• FirstRate
• AccuRate
• BERS

On 1 February 2006, Western Australian house energy rating assessors who were previously managed by the Sustainable Energy Development Office were listed on the new National Assessor Register.

The house is divided into zones for living and sleeping and areas that do not need heating or cooling. Bedrooms do not generally need to be kept as warm as living areas, and garages and laundries rarely need to be heated or cooled in comparison to bedrooms and living areas.

The size of each of these areas, the external and internal walls and the windows is measured. This information is entered into the computer along with details about the building materials used for walls, roof and floor and whether insulation will be used. The direction that the building is facing is needed, as well as the postcode to determine the relevant climate zone.

In just a few minutes the program goes through every hour of every day of a typical year for that climate zone. It looks at how the temperature changes throughout the day and calculates if the house will get too cold or too hot and how much energy will be needed to keep it comfortable. A report is produced which shows the amount of energy needed for summer and for winter, and compares the house with others to give it an energy efficiency rating.

The program does not take into account the efficiency of appliances and equipment. Information about the efficiency and costs of appliances is available at www.energyrating.gov.au.

FirstRate

FirstRate is a user-friendly method of assessing and improving the energy efficiency of house designs and completed homes. It gives a star rating (zero to five stars) and also provides hints for improving the energy efficiency of your design. The front end gives you instant feedback as you enter data and is simplified to make data entry efficient and cost effective.

FirstRate has been subjected to detailed validation processes and compares well with measurements taken from test buildings. The program is constantly under review to incorporate a wider range of data, climates zones and building techniques.

FirstRate is administered in Western Australia by the Sustainable Energy Development Office and was developed by the Sustainable Energy Authority Victoria. The currently approved version of FirstRate in Western Australia is version 4.05a.

More information on the FirstRate software and a demonstration version can be found on the Sustainability Victoria website.

Second generation FirstRate will be based on AccuRate and will have a simplified graphical user interface, along with some additional features. FirstRate program developers are aiming to retain the relative simplicity that is characteristic of version 4.05a . FirstRate (second generation) software and training is expected to be made available in 2006.

AccuRate

The AccuRate software was produced by CSIRO, Division of Building, Construction and Engineering . AccuRate is the upgraded second generation version of what was previously known as 'NatHERS'. AccuRate has the ability to deal with more house designs and climate zones than FirstRate. A major advantage of AccuRate is the increase to 69 climate files, instead of the original 28. This means that AccuRate is able to model houses anywhere in Australia. AccuRate is currently being trialled for use in Western Australia for regulation purposes for Class 1, Class 2 and the residential part of Class 4 buildings. To find an AccuRate assessor, contact the Sustainable Energy Development Office on +61 8 9420 5757.

AccuRate software is available from Hearne Scientific at: www.hearne.com.au.

Building Energy Rating Software (BERS)

BERS was developed in Queensland by Dr Holger Wilraith. Second generation BERS is based on AccuRate and has a simplified graphical user interface, along with some additional features. More information about BERS can be found on the Solarlogic site.

BERS (second generation) software and training is expected to be made available in 2006.

National Assessor Register

On 1 February 2006, Western Australian House Energy Rating Assessors who were managed by Sustainable Energy Development Office were listed on the National Assessor Register. These assessors are 'appropriately qualified persons' for the purposes of providing evidence, in the form of an 'Assessor's Certificate', of compliance with Building Code of Australia Energy Efficiency for Class 1, Class 2 and Class 4 buildings. The Assessor Certificate replaces what may have been previously known as the 'FirstRate Certificate'. (FirstRate Certificates may continue to be issued by assessors to clients for their own private use.)

These assessors have received appropriate training in the use of the software, as well as in building thermal performance theory. Their professional standing is maintained by the Sustainable Energy Development Office through a regular program of Professional Development Seminars. Assessors operate under an industry Code of Practice and at least one of each assessor's ratings is audited annually.

National registration is delivered 'on-line', which means that the quality of record keeping is improved over the previous manual system. This means that 'Notices of Ratings'; advice on fee renewal and collection; auditing; certificate management; and statistical performance monitoring are now largely automated from 1 February 2006. If you would like to become an assessor, visit http://www1.sedo.energy.wa.gov.au/pages/her_becoming.asp.

Association of Building Sustainability Asssessors (ABSA)

The Association of Building Sustainability Assessors (ABSA) administers the National Assessor Register and maintains the website that assessors use to submit House Energy Efficiency Assessments on-line. ABSA is a 'not-for-profit industry-owned and directed' association that aims to deliver the highest standard of excellence to the practice of sustainability in Australian buildings. ABSA covers the administration and technical support for building assessors that use any of the Australian building sustainability software tools (including NatHERS, FirstRate, AccuRate, BERS, and BASIX). More information can be found at www.absa.net.au.

Summary of HERS software tools

NatHERS - Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme

For more details, see: www.nathers.gov.au