Energy Cheats and NSW Homes

From the weekend Sydney Morning Herald:
ENERGY efficiency in NSW homes is becoming riddled with cheating and mistakes, and NSW is falling behind other states in terms of smart power use, the industry body for measuring energy performance says.
The Association of Building Sustainability Assessors says the introduction of online ''do-it-yourself'' measurement kits for home owners has led to widespread errors under the state's Building Sustainability Index, known as BASIX.
The government said the claim was unfounded, and that NSW performed equal to or better than other states in terms of energy efficiency, and in any case it was the building assessors' job to detect cheatsRead more: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/energy-smart/claims-of-cheating-and-mistakes-in-energy-use-20110902-1jq66.html#ixzz1X7nkuQ75
No direct state-by-state comparison is possible due to a lack of recent data, along with different measurement methods.
The body said the introduction of a free online tool for measuring household energy performance meant thousands of people completing their BASIX certificates online were being misled by green claims. NSW should participate in the national ''six star'' system for energy ratings, it said.
''I see a lot of clients [who] need to get compliance, so they'll tick the fluorescent lighting box because that's a cheap and easy one but they have no intention of keeping the fluoros in there,'' said Tracey Cools, the managing director of Efficient Living, an energy certifier. ''But they'll put them in at the time the certifier comes in there and does the check, and then they'll go back and put their halogens in because that's what they want … There's a lot of cheating that goes on around the DIY system.''
People are being led to believe they are building energy efficient homes but standards were higher in the rest of the country, she said. ''We're a huge way behind the rest of Australia.''
The policy manager of the association, Ross Maher, said there were many anecdotal reports of errors, including fundamental ones such as incorrect floor areas being given for houses, , suggesting a less-than-rigorous approach to filling out BASIX assessments.