1 September 2006
With the recent cold weather creating high demands for energy, and media coverage about New Zealand houses being too cold and impacting on the health of New Zealanders - household energy efficiency, heating and insulation are topical issues.
Standards are used very effectively to reduce energy demand and improve energy efficiency, says Gleb Speranski, Senior Advisor (Technical and Standards) at the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA). “Certain household appliances, such as fridges, air conditioners (heat pumps) and electric hot water cylinders, must comply with Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS) for energy efficiency.”
“Water heating takes up to a third of household energy use, therefore, it is vital to ensure that heat losses from hot water cylinders are minimal and comply with current MEPS. Heat pumps are becoming a popular way of heating houses and the MEPS help to ensure these have a high level of energy efficiency. Labels on appliances such as fridges, clothes washers and clothes dryers, dish washers and heat pumps help consumers choose wisely amongst competing appliances.”
Gleb says compulsory Standards for the labelling and performance of appliances provide significant energy benefits to New Zealanders – helping to ensure consumers pay less to heat their water and run their
appliances and protecting consumers from buying products that waste energy.
Standards for home insulation also help to reduce energy demand. There is a minimum requirement for energy efficiency in the Building Code and the Standard for Energy efficiency (NZS 4218) specifies insulation requirements to meet this energy efficiency requirement.
Standards for energy efficiency
The internationally recognised Household Energy End-use Project (HEEP) and Zero and Low Energy House (ZALEH) research projects have improved our knowledge of how New Zealanders use energy. The HEEP research has found that the average NZ home uses
about 33% of its energy for space heating, 28% for water heating, 5% for cooking and the other 35% for everything else, such as the refrigerator, lighting, entertainment and kitchen and laundry appliances.
Electrical appliances
Compulsory labels on electric hot water cylinders encourage efficient water heating. The mandatory performance and labelling requirements for various water heaters are specified in the Standard for Electric water heaters – Minimum Energy Performance Standard (MEPS) requirements and energy labelling, AS/NZS 4692.2:2005.
Household fridges must also have energy rating labels and must meet a minimum energy efficiency level to be sold in NZ. The requirements are specified in the Standard for the Performance of household electrical appliances – Refrigerating appliances Part 2: Energy labelling and minimum energy performance Standard requirements, AS/NZS 4474.2:2001. The label provides information on how much better than the minimum legal energy efficiency the appliance is, using a 5 star rating system.
New Zealand Building Code energy efficiency requirements
Insulation helps to improve the health and well-being of New Zealanders and has been mandatory in NZ since 1978, supported by Standards. Standards for home and commercial building insulation, hot water cylinders and piping and the lighting of commercial buildings are now cited in the Building Code, Clause H1: Energy Efficiency:
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Guidance on choosing roof, wall, window and floor insulation levels to improve the energy efficiency of houses beyond the minimum required by the Building Code is covered in
SNZ/PAS 4244:2003, Insulation of lightweight-framed and solid-timber houses. Designers, builders and homeowners can use the ‘better’ and ‘best’ options included in the document to install above the minimum insulation levels. By voluntarily installing more than the minimum insulation levels, houses will be warmer, less costly to heat and healthier to live in.
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The Standard for
Energy efficiency – Large buildings, NZS 4243:1996, is referenced by the Building Code. It sets out the adequate levels of thermal insulation for commercial buildings over 300 square metres in floor area and also covers lighting energy use.
Energy demand management
According to Nigel Isaacs, Principal Scientist at BRANZ Ltd, managing energy demand will become even more important in the future. “New Zealand is facing increasing demands for energy supply and transmission. This demand is driving the need for new gas discoveries, new electricity power stations and new transmission networks.”
“By better managing how we use energy, NZ can reduce the need for these new energy supplies. Standards, such as the Publicly Available Specification (PAS) for the Insulation of houses (SNZ/PAS 4244), will help designers create very low energy using homes, and that is where our future lies.”
Energy efficient houses and appliances provide comfort and health benefits to New Zealanders and assist in reducing NZ’s overall energy consumption, freeing up valuable capital for more productive enterprises.
Copies of the following Standards are available for purchase on this website