A national insulation certification scheme has been introduced to deal with the continuing flood of non-compliant products and services into Australia.
The Insulation Australasia (IA) scheme is based on the premise that all insulation products should be third party certified and compliant to Building Code of Australia standards to ensure products are fit for purpose.
IA is a product agnostic industry association representing Australian and New Zealand insulation manufacturers, wholesalers, importers, fabricators and installers as a single voice to government, the public and the building and construction industry.
It represents all insulation product types currently available in the Trans-Tasman region.
IA chair Scott Gibson said the crucial issue of non-compliant building products and services has been compromising the entire Australian building industry for the past 20 years, which is why the introduction of this scheme was a matter of urgency.
Gibson said the Australian insulation industry is currently riddled with non-compliant product in the aftermath of the Home Insulation Program.
“Unfortunately certified product compliance in our industry is the exception not the rule, so Insulation Australasia sees itself playing a crucial role on behalf of Australian regulators in delivering industry-wide self-regulation of all insulation products and installation services,” he said.
“With no mandatory third party certification program in place until now, the industry is susceptible to fraud through unscrupulous trading companies and manufacturers who misrepresent performance, doctor certificates and counterfeit compliance logos and industry accreditation.
“Furthermore, this jeopardises the jobs and livelihoods of those legitimate industry participants who do manufacture, supply and install insulation products that do meet Australian and New Zealand product and installation standards.”
The issue was first identified at the Housing Industry Association’s (HIA) industry summit in Sydney.
HIA participants said inconsistent compliance regulations promote an uneven playing field between ethical manufacturers that comply with standards and those manufacturers and importers who take advantage of the lax regulatory framework.
“It’s clear that manufacturers who do the right thing are being disadvantaged against those that neither invest in producing products that meet Australian standards or programs to demonstrate compliance,” Gibson said.
“After the belting this industry wrongfully received in Australia following the Home Insulation Program of 2009/10, our members’ primary aim is to restore faith in the industry.”
IA want to promote the fact that correctly installed insulation products have a meaningful and cost effective contribution to make to energy efficiency.
“When you consider that insulation, above all other components of a building, has the most significant impact on energy consumption over the life of that building, you would expect a strict regulatory environment in Australia around its manufacture and installation,” he said.
“Sadly, this is not the case and Insulation Australasia has identified that this needs to change to ensure both consumer protection and a sustainable industry.
“With energy prices expected to rise by as much as 40 per cent over the next five years, there’s an increasing urgency to continue to improve the regulatory environment around building insulation products and installation, particularly given that about 60 per cent of Australian homes are still inadequately insulated.”
(This figure is from the Australian Bureau of Statistics ‘Australia’s Environment Issues & Trends Special Issue - January 2010.’)
The good news is that due to the impact of energy-wasting, non-compliant ducts, numerous regulatory bodies including the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) are beginning to take notice and respond to the issue of non-compliant flexible ducts.
The industry has been busy pushing for tighter monitoring and policing of product compliance, as well as reforms to the way products are assessed.
Survey results
A random survey of nine commercially available insulated flexible duct products in Australia found all samples failed to comply with mandatory energy efficiency performance standards.
The survey, which was entitled ‘A Survey of Thermal Performance of Flexible Duct’, was commissioned by the peak industry body Insulation Australasia (IA) Ltd.
The report involved a scientific analysis of nine ‘like’ samples of insulated flexible duct products with claimed thermal efficiency ratings (R-values) of R1.0, which is the legislated national minimum requirement.
Testing was conducted at CSIRO Infrastructure Technologies, Thermal Test laboratory. Results demonstrated an average R-value of just R0.763 (m2K/W) with a standard deviation of 0.10 (m2K/W), significantly below the claimed targets of R1.0.
The best performing sample achieved R0.957 (m2K/W), the worst R0.625 (m2K/W).
IA director Warrick Batt welcomed the report, calling on all manufacturers and installers to be aware of the consequences of allowing non-compliant products to enter the market.
“Whenever poor quality or non-compliant product is used, the entire sector is tarnished. Low standards adopted by rogue operators diminish the credibility of reputable manufacturers undermine price points and threaten ongoing research and product development,” he said.
More information: www.insulationaustralasia.org