Australian homes are colder in winter than those in cool-climate European countries such as Finland and Greenland, a new study has found.
The “Cold homes in Australia” study, which was conducted by the Australian Centre for Housing Research, found that houses in temperate climates across New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania averaged temperatures well below 18 °C: the World Health Organization’s recommended minimum.
In the study’s sample of 100 homes, the average wintertime temperature was 16.5 °C. Victoria and Tasmania recorded the lowest averages at 15.7 °C and 15.8 °C respectively (though the differences between states were not statistically significant). “This Australian attitude of winter stoicism – also observed among New Zealand households – has led to the construction of homes that give little consideration to winter conditions.”
By way of comparison, wintertime indoor temperatures in Finland are typically between 20 °C and 24 °C, while the average in Greenland is 21.8 °C.
Although Australian excess winter deaths are high compared to European countries, many Australians “ignore” winter, believing it to be short and pleasant compared to other countries, the study found.
Australia’s cold housing problem has long been known, yet the study authors said estimates currently used to model the impact of wintertime cold are “unlikely to reflect the true extent of the problem.”
In 2015, a study published in The Lancet found that due to poor-quality housing, Australians were twice as likely as Swedes to die of cold.
On top of health implications, Australia’s leaky housing causes high energy bills. Philip Oldfield wrote in Architecture Australia that Australians struggle with a legacy of poorly performing houses because “we have been slower in acting to improve energy efficiency than many other developed nations.”
For instance, while many Western European countries implemented insulation requirements in the 1980s, this wasn’t done in Victoria until 1991 – and it wasn’t until 2003 that the Building Code of Australia set minimum energy efficiency standards for housing.
“The poor quality of our housing is having a detrimental impact on both people and planet,” said Oldfield, who advocated retrofits to make existing housing stock more energy efficient.
“Upgrading and refurbishing these buildings, rather than demolishing them, will save energy, materials, waste and carbon emissions. This will not only contribute to our fight against the climate crisis but also improve the health, well-being and security of millions of householders across the country,” Oldfield said.
(Article published at Architecture Australia: http://www.architectureau.com)
NZEB Energy Rating 