A residential dwelling with effective thermal performance, low energy bills, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions is ideal and has a great market value.
And if you are developing a new home or undertaking a renovation project, then BASIX is mandatory for the development application process. BASIX contains three sections to improve the sustainability factor of a building.
- Energy expenditure
- water consumption and
- thermal comfort.
The thermal comfort section requires an independent assessment and compliance certificate known as NatHERS Certificate or Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme Certificate.
What is NatHERS?
NatHERS is a sustainability rating system needed for new construction, additions, and alterations requiring a BASIX certificate for DA.
- It involves the thermal modelling of the project to understand the heating and cooling loads.
- A NatHERS assessment incorporates NatHERS Software used to determine the energy consumption rating.
- The assessment is strictly required to be carried out by a NatHERS licensed evaluator. Only after the evaluation, you'll receive a NatHERS certificate for multi-unit or single swelling.
- You'llYou'll need to enter the data pertaining to the design of the place, the materials used in construction and the orientation to generate the rating.
4 Effective Design Tips To Obtain NatHERs Certificate Easily
In order to get a NatHERS Certification and improve the sustainability of your construction easily, you can incorporate certain industry-tested design elements within your residential construction:
Reduce The Overall Glazing
Your home can lose about 40% heat during winters and gain around 87% heat in summers because of glazing.
Hence, minimising the unnecessary glazed areas whenever possible can have a massive impact on the energy efficiency of your project.
Design For Climate
Australian sub-continent experiences 8 different climatic zones. Designing for climate ensures that the home interior remains at a comfortable temperature throughout the year without artificial thermal control, based on the location of your project.
- Climate zone 1 and 2 generally have hot, humid climatic conditions with mild winter. Climate Zone 3 experiences hot, dry summer, warm winter. Therefore home design in these climatic zones should focus on effective cooling.
- In Climate Zone 4 (Hot dry summer, cool winter), Climate zone 5 and 6 (Warm and mild temperate, respectively), your home design needs to accomplish a balance between reducing cooling requirements in summer and reducing heating requirements during the cooler months.
- Climatic zones 7 and 8 experience cool to harsh freezing temperatures, and therefore natural heating needs to be optimised.
A building consultant can help you understand and identify the effect of climatic conditions on your residential dwelling. Hire an experienced building consultant BASIX and BCA Section J report creation (commercial property).
Roof Colours
If you do not have a foil installed on your roof, changing the colour of the roof can cause a significant change in the NatHERS certificate rating.
Lighter colour roofs keep the house cooler, and dark ones keep the house warmer.
Building Orientation
A well-optimised and correctly designed orientation can significantly enhance interior comfort and minimise the artificial heating and cooling requirements.
Since the sun's path in the Australian subcontinent is to the north, orientation is generally about whether the living areas inside the residential dwelling face north. This orientation prolongs the duration of natural light in winter and can be easily shaded by the eaves of the roof in summer.
Determine your climate zone to understand the orientation outcome- passive heating, passive cooling, or both.
NatHERS certificate cost is required in addition to the BASIX certificate. Therefore, you'll need to ensure the information you're provisioning is accurate, and your residential developments meet the required sustainability standards. Collaborating with a professional building consultant can make the entire process seamless and easy.
