Sustainability Victoria (SV) is to launch a new training module and guide to help builders sell energy-efficient homes, following a successful pilot program which saw 178 sustainable homes sold.
Chief Executive of SV, Claire Ferres Miles said the Zero Net Carbon Homes (ZNC) pilot program, delivered from 2017 to early 2021, aimed to design, construct and achieve the design briefs of 15 homes.
“Our initial research showed that builders were unsure how to market and sell sustainable homes, because they were perceived as costly,” Ms Ferres Miles said.
“Builders were unsure if they could design and build this kind of home at an effective price point,” she said.
“This program shows ZNC homes are an achievable and affordable product and, with the right sales approach and marketing, can be presented as an attractive value proposition to buyers.”
Ms Miles said SV’s new sales training module and training guide, currently under development, would help builders and developers understand the right approach to sell and market ZNC homes.
In its Program summary report, Zero Net Carbon Homes Pilot Program, SV said the Program exceeded original targets and generated substantial interest from other Government jurisdictions, volume home builders and land developers throughout Australia.
“The project’s biggest success was the shift in the volume home-built market, where, prior to the program, it was not possible to purchase a zero net carbon home, these are now available to customers,” SV said.
SV said the Program showed ZNC homes were affordable products, with an eight to 10-year payback period and annual energy bill savings of more than 50 per cent; the cost to upgrade to a ZNC home varied between 3.8 per cent to 6.7 per cent; most customers wanted an energy efficient home; and creating a ZNC Home was easy to achieve with current technology.
SV’s 19-page Summary Report can be accessed at this PS News link.
