6 Star Certifications

One pathway for proving that you house or building project has met the minimum energy efficient home design standard is to gain a 6 star rating using House Energy Rating Software(HERS).

This sophisticated software analyses your building plans and assesses the heating and cooling loads required to keep your future house at a comfortable temperature.

It takes into account the full building fabric – Roof, Ceiling, Walls, windows and floors – and the heat and cold that can pass through these elements.

The Energy rating depends on:

• The layout of the home.
• The construction of its roof, walls, windows and floor.
• The orientation of windows and shading to the sun’s path and local breezes.
• How well the above factors suit the local climate.
• Energy consumption by hot water systems, lights or household appliances is not part of the rating.

Other items that will affect a rating are:

• Sealing – Vented down lights and gas vents will significantly affect an energy rating.
• Colours of material – Dark colours are better in cold climates and light colours are better in warmer climates.
• Floor coverings – Tiles show a performance gain in areas where there are high heating loads or where there are full height windows allowing solar access to the tiles.

Zero stars means the building shell does practically nothing to reduce the discomfort of hot or cold

weather.

A 5 star rating indicates good, but not outstanding, thermal performance.

Occupants of a 10 star home are unlikely to need any artificial cooling or heating.

This information is used to calculate the heating loads which are then converted to a star rating. The minimum star rating is 6 stars.

This assessment does not take into consideration the type of heating or cooling, solar panels or water usage.