With pressure on governments and planners to increase density in our cities and as a growing number of Australians opt for apartment living, Solar Citizens finds not enough is being done to ensure high-rise apartments are energy efficient and electrification-ready.
Solar Citizens' new 'Electrify Wolli Creek' report reveals there are multiple barriers to high-rise dwellers accessing electrical vehicle charging, switching from gas to electric cooktops and hot water heating as well as installing rooftop solar. Many of these barriers can be overcome through increasing government funding and support, and by improving planning requirements for new-build apartments.
Solar Citizens CEO Heidi Lee Douglas says:
"Australia leads the world in the uptake of rooftop solar, but we are neglecting almost half a million owners and renters of high-rise apartments – most of them are missing out on the cost-of-living savings provided by rooftop solar and household electrification.
"Creating electrification pathways for high-rise apartments will deliver cheaper energy bills and huge energy emission reductions, enabling state and federal governments to meet their ambitious emission reduction targets. Not addressing these barriers will create greater emissions well into the future."
Solar Citizens worked with a high-rise community in Wolli Creek - one of NSW's most population-dense suburbs where 98% of residents live in an apartment building and lack access to renewable energy and clean transport.
"In 2016, we moved into a brand-new high-rise apartment in Wolli Creek and found that it would be difficult and costly to replace the gas stove with an induction cooktop, and that there were multiple barriers to installing electric vehicle charging in our parking space, or rooftop solar on a tall narrow building." said apartment owner Carolin Wenzel.
"The recommendations in this report go a long way to addressing the barriers we have experienced at Wolli Creek. People moving into apartments nowadays expect to have access to electric vehicle charging and not to be tied to gas hot water and cooktops," said Ms Wenzel.
"State governments should future-proof new high-rise developments and insist they include proper electrification infrastructure, without gas connections, as retro-fitting later is too complex and costly," concluded Ms Douglas.
