving these breakthroughs. By using cutting edge technology sourced from Europe who are leading the way in this field, all JG King Homes windows and doors now use uPVC which consists of low E glazing, and double and triple glazed windows. This approach ensures the windows are highly thermal efficient without compromising on the size, number, or design of windows throughout our homes.
We believe the Government’s decision to embrace an ambitious energy efficiency target for the residential construction sector comes at a delicate time. Serious challenges in the industry remain, but now that we are equipped with better technology, an upskilled workforce, and affordable 8 Star homes, we are more optimistic about the prospect of mastering the pathway to net zero than ever before.
