Do you need to minimise the cost of a 7-Star home?
Architect/builder services
Concerned about the financial impact of transitioning to 7-star home energy ratings? Allow us to work with you and your team to devise a tailored strategy for crafting homes that not only cost effectively comply with NCC 2022 but also captivate your clientele.
The NCC 2022 provisions
The main new energy provisions require:
- Upgrading from six -star homes to seven-star homes.
- Adding what they call Domestic Services to form Whole Of Home (WOH) requirements. This reflects the likely energy use of the home, considering the biggest energy using appliances permanently attached to the home. This means that not only are there minimum performance requirements for the building fabric as in past editions, but you also now need to assess the impact of the heating, cooling, hot water appliances and pools and spas. You can offset these with solar power if the performance doesn’t meet the requirements.
What is the range of additional costs for seven-star homes?
The average extra costs according to a study by the AGWA (Australian Glass Window Association) is $4,311.
Some builders (and the HIA) claim extra costs ranging from $15,000 to $40,000 to achieve 7-star ratings, but this is only if you simply add to your existing design.
Starting anew and crafting homes optimized for 7-star ratings will normally incur only a marginal premium. As the AGWA figure is an average, good design can often achieve it for even less.
It is clear if you want to remain profitable, you need to ensure that the cost increases for your homes are at the lower end, not the higher end.
Some builders (and the HIA) claim extra costs ranging from $15,000 to $40,000 to achieve 7-star ratings, but this is only if you simply add to your existing design.
Starting anew and crafting homes optimized for 7-star ratings will normally incur only a marginal premium. As the AGWA figure is an average, good design can often achieve it for even less.
It is clear if you want to remain profitable, you need to ensure that the cost increases for your homes are at the lower end, not the higher end.
What marketing opportunities exist?
If you start from scratch and look at the marketing value added by each feature of the home that impacts on the cost of building, you will find some things like large floor to ceiling windows add a lot to the cost. You may in each house range have different window options. So, would your price sensitive clients accept a 1960s retro look with picture windows, while those who are locked into the large floor to ceiling window look pay a significant premium? Remember also that if you have large floor to ceiling windows you may need to have them heavily tinted (depending on the orientation) which may nullify the perceived benefit of connecting the house to the outside.
What action should you take?
To address this cost effectively you need to
If you have suitable expertise in house, well and good, but consider whether an experienced facilitator can help you develop market leading designs, faster than doing this in house. Is it worth considering working with someone with experience with even higher performance buildings (for example the Passive House standard) as this experience will give a range of ideas that can save money in one area to free up money to be spent on other higher value features.
To have an experienced facilitator work with your team, ideally with representatives from sales/marketing, construction, building designers and major subbies, contact us now.
Working with us entails developing cost-efficient methods to meet current energy rating needs, while identifying opportunities to allocate savings from one area to enhance market appeal in another.
By partnering with us, you'll achieve a range of benefits, including cost reduction, market distinction, enhanced constructability, and adaptable, modular designs.
Remember, your competitors are slowly learning, you need to learn faster, contact us now to get ahead of your competitors and avoid loss of market share.
Are you equipped to navigate this transition swiftly and economically, safeguarding your competitive edge? How many opportunities could be lost if your costs are higher than your competitors?
To delve deeper into the changes required to meet NCC 2022, visit our FAQ: 7-Star Rating page. Stay ahead of the curve by subscribing to our NCC 2022 newsletter.
Turn the challenge of compliance into a strategic advantage. Contact us and let's talk more about how we can help you.
- start your designs from scratch. (start with your most important design).
- Identify the target market (and block width) the design is aimed at.
- Identify the features that might appeal to that market, and the market value of each of those features. Also identify the implicit features that you have built into the design.
- Brainstorm ways to achieve those features at minimum cost.
- This needs to look at different building shapes, new materials, new construction methods, whether the approach can be used for a range of orientations, etc.
- Choose the most promising ideas and evaluate for the cost to comply with the building code.
- Finalise drawings, specifications and marketing materials.
If you have suitable expertise in house, well and good, but consider whether an experienced facilitator can help you develop market leading designs, faster than doing this in house. Is it worth considering working with someone with experience with even higher performance buildings (for example the Passive House standard) as this experience will give a range of ideas that can save money in one area to free up money to be spent on other higher value features.
To have an experienced facilitator work with your team, ideally with representatives from sales/marketing, construction, building designers and major subbies, contact us now.
Working with us entails developing cost-efficient methods to meet current energy rating needs, while identifying opportunities to allocate savings from one area to enhance market appeal in another.
By partnering with us, you'll achieve a range of benefits, including cost reduction, market distinction, enhanced constructability, and adaptable, modular designs.
Remember, your competitors are slowly learning, you need to learn faster, contact us now to get ahead of your competitors and avoid loss of market share.
Are you equipped to navigate this transition swiftly and economically, safeguarding your competitive edge? How many opportunities could be lost if your costs are higher than your competitors?
To delve deeper into the changes required to meet NCC 2022, visit our FAQ: 7-Star Rating page. Stay ahead of the curve by subscribing to our NCC 2022 newsletter.
Turn the challenge of compliance into a strategic advantage. Contact us and let's talk more about how we can help you.