If I use double glazed windows will that increase my home to a 5 star level ?
Not necessarily. The type of glazing and framing system used, the area of glass and the direction faced impacts on the rating. A blanket use of 'double glazed' windows may in some circumstances even lead to a decrease in points with the incorrect glazing type. The important factor is the area of glass, the direction faced and the type of glass and framing used. This should be discussed with your Building Designer at the initial design stage.

What if my home design can't reach the required energy level ?
There are not many situations where designs could not be elevated to a 4 or 5 Star efficiency level. Some situations, may involve more compromising or cost than others but 4 or 5 star is achievable in all but extreme situations.
For example where very large unprotected glass areas are facing west, the 'window score' will be lowered significantly. It may mean that the glass area needs to be reduced, external summer shading provided or alternative glazing methods employed such as double glazing. It may be a better alternative to 'boost' other areas of the home to compensate. The star rating and final points score is on the overall not individual items.

How do the points relate to the Star Rating ?
Victoria is divided into several climate zones for the purposes of assessment. The point scores required will vary depending upon the location of the home.
In temperate areas such as Melbourne 1 star is in the points range of minus 100 to minus 82, 1.5 stars minus 81 to minus 63, 2 stars minus 62 to minus 46, 2.5 stars minus 45 to minus 29, 3 stars minus 28 to minus 20, 3.5 stars minus 19 to minus 11, 4 stars minus 10 to minus 3, 4.5 stars minus 2 to 6, and 5 stars 7 plus
In a warmer zone such as Mildura 5 stars would be achieved with a point score of 3 plus.
In Alpine areas 5 stars would require better than 34 points.

I am looking to buy a display home advertised as being 5 Star to have built on my land. is this OK ?
Possibly. Before paying any deposit or signing any contracts ensure that the particular design will still achieve 5 Star on your site. If not, ask to be shown what modifications are required and how much they will cost. To date we have only had 2 situations where, due to the particular site orientation, designs had to be modified so heavily that the initial features that attracted the owners were lost.

Does having a timber floor make it harder to achieve 5 Star ?
The flooring, as with any part of the 'envelope' of the home, plays a large part in the points determination and standard 'strip flooring' does not rate as high as a concrete slab on ground system.
For example on an assessment that we have picked at random where the slab floor was rated at plus 15 points, changing it to a timber floor with an enclosed perimeter, as would be the case in a brick veneer home, the points score drops to plus 1.
Including R2.0 subfloor insulation increases the points to plus 8.
In another example a slab floor rated at plus 11 dropped to plus 1 with an enclosed timber floor and increased to plus 5 with the inclusion of R2.0 batts.
These point scores should not be taken as across the board figures as varying cladding types, window sizes and locations etc interrelate with each other to produce the overall rating points score, but it does show the variation.
Homes designed with timber floors have a concession until April 30 2006 where they are only required to achieve 4 Stars.

Will it cost me more to build a 5 Star home ?
Unlike some building industry experts, we believe in the main it will.
By how much will depend on individual designs and sites.
On the other side of the ledger, living in a 5 star home will be a far better experience compared to the average 2.5 star homes of previous years.

What is a 6 Star Energy Level ?
With the updated version of the FirstRate software raters are able to obtain points scores in excess of the original 5 star level   i.e. Melbourne 6 stars = 19 points