Exploration of Hindrances, Initiatives and Solutions for The Future Production of Zero Energy Homes in Victoria

© 2020 Yeqiu WangThis paper aims at investigating the energy status of today's conventional houses and the development of zero energy houses and exploring hindrances, initiatives and solutions for the future production of zero energy homes in Victoria, Australia. Nowadays, there is increasing global attention to built environment and energy. The Victorian government has also significantly promoted the production of zero energy houses because low-rise houses are the main type of residential buildings in Victoria, especially in regional areas. However, zero energy homes have not been mass-produced. Therefore, hindrances and barriers of builders and construction companies regarding zero energy houses shall be explored. Relevant key words are identified and focused including zero energy homes and Victorian homes to discover the current status, barriers and future trends of Victoria's zero energy housing production. The purpose of this study is to explore barriers to the development of zero energy houses in Victoria and derive appropriate initiatives and solutions for the future mass production. Detailed literature review and questionnaire will be used as research methods to collect both primary and secondary data from the various database and Victorian builders. Also, quantitative and qualitative analysis such as correlation analysis, statistical t-test and association rule mining will be used through SPSS software to find the relationship between considerations of zero energy house builders and conventional builders on the production of zero energy houses in Victoria. After comparing and discussing attitudes and perceptions of conventional builders and zero energy home builders, the results demonstrate that culture can be seen as the significant hindrance of Victorian builders today and improvement of the market value of zero energy homes is the most important initiative of the development of zero energy homes in Victoria. Compared with conventional builders, zero energy builders are more energy-conscious and willing to take proactive actions to reduce energy consumption in houses. In the future, the cooperation and efforts of multiple stakeholders to improve culture and technology will be the solution for the large-scale development of Victoria's zero energy housing