A NatHERS Star Rating and detailed Whole of Home calculation for your new dwelling.
A Class 1 dwelling under the NCC covers a detached house, and equally a townhouse, row house, terrace, villa unit or dual occupancy, where each dwelling is a separate building divided by a fire-resisting wall. Where dwellings sit one above another the building becomes Class 2, and is assessed under our multi-residential service.
Thinking about sustainability and energy efficiency early on in the design process can not only increase the thermal performance of a building and have long lasting implication to the cost of living in that space. We look to provide expert advice and taolir the pathway for the project - wether that is optimising the performance of the thermal envelope, or find the most cost efficient pathway to complaince.
This process will vary job to job. But to ensure you don't get caught out, ensure that an accredited assessor and building surveyor are engeged early, so the best pathway to a compliant project can be mapped out. Leaving this too late can be costly.
We offer a consultancy-level service: strategic energy advice integrated with the architectural process, not just compliance processing.
You get the certificate you need, with a the priorities of the client taken into account.
Energy efficiency compliance for new Class 1 dwellings under NCC 2025, via the NatHERS pathway (H6P1) and Whole of Home (H6P2), including the issue of the required certificates.
Thermal performance is modelled in FirstRate5 against the 7 star minimum applying in Victoria (note that this requirement may differ depending on the state you're in). The Whole of Home assessment scores the fixed appliances, hot water, heating and cooling, lighting and any on-site solar, against a 60 point annual energy budget. Both are required, and we certify them together.
Required by owners, architects and builders of new detached homes and townhouses at building permit stage. Requested by your building surveyor, and by council where an energy report forms part of a planning condition.
Stage 1 — Project Initiation. Studio Bun reviews your drawings, specifications and brief, identifies the NCC 2025 requirements that apply to the project, and issues a proposed compliance pathway together with a fixed fee covering the full process.
Stage 2 — Preliminary Assessment & Design Advice. The proposed design is modelled, adjusted and assessed. We issue a Preliminary Assessment Report setting out what is required for compliance. This stage identifies the key challenges to the project and the improvements available, whether to exceed compliance or to reduce the cost of meeting it.
Stage 3 — Design Iteration & Optimisation. Between the preliminary and final reports we allow two rounds of minor changes to the design, and a meeting to review the recommendations. From here we can focus on cost efficiency or on performance, as the project requires.
Stage 4 — Certification & Final Reporting. Once the final specification and design are documented, we run the final model, confirm the result and issue the certificates. Changes after certificate issue are charged at an additional rate, depending on the size and scope of the change.
Thermal modelling of the proposed dwelling in FirstRate5
A preliminary report setting out the requirements for compliance with the star rating and Whole of Home
Written advice across building fabric, glazing area, SHGC, U-value and shading, orientation, passive solar and natural ventilation
Appliance and hot water selection advice for the Whole of Home result
Pathways for cost reduction or optimisation where applicable
One online design review meeting
Two rounds of minor changes between preliminary report and finalisation
A final assessment report
NatHERS and Whole of Home compliance certificates
A few items sit outside this scope and can be quoted separately:
Alterations and additions (see NatHERS for residential extensions)
Class 2 apartment building common areas with centralised services, which may require VURB or JV3
Minor design changes beyond two rounds
Blower door and air permeability testing
Acoustic, daylight or mechanical assessments
BESS reports or SDAs
Stormwater management (available as its own service)
This service assumes a new Class 1 residential building in Victoria under NCC 2025, with PDF drawings sufficiently complete for modelling.
Studio Bun offers fixed sum packages for NatHERS assessments, priced on the size and complexity of the dwelling.
Contact us for a quote.
What's the difference between a NatHERS assessment and the Elemental Provisions?
They're two different compliance pathways under the NCC. The Elemental Provisions are prescriptive: meet the specified insulation values, glazing limits and construction details and you comply, with no modelling required. NatHERS is a performance pathway, where your home is thermally modelled and must achieve the required star rating however the design gets there. NatHERS gives far more design flexibility and usually a better performing, more comfortable home, which is why it is the more common route for architect designed dwellings, but the Elemental Provisions can be quicker for straightforward projects. We can advise which pathway suits your project.
Do I need a NatHERS assessment in Victoria?
For most new homes and major renovations, yes. Under NCC 2025, new Class 1 dwellings in Victoria must demonstrate 7 star thermal performance plus Whole of Home compliance, and a NatHERS assessment is the standard way to do it.
What is Whole of Home?
A second requirement that sits alongside the star rating. Where the star rating covers the building fabric, Whole of Home scores the fixed appliances, hot water, heating and cooling, lighting and any onsite solar, against a 60 point annual energy budget. We assess both together.
When should I engage a NatHERS assessor?
As early as possible — ideally at concept or early design. The cheapest performance gains come from orientation, window placement and shading, which are hard to change once the design is locked. Engaging early is the difference between designing to 7 stars and retrofitting to reach it.
What do you need from me to start?
Architectural drawings in PDF, your specifications, and the project brief. If anything's missing for modelling, we will flag it in the Project Initiation Summary before we go further.
Send through your drawings for a fixed-fee quote.
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