Sustainable buildings and housing guidelines

The following guidelines relate to sustainable buildings and housing.

The management guideline for the phase-out of Refrigerant R22 (PDF, 382KB) aims to provide advice to building owners and facility managers on the issues associated with the continued use of refrigerant R22 in air conditioning and refrigeration systems, and to encourage the development of strategies for the planned management, recovery, reclamation or safe destruction of this ozone depleting substance.

The guideline to assessing energy equivalence using the peer review process (PDF, 873KB) is intended to assist clients, designers, council officers, building certifiers, and other interested parties, to understand the peer review process. This process can be used as a compliance option to assess the energy equivalence (thermal performance) of new houses (a class 1 dwelling and their attached class 10a garage), and major renovations (where practical) in Queensland.

Related documents:

• form 1—peer review application for energy equivalence (PDF, 115KB)
• form 2—peer review assessment report for energy equivalence (PDF, 118KB)
• peer review experts (PDF, 84KB).

The peer review process provides independent peer review of a ‘performance solution’ (previously referred to as an alternative solution) for the energy equivalence of a house design that may not readily comply with the typical deemed-to-satisfy (DTS) solutions under the National Construction Code (NCC) 2019 (i.e. either the more prescriptive elemental provisions or the use of a house energy rating software tool).

The guideline also provides details about the process for the ‘expert judgement’ performance solution of the NCC. The ‘expert judgement’ will be made by a suitably qualified and recognised specialist, referred to in the guideline as the ‘expert’.