Residential Performance
Understand what the Residential Efficiency Scorecard assessed, why it remains relevant and how existing-home energy assessment is continuing through newer rating pathways.
A transition guide for homeowners, assessors and housing providers moving from Scorecard terminology toward Home Energy Ratings and NatHERS assessments for existing homes.
Explore the Knowledge HubIn Brief
The Residential Efficiency Scorecard was an Australian government-accredited assessment program for existing homes. It rated the energy performance of fixed household appliances, assessed how well a dwelling coped with hot and cold weather, and provided practical recommendations for improving comfort and energy efficiency.
The Scorecard program closes at 5 pm AEST on 23 June 2026 and will no longer be available for new assessments after that time. Existing Scorecard assessments remain valid as a record of how the home performed when the assessment was undertaken. :contentReference[oaicite:0]{index=0}
Existing-home energy rating activity is transitioning to NatHERS for existing homes. This newer pathway expands the NatHERS framework beyond new homes and provides a more closely aligned national approach to rating the performance of existing dwellings. :contentReference[oaicite:1]{index=1}
The Scorecard assessed fixed-appliance energy use, household comfort, greenhouse gas emissions and practical opportunities for improving an existing home.
No new Scorecard assessments can be completed after 5 pm AEST on 23 June 2026, although previously issued assessments remain valid.
Current existing-home assessment pathways are transitioning to NatHERS for existing homes and broader Home Energy Rating services.
Knowledge Navigation
Use this guide to explore existing home performance, thermal comfort, building fabric, upgrade pathways and the relationship between the Residential Efficiency Scorecard and broader home energy rating frameworks.
Foundation
Understand the purpose of the Scorecard and how it provides insight into the energy performance of an existing home.
Existing Homes
Explore how the age, construction, orientation and condition of a home influence its energy performance.
Building Performance
See how insulation, glazing, shading, draughts and household systems influence comfort and energy demand.
Improvement Areas
Review the parts of an existing home that may present the clearest opportunities for better performance.
Retrofit Strategy
Understand how staged upgrades can improve comfort and performance without treating every home the same way.
Framework Context
See how the Scorecard relates to broader existing home energy rating and disclosure pathways.
Whole Home
Understand how building fabric, fixed appliances and household energy systems form a wider performance picture.
Future Housing
Explore why the performance of existing homes matters within Australia’s wider housing and energy transition.
Practical Guidance
Find practical answers about the Scorecard, existing home assessments, upgrade priorities and related pathways.
Existing Home Energy Assessment
A Residential Efficiency Scorecard is a home energy efficiency assessment for existing homes. It provides a structured way to understand how a home performs in everyday conditions, including how much energy it may use, how comfortable it is likely to feel and where targeted upgrades may improve performance.
The Scorecard is best understood as a practical performance lens. It does not only look at appliances or energy bills. It considers the relationship between the home’s building fabric, fixed systems and comfort outcomes. This makes it useful for households who want to reduce running costs, improve thermal comfort or plan future upgrades with more confidence.
For homeowners, this can be especially helpful when a home feels uncomfortable but the cause is unclear. A room may be difficult to cool in summer, cold in winter or expensive to condition because of insulation gaps, window performance, draughts, shading, system efficiency or the way several issues interact. The purpose of the Scorecard is to make those influences easier to understand.
The Scorecard is focused on homes that already exist, rather than new homes being assessed for approval or compliance.
It helps connect everyday comfort issues with the home’s energy use, heating and cooling demand and fixed building features.
It can help homeowners understand which improvements may matter most before committing to upgrades or renovation decisions.
Existing Home Performance
Existing homes are often shaped by many layers of decisions made over time. A home may include original construction, later renovations, added air conditioning, replaced windows, partial insulation, upgraded lighting, solar panels or changes to hot water systems. These layers can make it difficult to know what is actually influencing comfort, energy use or running costs.
An existing home energy assessment helps bring these factors into view. It considers the relationship between the building itself and the systems that support daily living, including heating, cooling, hot water, lighting and fixed appliances. This broader view is important because performance problems are rarely caused by one element alone.
A home may have efficient appliances but poor insulation. It may have solar panels but still lose heat quickly in winter. It may feel hot because of glazing, orientation or limited shading rather than the size of the air conditioning system. Understanding existing home performance means looking at the whole home before deciding which upgrades should come first.
Insulation, windows, draughts, shading and orientation all influence how easily a home holds or loses comfort.
Heating, cooling, hot water, lighting and solar can all affect how much energy a home uses in daily operation.
Looking at the home as a whole can help identify which improvements are likely to matter first, and which may be better planned later.
Comfort and Energy Use
Comfort and energy efficiency are closely connected. A home that loses heat quickly in winter or gains unwanted heat in summer will usually rely more heavily on mechanical heating and cooling. This can increase operational energy use and make the home feel less stable throughout the day.
The building fabric plays a major role in this. Insulation, windows, draught sealing, shading, orientation, thermal mass and ventilation all influence how the home responds to outdoor conditions. When these elements work well together, the home can feel more comfortable with less energy. When they work poorly, even efficient appliances may struggle to compensate.
This is why a Residential Efficiency Scorecard should be understood as more than a rating. It can help translate everyday experiences, such as hot bedrooms, cold living areas, draughty rooms or high heating and cooling demand, into a clearer picture of how the home performs as a system.
Comfort is shaped by temperature stability, draughts, radiant heat, humidity, airflow and how the home responds across the day.
Heating, cooling, hot water, lighting and fixed appliances all contribute to the energy a home uses in daily operation.
Improving the building fabric can reduce the pressure on heating and cooling systems before larger upgrades are considered.
Energy Efficiency Improvements
Existing homes often have several areas where comfort and energy performance can be improved. Some are easy to see, such as older heating and cooling systems or single glazed windows. Others are less visible, including missing insulation, air leakage, poor shading or gaps in how different parts of the home work together.
Common improvement areas may include ceiling insulation, wall insulation, underfloor insulation, draught sealing, window performance, external shading, hot water systems, heating and cooling efficiency, lighting, solar and fixed appliance upgrades. The best priority depends on the home, its location, its construction and how it is used.
A Residential Efficiency Scorecard can help homeowners avoid treating every upgrade as equal. For some homes, draught sealing and ceiling insulation may be the most practical first step. For others, glazing, shading or system efficiency may matter more. The goal is to create a clearer sequence of improvements rather than a scattered list of possible products.
Insulation, draught sealing, windows and shading can all influence how well the home holds comfort before systems are used.
Heating, cooling, hot water, lighting and fixed appliances can affect the operational energy used by the home every day.
The most useful upgrade pathway usually begins by understanding which changes will make the greatest difference for that specific home.
Retrofit Pathways
A Residential Efficiency Scorecard can support retrofit thinking by helping homeowners understand what to improve first, what to plan for later and which upgrades should be considered together. This is important because home performance upgrades are connected. A decision about insulation, glazing, heating, cooling, solar or hot water can influence the value and timing of other improvements.
A pathway approach helps avoid isolated decisions. For example, improving insulation and draught sealing may reduce heating and cooling demand before a new system is selected. External shading may improve summer comfort before additional cooling is considered. Solar may support electrification, but its benefit can depend on the efficiency of the home’s fixed systems.
The aim is not to turn every home into a major renovation project. It is to create a clearer order of decisions. Some improvements may be simple and immediate. Others may be best aligned with future renovation, appliance replacement or long-term household planning. A good retrofit pathway helps homeowners improve comfort and energy performance without losing sight of the whole home.
Some homes may benefit first from practical fabric improvements such as insulation, draught sealing, shading or targeted window upgrades.
Larger upgrades can often be planned around renovation timing, appliance replacement, solar, electrification or changes in household needs.
Retrofit thinking works best when comfort, building fabric, systems, operational energy and long-term resilience are considered together.
Home Energy Ratings
Home Energy Ratings are becoming increasingly important in the Australian housing market. While the Residential Efficiency Scorecard has been one way for homeowners to understand existing home performance, the broader direction is moving toward clearer and more consistent rating pathways for existing homes.
For homeowners, the language may change over time, but the practical question remains the same. How comfortable is the home? How much energy does it use? Where is performance being lost? Which upgrades are likely to make the greatest difference? These are the same questions that sit behind both Scorecard-style assessments and future Home Energy Rating pathways.
This is why the Residential Efficiency Scorecard is useful as a bridge. It gives homeowners a familiar entry point into existing home performance, while connecting naturally to Home Energy Ratings, NatHERS existing homes pathways and a more structured way of understanding comfort, operational energy and upgrade priorities.
Many homeowners still search for Scorecard language when they are trying to understand energy efficiency in an existing home.
Home Energy Rating pathways are becoming part of the wider conversation around existing home performance and disclosure.
Both pathways help homeowners understand comfort, energy use and the practical improvements that may support better home performance.
Whole of Home Thinking
Whole of Home thinking looks beyond the thermal shell of the building and considers the fixed systems that influence operational energy use. These may include heating and cooling, hot water, cooking, lighting, pool pumps, solar and other household services that affect how much energy the home uses in everyday life.
For existing homes, this broader view is important. A home may have reasonable building fabric but inefficient fixed systems. Another home may have efficient appliances but poor insulation, draughts or glazing. Looking only at one side of the home can make upgrade decisions feel unclear or incomplete.
A Residential Efficiency Scorecard can help connect the condition of the building with the way the home uses energy. This makes it a useful entry point into Whole of Home thinking, especially when homeowners are planning upgrades, electrification, solar, appliance replacement or staged improvements over time.
The home’s envelope influences how much heating and cooling is needed to maintain comfort across the year.
Heating, cooling, hot water, lighting, cooking and solar all contribute to the home’s operational energy profile.
Whole of Home thinking helps upgrades work together rather than treating appliances, solar and building fabric as separate decisions.
Future Housing
Australia’s housing transition is not only about new homes. Existing homes will continue to make up a large part of the residential building stock for decades, which means their comfort, efficiency and operational energy use will have a major influence on the way households experience future living.
Many existing homes were built before current expectations around energy efficiency, comfort and climate responsiveness became part of mainstream residential design. As energy prices, climate conditions and household expectations change, these homes may need clearer pathways for improvement rather than isolated upgrades made without a broader performance view.
The Residential Efficiency Scorecard sits within this wider shift. It helps homeowners begin with the home they already have, understand how it performs and consider practical ways to improve comfort, reduce energy demand and prepare for a more efficient residential future.
Improving existing homes is an important part of the residential performance conversation, not only a separate retrofit issue.
Better comfort, shading, insulation and system efficiency can help homes respond more effectively to changing conditions.
A clearer performance pathway can support better upgrade decisions, improved liveability and more resilient homes over time.
Energy Savings and Finance Signals
One reason homeowners look for a Residential Efficiency Scorecard is to better understand the financial side of home performance. A home that uses less energy, holds comfort more effectively and has clearer upgrade opportunities may be easier to plan for over time, especially when energy costs, renovation decisions and future property value are all part of the conversation.
Some Australian banks and financial institutions offer green loans, eco loans or discounted finance products for eligible energy efficient homes, renovations or upgrades. Eligibility can vary between lenders and may depend on the type of improvement, the evidence provided and the lending product available at the time.
A performance assessment does not guarantee energy savings or finance approval. Its value is that it can help create a more objective picture of how the home currently performs and where upgrades may be worth considering. As Home Energy Ratings for existing homes become more established, verified home performance information may become increasingly relevant to buyers, lenders and homeowners planning long term improvements.
Understanding how the home uses energy can help homeowners make more informed decisions about comfort, systems and upgrades.
Some lenders may offer finance incentives for eligible energy efficient upgrades, but requirements and availability should be checked directly with the lender.
Verified home performance information may become more useful as existing home ratings and energy disclosure pathways continue to develop.
How the Scorecard Works
A Residential Efficiency Scorecard works by looking at the fixed features of an existing home and how they influence comfort, energy use and upgrade opportunities. Rather than relying only on energy bills or appliance use, it considers how the building and its systems work together.
This may include the size and layout of rooms, insulation, windows, draughts, shading, heating and cooling, hot water, lighting, solar and other fixed appliances or systems. These elements help explain why a home may feel too hot, too cold, expensive to run or difficult to improve without a clear plan.
The purpose is to give homeowners a clearer picture of current performance and practical next steps. This can support better decisions about upgrades, renovations, appliance replacement, solar, electrification and long-term home comfort.
The Scorecard may consider room layout, construction, insulation, glazing, shading, air leakage and fixed home systems.
These details help explain how the home performs across comfort, heating and cooling demand and operational energy use.
The assessment can help homeowners understand which improvements may be most useful before starting upgrades.
Frequently Asked Questions
A Residential Efficiency Scorecard is an assessment framework for understanding the energy performance and comfort of an existing home. It helps identify how the home uses energy, how well it maintains comfort and where upgrades may improve performance.
No. BASIX is a NSW sustainability assessment pathway used for certain new residential developments and renovations. A Residential Efficiency Scorecard is focused on existing home performance, comfort, energy use and upgrade opportunities.
No. NatHERS is widely associated with thermal performance ratings for homes, while the Residential Efficiency Scorecard has been used to help assess existing home energy performance and practical upgrade opportunities. The two sit within the wider conversation around Home Energy Ratings and existing home performance.
Homeowners, renovators, landlords, buyers and property owners may consider an existing home energy assessment if they want to understand comfort issues, high energy use, upgrade priorities or future retrofit options.
An assessment may consider insulation, windows, draughts, shading, heating and cooling, hot water, lighting, solar, fixed appliances and other features that influence comfort and operational energy use.
It can help identify areas that may be contributing to higher energy use. The actual reduction depends on the home, household behaviour, upgrade choices, energy prices and the quality of installation.
The value of the assessment is that it can help prioritise improvements. Rather than guessing, homeowners can better understand which upgrades may provide the most meaningful comfort or efficiency benefit.
No. This page is not about compliance approval for a new build. It is about existing home performance, comfort, operational energy and practical upgrade pathways.
Residential Efficiency Scorecard language sits close to the broader Home Energy Rating conversation. As existing home rating pathways evolve, homeowners may see Scorecard, Home Energy Rating and NatHERS existing homes language used in related contexts.
Certified Energy can help homeowners and project teams understand existing home performance pathways, energy assessment options and how comfort, efficiency and upgrades fit within the wider Residential Performance ecosystem.
Some lenders may consider energy efficiency information when offering green loans, eco loans or upgrade finance products. Eligibility varies between lenders, so homeowners should check current requirements directly with their bank or finance provider.
No assessment can guarantee lower bills because actual costs depend on household behaviour, energy prices, climate, appliance use and the quality of any upgrades. A rating or assessment can help identify likely performance issues and improvement opportunities.
Related Knowledge
Residential Efficiency Scorecard sits within a wider residential performance ecosystem. These related Knowledge Hubs can help you understand how existing home assessments connect with comfort, operational energy, new home compliance and future-ready residential design.
Understand how existing home energy ratings help explain comfort, efficiency and performance pathways for Australian homes.
Explore Home Energy Rating
Learn how heating, cooling, hot water, appliances, solar and fixed systems influence operational energy use.
Explore Whole of Home
Explore how thermal performance ratings relate to home comfort, building fabric and residential energy performance.
Explore NatHERS
Understand the difference between existing home performance assessments and NSW sustainability compliance for new homes and renovations.
Explore BASIX
Learn how high performance building fabric, airtightness and comfort principles shape more resilient homes.
Explore Passive House
Explore broader residential sustainability, future-ready homes and healthier housing outcomes.
Explore Green Star Homes
Project Review
Send the available home information, photographs, plans, energy bills or proposed upgrade details for an initial review. Certified Energy can help determine whether a Residential Efficiency Scorecard assessment is the right starting point for understanding current home performance.
Early assessment can provide clearer direction across thermal comfort, building fabric, heating, cooling, hot water and future appliance choices, helping upgrades follow a coordinated performance pathway rather than a collection of isolated product decisions.
Last reviewed: June 2026. This page is maintained by Certified Energy as part of its Residential Performance Knowledge Hub.
