Engineers Support Steps Towards Energy Efficiency

4 May 2007

Engineers Support Steps Towards Energy Efficiency

The Chief Executive of the Institution of Professional Engineers (IPENZ), Dr Andrew Cleland, has welcomed the new efficiency requirements for buildings. Dr Cleland said it is particularly important that the new requirements don’t pick technologies but allow homeowners to choose the best solutions or technologies to suit their needs.

However, new buildings are only one part of the equation – existing buildings must also be addressed. One way of overcoming this is requiring upgrades prior to sale. Such a requirement would effectively create a “warrant of fitness” for buildings, indicating they are fit for purpose. We would like to see this investigated. It would be similar to the requirements introduced for earthquake upgrading some years ago, which are now well-established. The publication of energy costs could also be made compulsory when buildings are for sale.

Dr Cleland said that all measures for improving efficiency gains should be based on minimum lifecycle costs, which will ensure New Zealand will benefit economically as well as environmentally. We strongly support minimum standards based on this approach for much wider energy applications as well.

IPENZ has been advocating the implementation of a performance-based requirement since mid-2006 when it published Engineering a National Energy Strategy (available at http://www.ipenz.org.nz/IPENZ/Media_Comm/Additional_publications.cfm).

ENDS

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