The Australian Building Codes Board has published a consultation paper on modernising the National Construction Code, with a view to explore the themes of governance and process, complexity and regulation burden, useability and accessibility and innovation and housing diversity. 

Climateworks Centre’s decarbonisation scenarios identify the built environment as having particularly strong potential for energy performance improvement, with annual savings growing from 124 PJ in 2030 to 246 PJ by 2050 through efficient appliances, thermal shell improvements, and demand-responsive systems. Recent modelling prepared for the Energy Efficiency Council (based on Climateworks Centre’s 2023a decarbonisation scenarios) finds that cumulative energy savings of 9,656 PJ are achievable between 2025 and 2050, with the built environment representing the largest share at 4,469 PJ.

Climateworks’ Climate Ready Homes report demonstrates the economic and decarbonisation benefits of different thermal upgrade packages for homes combined with switching gas appliances to electric alternatives. These packages, ranging from ‘quick-fix’ to ‘modest’ and ‘climate-ready’ upgrades, when paired with the electrification of gas hot water and cooktops, can reduce emissions by 1.09 to 2.52 tCO₂e per dwelling. These upgrades would also deliver annual energy bill savings of $804 to $4,695 (Green Building Council Australia et al. 2025). Climateworks’ (2023c) zero carbon homes definition outlines what a zero carbon home looks like in practice – essential for informing policy-makers, lenders, the construction industry and households in the transition to Australia’s zero carbon future. The same efficiency and electrification measures can deliver similar economic and decarbonisation benefits for commercial and industrial buildings.

In this submission, Climateworks recommends that the ABCB adopt a suite of updates to align the National Construction Code (NCC) with the decarbonisation trajectories that meet Australia’s climate commitments, to drive economic benefits for households, the building sector and the economy. These updates would prioritise fabric-first, all-electric buildings and will strengthen ABCB governance. Key reforms would include: 

  • evaluating affordability based on total cost of living and doing business, including health and climate resilience, rather than over-emphasising upfront construction costs;
  • establishing a clear update pathway with staged provisions in 2029, 2032 and 2035 to drive innovation and productivity; and 
  • integrating NCC development cycles with national energy system planning. 

Better incorporation of energy performance standards would also improve building quality and occupant health and safety.

Submission summary 

Climateworks recommends that ABCB:

  1. Prioritise energy-efficient, all-electric and climate-resilient homes in the NCC to lower building energy costs, reduce the need for expensive future retrofits, ensure buildings support Australia’s net zero ambition, and reduce governments budgetary pressures from climate change impacts. 
  2. Strengthen ABCB governance to streamline administrative and decision-making processes, and explicitly recognise buildings as critical enablers of Australia’s climate commitments and climate change adaptation goals.
  3. Establish nationally consistent, mandatory and simplified all-electric and solar-ready requirements across all jurisdictions to reduce regulatory complexity and support industry innovation.
  4. When assessing the NCC, evaluate affordability as total cost of living or doing business, including avoided energy bills and health and climate resilience benefits, rather than focusing primarily on upfront construction costs, so that decisions reflect long-term financial, social and environmental outcomes.
  5. Develop a clear NCC update pathway with staged provisions in 2029, 2032 and 2035 to support a national renovation wave and align both new and existing homes with Australia’s 2030 and 2035 climate targets and the National Adaptation Plan.
  6. Modernise DtS pathways to provide clear and nationally consistent compliance routes for electrification and thermal performance, reducing regulatory burden and enabling industry to deliver climate-aligned buildings more efficiently.
  7. Integrate NCC development cycles with national energy system planning and forecasting, including the Integrated System Plan, to ensure building standards align with renewable energy deployment and decarbonisation targets.

More detail on these recommendations can be found in the submission [PDF 0.3mb].