CSIRO Launches Australian Housing Data Portal to Track Energy Efficiency Progress

CSIRO has unveiled the Australian Housing Data portal, a comprehensive online resource designed to give all stakeholders greater insight into Australia's energy efficiency and low-emission housing performance across states and territories.

The portal features interactive dashboards that draw primarily from data collected through the Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme's (NatHERS) Universal Certificates. According to CSIRO, the Universal Certificate is the assessment pathway used by the majority of new dwellings in Australia to comply with energy efficiency requirements in the National Construction Code.

Data Volume and Updates

Around 130,000 Universal Certificates are added to the CSIRO database each year, with the dashboards updated monthly. This ensures homeowners and industry professionals have access to the most current information on building energy performance.

National Overview

The latest data shows that across Australia:

• Houses achieve an average NatHERS star rating of 7.0 out of 10
• Apartments perform slightly better at 7.3 stars on average
• The average house size is 163 square metres, whilst apartments average 85 square metres

State and Territory Variations

The portal reveals significant variations in energy efficiency across the country. Western Australian apartments lead with an 8.0-star rating, whilst Northern Territory houses show the lowest performance at 6.4 stars. Australian Capital Territory houses achieve 7.2 stars, and Victoria apartments reach 7.5 stars.

Users can select their state or territory and dwelling type to view average energy ratings for the past 12 months, along with information about dominant construction systems used in their area.

Source: Information sourced from CSIRO Australian Housing Data portal