What is Basix?
BASIX is a sustainability measurement for NSW homes. The index was introduced in 2004 and aims to increase water recycling and reduce greenhouse gas emissions across NSW. BASIX applies to all residential dwelling types and is part of the development application process in NSW. The index includes the identification of design features that will affect households’ water and energy use. Examples of such design features are location, building size construction type and landscaping and more.
In NSW, there are BASIX requirements for water and energy usage and thermal comfort performance that apply to:
- all new residential dwellings.
- alterations and additions to dwellings that cost $50,000 or more.
- swimming pools of 40,000 litres or more.
Apart from having some real sustainability benefits, BASIX has significantly improved the quality of houses in NSW. Houses that are built to meet the BASIX standard are superior to non-BASIX certified houses. This is due to reduced household bills and an increased comfort level for people living in those houses.
As part of the development application process in NSW, the following three areas are assessed and need to meet the requirements in order to get the BASIX Certification:
Water
The goal of the Water section of BASIX is to reduce the potable water use (water safe for drinking) of all new residential developments. The water consumption in a BASIX uncertified household is 90 340 litres per person per year, or approximately 247 litres per person per day. BASIX guides how this level can be reduced.
Energy
The Energy part of the BASIX Certification aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions of all new residential dwellings.
Thermal Comfort
The goal of the Thermal Comfort section is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from artificial cooling and heating. The assessment includes good building design and use of suitable construction materials.
How Bushmans can help
Bushmans rainwater tanks are the answer to meeting the requirements of Water part of the BASIX Certification.
- By supplementing water supply to the house, a rainwater tank on an urban home can save 40% of the mains water requirement. This figure has been verified by the Department of Planning.
- Collecting stormwater in a rainwater tank, and using this water for daily household activities, saves water from the mains. Studies have demonstrated that the more rainwater water that is used daily, e.g. for laundry and toilet flushing, the better it is. Using rainwater has obvious water saving benefits, but to use the collected water consistently makes the rainwater tank more efficient too. This is because when the water is consistently used every day from the tank, there is enough capacity in the tank to harvest water during the next rainfall event.
- Rain harvesting is an effective way to capture the rainwater of a roof, even during small amounts of rainfall. A rain harvesting system is very efficient, and there is very little water lost, so even the smallest rainfall can contribute to a meaningful top up of rainwater in the tank.
- Rainwater tanks can save on your water bill; the running and maintenance cost are low. In fact, water tanks are famously easy to maintain.
If you want to read more about rainwater harvesting, click here
For more information on BASIX, click here
For Bushmans full range of rainwater tanks, click here
