Explore the Deemed-to-Satisfy pathway under the National Construction Code, including glazing, insulation, climate zones and residential compliance strategies for Australian homes.
Whole of Home residential energy performance is a broader way of understanding how a home performs as a complete energy system, not only as a thermal shell.
Traditional NatHERS assessment has focused on thermal performance: how well the building fabric, orientation, glazing, insulation and shading help reduce heating and cooling demand. Whole of Home expands this view by also considering major household energy uses such as heating and cooling systems, hot water, lighting, appliances, cooking, solar generation and battery storage.
Whole of Home does not replace NatHERS or BASIX. It is better understood as part of a broader national movement toward integrated residential building performance assessment.
For existing homes, Whole of Home thinking is especially important because many Australian dwellings were built before current energy performance expectations. It helps connect comfort, household systems, operational energy, electrification and retrofit pathways into one clearer performance picture.
Whole of Home Knowledge Hub
Whole of Home and NatHERS
Not a BASIX Replacement
Existing Homes and the Housing Transition
What is Operational Energy?
Household Energy Systems
Solar, Batteries and Future Loads
Whole of Home is relevant for anyone trying to understand residential performance as a connected system, rather than as a single certificate, product or upgrade. This page is written for readers who need a clearer view of how thermal comfort, household systems, operational energy, electrification and future retrofit pathways work together.
For homeowners trying to understand which upgrades may matter most before investing in solar, appliances, insulation, glazing, hot water or electrification.
For architects and designers who want to think beyond the thermal shell alone and consider how building fabric, systems and operational energy interact.
For policy, housing and industry stakeholders considering how existing homes, ratings, disclosure, electrification and retrofit pathways may connect over time.
For assessors, consultants and building professionals working across NatHERS, existing homes, operational energy and future residential performance pathways.
Continue into what Whole of Home means, or explore the relationship with NatHERS.
Whole of Home is part of the next stage of residential energy performance in Australia.
For many years, residential energy assessment has focused strongly on the thermal shell of the home: the way orientation, insulation, glazing, shading, construction and climate influence heating and cooling demand.
That foundation still matters.
But the performance of a home is no longer understood through the building shell alone.
A home is also an operational energy system.
It includes heating and cooling, hot water, lighting, appliances, solar generation, battery storage, household usage patterns and future electrification pathways.
Whole of Home helps connect these layers.
It sits beyond thermal modelling alone and begins to describe how the dwelling, its systems and its everyday energy use work together.
Whole of Home is not a replacement for NatHERS.
It is not a replacement for BASIX.
It is not a solar sales pathway or an appliance comparison exercise.
It is part of a broader national movement toward understanding Australian homes as complete residential performance systems.
Whole of Home refers to a broader way of assessing and understanding residential energy performance.
Traditional NatHERS assessment has focused on the thermal performance of the dwelling. This means how well the building shell is expected to maintain indoor comfort and reduce heating and cooling demand.
Whole of Home expands the view.
It considers the major household energy systems that allow the home to operate each day. This can include heating and cooling, hot water, lighting, plug-in appliances, cooking, solar generation and battery storage.
The important distinction is that Whole of Home does not remove the need for good thermal performance. The building shell still sets the foundation for comfort and energy demand.
Whole of Home adds another layer.
It helps explain how the physical dwelling, installed systems, energy generation and everyday household operation relate to one another.
For new homes, this supports a more complete understanding of residential energy use.
For existing homes, it becomes especially important because many Australian dwellings were built before current energy performance expectations and may need staged, practical retrofit pathways over time.
Continue into Whole of Home and NatHERS, or explore why this matters for existing homes.
Residential energy assessment in Australia has traditionally been linked to compliance.
For new homes, this has often meant meeting the relevant energy efficiency requirements through pathways such as NatHERS, BASIX, Section J-related residential provisions, or other state and territory requirements.
Compliance remains important.
It provides minimum standards, regulatory clarity and a structured pathway for design approval.
But the conversation is now becoming wider.
The future of residential performance is not only about whether a home meets a minimum requirement at one point in time. It is also about how that home performs across its life.
How the dwelling supports stable, liveable indoor conditions across seasons.
How much mechanical conditioning the home may need to remain comfortable.
The energy used to run the home, including major household systems and everyday loads.
Heating, cooling, hot water, lighting, appliances, solar generation and storage working together.
How the home may support future electric systems, appliances and charging needs.
Practical upgrade pathways that improve comfort, performance and future resilience over time.
This is where Whole of Home becomes important.
It helps shift the conversation from isolated compliance items toward whole dwelling performance.
A high-performing home is not created by one product, one certificate or one upgrade.
It is the result of a connected system.
The building fabric, the services, the equipment, the climate, the household use and the future upgrade pathway all matter.
Continue into thermal shell and household systems, or explore the connection with NatHERS.
Whole of Home thinking considers the major energy-related elements that shape how a home operates.
Rather than treating the dwelling, appliances, solar, batteries and future electric loads as separate decisions, it helps place them within one broader residential performance picture.
The walls, roof, floor, glazing, insulation, shading and construction systems influence how much heating or cooling the home needs.
The building fabric remains the foundation of residential performance. If the home gains too much heat in summer or loses too much heat in winter, the household systems will need to work harder.
Heating and cooling systems respond to the thermal performance of the dwelling. A well-designed home may need less mechanical conditioning.
Whole of Home thinking looks at both the equipment and the demand created by the dwelling itself.
Hot water is one of the major energy uses in many Australian homes.
The system type, efficiency, fuel source, household size and usage pattern can all influence operational energy performance.
Lighting and appliances form part of the everyday operational energy profile of a home.
Whole of Home does not reduce performance to appliance selection alone, but it recognises that household equipment contributes to the overall energy picture.
Solar photovoltaic systems can help offset household electricity use.
Solar should not be treated as a substitute for good building performance. The strongest outcomes usually come from reducing unnecessary demand first, then considering generation in context.
Whole of Home thinking helps place these systems within a broader performance pathway, so that the home is understood as a connected energy environment rather than a collection of separate upgrade decisions.
Continue into Whole of Home and NatHERS, or explore operational energy.
NatHERS has traditionally been associated with thermal performance star ratings.
A NatHERS thermal rating helps describe how much heating and cooling energy a dwelling is likely to need to maintain comfortable indoor conditions in its climate.
That thermal rating remains fundamental.
It tells us something important about the building shell.
Whole of Home adds a broader operational layer. It considers major household energy uses and, where relevant, energy generated or stored on site.
NatHERS thermal performance helps explain the energy demand created by the building shell, including the effect of orientation, glazing, insulation, shading, construction and climate.
Whole of Home helps explain how the dwelling performs as a broader household energy system, including heating, cooling, hot water, appliances, solar generation and storage.
The two layers are connected. A home with poor thermal performance may place greater demand on household systems, while a thermally stronger home may be easier to operate efficiently.
Whole of Home does not replace the thermal rating.
It complements it.
Together, they support a clearer understanding of how the home performs both as a building and as an energy system.
Continue into Whole of Home and BASIX, or explore why this matters for existing homes.
Whole of Home should not be described as “BASIX for other states.”
BASIX is a New South Wales planning and sustainability framework with its own regulatory role, calculation structure and history.
Whole of Home belongs to a broader national shift in residential performance assessment.
It overlaps with some of the same concerns: energy, water, systems, comfort and household performance.
But it is not the same thing.
The better way to understand the relationship is this: BASIX, NatHERS, Whole of Home, Existing Homes and Home Energy Ratings are all part of Australia’s wider movement toward more integrated residential building performance.
Each has a different role.
Each sits in a different part of the policy and assessment landscape.
Whole of Home is best understood as a broader residential performance layer, not as a direct replacement for existing frameworks.
Continue into existing homes and the housing transition, or return to Whole of Home and NatHERS.
The future of Australian residential performance will not be shaped by new homes alone.
Existing homes are central.
Most Australians live in homes that have already been built. Many of these dwellings were constructed before current energy performance standards, before modern glazing expectations, before widespread solar adoption and before electrification became a mainstream policy direction.
This creates a different kind of challenge.
For an existing home, the question is not only:
“How would this home comply if it were designed today?”
The better question is:
“How does this home perform now, and what is the most sensible pathway for improvement?”
A home may have efficient household equipment, but still lose or gain too much heat through the building fabric.
Solar generation can help offset electricity use, but it does not automatically resolve overheating, shading or glazing issues.
A dwelling may perform reasonably well thermally, while still carrying a high operational energy load from major household systems.
Some homes may be ready for electric systems in principle, but limited by switchboard capacity, system age or high heating and cooling demand.
A home may need shading, draught sealing or fabric improvements before major system upgrades make sense.
Existing homes often need sequencing, not one isolated upgrade. Whole of Home thinking helps place decisions in the right order.
Whole of Home thinking helps bring these elements into one frame.
It supports better sequencing.
It helps avoid product-led decisions.
It gives homeowners, assessors, architects and policy stakeholders a more complete way to understand the dwelling.
For existing homes, this matters deeply.
The right upgrade pathway is not always the most visible one.
Sometimes the first step is understanding the home properly.
Continue into operational energy, or explore NatHERS Existing Homes.
Operational energy is the energy used to run a home.
It is different from embodied energy, which relates to the energy associated with materials, construction and building processes.
In residential buildings, operational energy can include the everyday systems and loads that allow the dwelling to function.
Space heating and cooling are closely linked to the thermal performance of the dwelling and the efficiency of installed systems.
Hot water can be a major household energy use, especially where older or inefficient systems remain in place.
Lighting, refrigeration, cooking and plug-in appliances shape the everyday operational energy profile of the home.
Ventilation systems, pool equipment, spa systems and other household loads may also contribute to operational energy use.
Solar generation and battery storage can influence how household energy is supplied, used and shifted across the day.
Electric vehicle charging and future electric systems may change the household energy profile over time.
Whole of Home is closely connected to operational energy because it looks at the energy systems that allow the dwelling to function each day.
This distinction is important.
Thermal performance tells us how the building shell behaves.
Operational energy tells us more about how the home runs.
A home can have efficient appliances but still be uncomfortable because the building shell performs poorly.
A home can have good insulation but still use significant energy if hot water, heating or cooling systems are inefficient.
A home can have solar but still have high evening energy demand.
A home can have strong winter comfort but poor summer heat resilience.
Whole of Home helps connect these issues.
How does the home perform as a complete living energy system?
Continue into household energy systems, or explore electrification pathways.
A home is not a collection of separate upgrades.
It is an interconnected system.
The roof, walls, glazing and shading influence heating and cooling demand. Heating and cooling equipment responds to that demand. Hot water, lighting, appliances, solar, batteries, controls, tariffs, household routines and future electric vehicles all shape how the home performs over time.
The roof, walls, glazing, insulation and shading influence how much heating or cooling the home needs before systems are considered.
Heating, cooling and hot water systems do not operate in isolation. Their performance is shaped by the dwelling, climate and household use.
Lighting, appliances, routines, tariffs and future electric loads can change how energy is used across the day and across the life of the home.
Solar generation and battery storage are most useful when considered alongside the home’s demand profile, system loads and future upgrade pathway.
Each element affects the others.
This is why Whole of Home thinking is different from a generic energy-saving checklist.
It does not simply ask which product is most efficient.
It asks how the dwelling, systems and household energy profile work together.
That is the difference between product advice and building performance intelligence.
Continue into solar, batteries and future loads, or explore electrification pathways.
Electrification is becoming one of the major themes in Australian housing.
At the household level, electrification may involve moving from gas or other fossil-fuel systems toward efficient electric alternatives.
Whole of Home thinking is important because electrification changes the energy profile of the dwelling and should be considered alongside the building fabric, household systems and future upgrade pathway.
Efficient electric heating and cooling can support comfort, but its performance still depends on the home’s thermal shell and seasonal demand.
Hot water is often a major household load, so heat pump systems may become an important part of staged electrification planning.
Moving cooking and other household appliances to electric systems can change the household energy profile and future electricity demand.
Solar and batteries may support electrification, but they should be considered in relation to demand, timing of use and the home’s broader upgrade pathway.
Future vehicle charging may add new household loads, making timing, capacity and system planning increasingly important.
Some homes may need electrical capacity, controls or system planning reviewed before multiple electric loads are added.
A home that moves more systems onto electricity may create new opportunities for efficiency, solar integration and lower operational emissions.
But electrification works best when it is considered alongside the building fabric.
If the home is poorly insulated, draughty or exposed to unmanaged heat gain, electrification alone may not solve comfort or energy performance issues.
The better question is not simply:
“What should we replace?”
It is:
“What is the right order of improvement for this home?”
For some dwellings, the priority may be ceiling insulation or draught sealing.
For others, it may be hot water.
For others, it may be heating and cooling efficiency.
For others, it may be solar readiness, switchboard capacity or staged electrification planning.
Whole of Home thinking helps place electrification inside the wider residential performance system.
Continue into retrofit priorities, or explore staged home performance upgrades.
Retrofit decisions can easily become fragmented.
One contractor may recommend solar. Another may recommend glazing. Another may recommend insulation. Another may recommend heating and cooling upgrades. Another may recommend hot water replacement.
Each recommendation may be valid in isolation.
But homeowners usually need a pathway, not just a list.
Whole of Home thinking helps organise retrofit decisions into a more practical sequence.
Before selecting upgrades, the home should be understood as it exists now, including the building fabric, orientation, glazing, insulation, shading, air movement, heating and cooling, hot water, appliances and energy generation.
Thermal shell improvements may help reduce heating and cooling demand before major equipment upgrades are considered. This may include insulation, shading, draught sealing, glazing review or other building fabric improvements.
Heating, cooling and hot water systems often have a significant influence on household energy use. If these systems are inefficient, poorly sized or nearing end of life, they may become important upgrade points.
Electrification planning may involve reviewing existing gas systems, electrical capacity, hot water options, cooking systems, solar potential and future vehicle charging needs.
The best retrofit pathway is not always the biggest intervention.
It is the one that understands the home clearly enough to make better decisions in the right order.
Continue into future housing performance, or explore NatHERS Existing Homes.
Australia’s housing performance conversation is changing.
The focus is moving from minimum compliance toward a more complete understanding of how homes perform across time.
This broader view includes thermal comfort, operational energy, existing home ratings, electrification, household energy systems, solar and battery integration, emissions reduction, resilience, disclosure, retrofit pathways and future housing policy.
Existing homes are becoming more important as Australia looks beyond new home compliance and toward the performance of the housing stock already built.
Future housing performance will increasingly consider how homes run over time, not only how they comply at approval stage.
Electrification, solar, battery storage and future electric loads will need to be considered alongside comfort, demand reduction and climate resilience.
Practical upgrade pathways will become increasingly important as homeowners, professionals and policy makers seek clearer ways to improve existing dwellings.
As rating and disclosure frameworks mature, clearer information about home performance may become more important for households, property and policy.
The future direction is not simply toward more efficient products, but toward better understood homes and more connected residential performance decisions.
New homes will continue to need clear compliance pathways.
But existing homes are becoming increasingly important because they represent such a large part of the national housing stock.
As rating systems, disclosure frameworks and retrofit programs mature, homeowners and professionals will need clearer information about how homes perform and how they can be improved.
Whole of Home is part of that direction.
It helps move the industry away from isolated product decisions and toward integrated residential performance thinking.
This is where the future of Australian housing is heading.
Not simply toward more efficient products.
Toward better understood homes.
Continue into Certified Energy’s role, or explore Home Energy Ratings.
Certified Energy approaches Whole of Home from a building performance perspective.
Our role is not to sell solar systems, appliances or generic energy-saving products.
Our work sits closer to the assessment and performance layer.
We help interpret how the dwelling, its thermal shell, its household systems and its future upgrade pathway relate to one another.
Understanding how the building shell, climate, glazing, insulation and design decisions influence heating and cooling demand.
Connecting Whole of Home thinking with existing homes, Home Energy Ratings and future housing stock improvement.
Placing BASIX, NatHERS and other residential compliance pathways within the broader performance landscape.
Interpreting how household systems, everyday energy use, solar, batteries and future electric loads relate to whole dwelling performance.
Helping place electrification, system upgrades and retrofit pathways into a more practical sequence.
Supporting the broader transition toward consistent, practical and scalable residential performance assessment.
For homeowners, this can support clearer decisions.
For architects and building professionals, it provides a stronger framework for thinking beyond minimum compliance.
For government and industry stakeholders, it contributes to the broader transition toward more consistent, practical and scalable residential performance assessment.
Certified Energy sees Whole of Home as part of a larger shift.
The future of residential performance will not be defined by one rating, one certificate or one technology.
It will be defined by how well we understand the whole dwelling.
Continue into Whole of Home FAQs, or explore Residential Performance.
For existing home rating, residential performance or future-focused assessment enquiries, you can contact Certified Energy.
Whole of Home residential energy performance looks at the home as a complete energy system.
It considers the relationship between the building shell, heating and cooling, hot water, lighting, appliances, solar generation, battery storage and everyday household energy use.
No.
NatHERS has traditionally focused on the thermal performance of the dwelling: how much heating and cooling energy the home is likely to need to remain comfortable.
Whole of Home adds a broader operational energy layer by considering major household energy uses and, where relevant, on-site energy generation and storage.
No.
Whole of Home does not replace NatHERS thermal performance assessment.
It complements the thermal rating by helping describe how the home performs as a broader household energy system.
No.
BASIX is a New South Wales planning and sustainability framework.
Whole of Home belongs to a broader national movement toward integrated residential energy performance assessment. It should not be described as BASIX for other states.
Whole of Home is strongly connected to new home energy performance requirements, but the thinking behind it is also highly relevant to existing homes.
As Australia expands home energy ratings and retrofit pathways, Whole of Home concepts can help explain how established dwellings perform and how they may be improved over time.
No.
Solar and batteries may be included, but they are only part of the broader picture.
Whole of Home also considers heating and cooling, hot water, lighting, appliances, thermal performance and the way household energy systems work together.
Operational energy is the energy used to run a home.
This may include energy for heating, cooling, hot water, lighting, cooking, appliances, pool equipment and future electric vehicle charging.
Whole of Home thinking helps connect operational energy with the building fabric and household systems.
Electrification is part of the wider Whole of Home conversation because it changes how a dwelling uses energy.
Moving from gas or fossil-fuel systems to efficient electric systems can support future performance, but it works best when considered alongside the home’s thermal shell, energy demand and upgrade pathway.
Yes.
Whole of Home thinking can help identify whether a home should prioritise insulation, draught sealing, glazing, heating and cooling, hot water, solar, battery storage or electrification readiness.
It supports staged, practical decisions rather than isolated product recommendations.
Whole of Home is relevant for homeowners, architects, energy assessors, building professionals, government stakeholders, retrofit planners and anyone involved in Australia’s residential energy transition.
Whole of Home sits within a wider residential performance ecosystem. These related knowledge hubs help explain the surrounding assessment, compliance, existing homes and future housing pathways.
Understand how existing homes are being assessed as Australia expands residential energy ratings beyond new homes.
Learn how home energy ratings help describe comfort, energy performance and future upgrade opportunities.
Explore the wider residential performance ecosystem, including thermal comfort, operational energy, electrification and future-ready homes.
Understand how BASIX supports residential energy and water performance requirements in New South Wales.
Explore how household systems, energy use and building performance interact across the life of a dwelling.
Learn how electrification is reshaping residential heating, cooling, hot water, cooking and future household energy systems.
Understand how existing homes can be improved through staged, practical and performance-led upgrade planning.
These short explanations help clarify key Whole of Home concepts for homeowners, architects, assessors and residential building professionals exploring Australia’s changing residential performance landscape.
Whole of Home energy performance looks at how a dwelling performs as a complete energy system, including the building shell, major household systems, appliances, solar generation and battery storage.
A thermal star rating focuses on the heating and cooling demand created by the building shell. Whole of Home expands the view to include major household energy uses and on-site generation or storage.
Whole of Home thinking helps existing homes be understood as connected systems, where thermal comfort, household equipment, energy use and future upgrade pathways all influence performance.
No. Whole of Home is not a generic lifestyle checklist. It is a building performance lens that considers how the dwelling and its energy systems work together.
Whole of Home is important because Australia’s housing transition depends on more than new-home compliance. Existing homes, operational energy, electrification, retrofit pathways and household energy systems are all becoming part of the same performance conversation.
Whole of Home sits within a wider policy and assessment landscape that is gradually changing how Australian homes are understood, rated and improved.
It should be read alongside the broader movement toward NatHERS, Existing Homes, Home Energy Ratings, BASIX, residential compliance, operational energy and retrofit pathways. Each framework has its own role, but together they point toward a more integrated understanding of residential building performance.
NatHERS provides a national framework for understanding residential thermal performance, including the heating and cooling demand created by the building shell.
Whole of Home expands the performance conversation by considering major household energy uses, on-site generation and the way the home operates as a broader energy system.
Existing Homes assessment is becoming increasingly important as Australia looks beyond new home compliance and toward the performance of the housing stock already built.
Home Energy Ratings help make residential performance more visible, supporting clearer decisions for households, professionals and future market pathways.
BASIX remains a distinct New South Wales planning and sustainability framework, with its own compliance role and calculation structure.
Retrofit pathways help connect assessment with staged improvement, so existing homes can be upgraded through clearer, performance-led decisions.
Whole of Home should therefore be understood as one part of a broader residential performance transition, not as a single standalone product, certificate or replacement for existing assessment frameworks.
Last reviewed: June 2026. This page is maintained by Certified Energy as part of its Residential Performance Knowledge Hub.
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Whole of Home brings together thermal comfort, operational energy, household systems and future residential performance pathways into a broader understanding of how homes function over time.
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