True one can renovate and reduce energy costs at the same time. At what cost to benefit ratio?
Should the CSIRO and this report have gone a little further? There is no discussion of balancing any additional costs with alternatives. Not every home is easy (IE low cost) to upgrade.
The actual example chosen is not supported with the energy star rating of the actual property before and after. Nor is there hard data of the energy consumption before and after.
The CSIRO/report does mention two averages for Aussie homes. 2.2 stars as the average of existing houses and “But after a renovation that often jumped up to 4.9 stars”.
Fir the example project an initial budget of $160k able to 2/3rds of the work. The final spend by the owner of $200k was certainly a big project.
There is no mention of the benefits of solar PV. The big question for those looking to stay cool in summer might be how much extra it costs to gain an extra star in energy efficiency. The added renovation verses how cheap it is to add a solar PV system, or a battery to the existing PV.
Encouraging smart renovation is one way to improve climate outcomes. It’s also easy to overspend on a home, with cheap loans these days. At what point is it better putting those extra dollars into an BEV? While we are still looking for smart ways to improve our home, our carbon footprint due to personal transport is twice that of our home.
P.S.
The CSIRO has a very useful web resource that looks at energy star ratings and house design for those interested in learning more.
Choice also says. (Added note)
