How community housing providers can prioritise energy efficiency upgrades

Community housing organisations across Victoria face growing pressure to cut energy costs for renters, lift comfort, and prepare stock for electrification and the state’s rental minimum energy efficiency standards. Funding rounds come and go. The question that matters between rounds is simple: which homes should be upgraded first?

A strategic, evidence-based approach helps providers put money where it will move the needle — and builds a stronger case for the next grant application. This guide sets out how we help community housing providers prioritise upgrades across a portfolio.

Why prioritisation matters

Most portfolios mix ages, construction types and performance levels. Without a shared view of how each dwelling performs, upgrade funding can land on homes that only improve a little, while colder, leakier, high-bill homes wait. That wastes scarce capital and disappoints renters who needed the work most.

Victoria’s Energy Efficiency in Social Housing Program (EESHP), delivered with Commonwealth Social Housing Energy Performance Initiative (SHEPI) support, has already driven large public and community housing upgrade volumes. The Community Housing Upgrades Stream has supported measures such as reverse-cycle air conditioning, ceiling insulation, draughtproofing, induction cooking, hot-water heat pumps and rooftop solar. Grant rounds and co-contribution rules change — providers should check the current Homes Victoria / DEECA guidelines before applying.

Whatever the round, assessors and funders look for a clear story: which homes, why those homes, and what outcome you expect. Prioritisation is that story.

Start with how each property performs

Before choosing products, understand the baseline:

• Portfolio review — age, construction, services (gas vs electric), known maintenance issues, and any prior upgrade history.
• Existing Home NatHERS — an accredited existing-home rating (we hold Existing Home Energy Assessor number NEH-2025-00026) that shows thermal performance in stars, not just a gut feel.
• Airtightness — a blower door test by an ATTMA accredited tester (#13381) finds air leakage that insulation alone will not fix.
• Feature check against rental standards — heating, cooling, hot water, showerheads, ceiling insulation and draughtproofing under Victoria’s rules from 2027 (see our rental standards checklist and rental energy efficiency page).

We model ratings in HERO where a NatHERS pathway is used, and we can connect a measured blower door result to the rating conversation so upgrades are planned against real leakage, not an assumed default.

Identify high-priority properties

Homes often rise to the top of the list when they:

• were built before modern insulation practice, or have little or no ceiling insulation
• have poor thermal comfort reports from renters (cold in winter, hot in summer)
• rely on ageing gas appliances heading for end-of-life
• show significant air leakage on a blower door test
• house priority or vulnerable renter groups for whom bill shock and health risk are highest

Older, poorly performing homes often deliver the biggest step-change because they start from a lower baseline. That does not mean ignoring newer stock — it means ranking honestly.

Build a property prioritisation matrix

One of the most effective tools for a housing portfolio is a simple prioritisation matrix. Score each dwelling (or archetype) on factors such as:

• Building performance — Existing Home NatHERS result, insulation gaps, glazing condition
• Airtightness — measured ACH50 / permeability and leak severity
• Services risk — age and fuel of heating, cooling and hot water; electrification readiness
• Renter need — vulnerability, high energy hardship, health-related comfort needs
• Upgrade potential — how much comfort and bill outcome a realistic package can deliver
• Delivery practicality — access, heritage or owners corporation constraints, vacancy windows

Weight the factors to match your organisation’s policy (for example, heavier weight on renter vulnerability). The output is a ranked list you can defend to a board, a funder or a delivery partner — not a spreadsheet of hunches.

Match upgrades to the evidence

Once homes are ranked, package works to the findings:

• ceiling insulation and draught sealing where the envelope is the problem
• efficient reverse-cycle heating and cooling where appliances fail the rental standards or comfort tests
• heat-pump hot water where gas storage is at end of life
• solar PV where roofs, orientation and metering support it
• deeper fabric upgrades only where the NatHERS and leak findings justify the cost

For new community housing builds and major alterations, the same discipline applies on the design side: NatHERS and Whole of Home modelling in HERO (assessor DMN/11/2035), and — where you want the finished home checked against the model — As-Built Verification inside our Verified package (Essential / Preferred / Verified), including measured blower door results rather than an assumed default.

Measure outcomes

Funders increasingly ask what changed after the spend. Keep before-and-after evidence: NatHERS where used, blower door results, appliance schedules, and renter feedback on comfort and bills. Properties assessed with a consistent method are easier to report on — and easier to put forward in the next funding round.

Geokal is a Victorian family business (Melton area, statewide). We assess; we do not sell the upgrade products. That keeps the prioritisation advice independent of who installs the insulation or the heat pump.