Policy Statement
Improving the performance of buildings is an environmental and economic imperative that must be supported by clear and transparent regulatory requirements and targeted incentives. this will allow industry to plan and invest in low carbon construction practices and technologies, while providing a significant boost to australia’s ability to meet international environmental obligations.
Policy Principles
The AMCA believes the following principles are vital for higher performing buildings and a more sustainable building industry:
- Better performing buildings are critical to the achievement of environmental and productivity objectives, and are an important contributor to improved living standards.
- Policy certainty is required to allow industry to plan and invest in new technologies, innovative construction practices and workforce development.
- Data availability and transparency is essential to ensure that investors, consumers and businesses can make informed decisions.
- Misalignments in the incentive structure of different stakeholders must be addressed to facilitate collaboration and more sustainable building practices.
- Consistency of policy measures across levels of government and state jurisdictions is required to provide industry with certainty, reduce complexity, and provide opportunities to achieve scale.
- Better coordination of policy measures across levels of government and jurisdictions is required to avoid regulatory duplication and unnecessary compliance costs.
- Knowledge and skills relating to matters of energy efficiency and sustainability must be embedded into training packages, and investment is required to ensure that training institutions remain up to date with new technologies and building practices.
- A mix of incentives and regulatory approaches is required to incentivise better asset performance throughout the lifecycle (e.g. building tuning, service and maintenance, etc.)