Australia’s peak body for the architecture profession is backing calls for a mix of incentives for domestic and commercial buildings to cut carbon emissions substantially above projections arising from the federal government’s proposed carbon pollution reduction scheme, and in turn significantly cut the price of carbon trading permits.

In its response to the CPRS Green Paper, publicly released today, the Australian Institute of Architects draws on research commissioned by the Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council‘s (ASBEC) Climate Change Task Group, of which the Institute is a member.

'The Second Plank – Building a Low Carbon Economy with Energy Efficient Buildings' report reveals that by 2030 Australia's building sector could cut annual carbon emissions by up to 52 million tonnes more than the 8 million tonnes arising from  the CPRS. The savings could lead to a 14 per cent cut in the price of carbon trading permits by 2050.

The Second Plank report demonstrates emissions could be significantly reduced by adopting three key policies to complement the 'cap and trade' scheme:

1. A national White Certificate Scheme with energy efficiency as a tradable asset
2. ‘Green depreciation’ for accelerated depreciation allowances for capital expenditure on energy efficient refurbishments to existing commercial buildings
3. Publicly-funded energy efficiency retrofits for residential and commercial buildings.

The Institute also supports specific regulatory measures, including enhancement of the Minimum Energy Performance Standards for appliances and setting higher standards for building design and energy efficiency in the National Building Code.

"The CPRS alone doesn’t harness the building sector’s full potential to generate massive reductions to greenhouse gas emissions.

“A mix of complementary measures is necessary to significantly enhance Australia's ability to make deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions and substantially lower the costs of reducing carbon pollution across the whole economy. All of these measures are possible using technology already available,” said the Institute’s CEO, and chair of the ASBEC Climate Change Task Group, David Parken.