Building Guides
7 star energy rating for new homes in Victoria
What the standard means, how a home is rated, and what changes the score.
Since 1 May 2024, a new home in Victoria must reach a 7 star energy rating under NatHERS (up from 6 stars) and stay within a whole-of-home energy budget. Every home Oakview Homes builds is designed and rated to the standard that applies to its building permit.
What does 7 stars measure?
How much heating and cooling the home’s shell needs to stay comfortable, rated by an accredited assessor from the plans. In most places a 7-star home needs about 20 to 25% less heating and cooling energy than a 6-star one.
What is the whole-of-home rating?
A second check on the home’s energy budget for heating and cooling, hot water, lighting and cooking, with credit for solar panels. Under the NatHERS route a new home needs a whole-of-home score of at least 60.
What changes a home’s star rating?
- Orientation: living areas and windows facing north where the block allows.
- Insulation in the ceiling, walls and, on some designs, the slab edge.
- Windows: their size, where they face, the glass and the frames.
- Shading from eaves and pergolas over the summer sun.
- Sealing gaps so heated and cooled air stays in.
When is the home rated?
Before the building permit: the energy report goes to the building surveyor with the plans. See how building permits work and the five building stages that follow.
Does a 7-star home cost more to build?
It can add to the build, for example better insulation or glazing. The cheapest stars come from the design itself: which way the living areas face, the size and placement of the windows, and eaves that shade the summer sun. See what else moves the price of a new home.
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