Household energy scores are gaining traction in Australia, helping home buyers understand how much properties cost to run and revealing how much sellers have invested in efficiency upgrades.
It comes as Aussies are increasingly looking at ways to make their homes more energy efficient in a bid to cut their power bills and do their bit for the environment.
Four in five Australians indicated they already had energy efficiency features installed in their home, up 4% year-on-year, according to the 2026 realestate.com.au Residential Audience Pulse survey.
The survey, which captured the views of 2,957 participants, also revealed about 69% of Australians were planning to invest in home energy improvements within the next five years, up from 65% recorded a year ago.
Household energy scores from platforms such as VALAI are becoming a popular tool to measure home efficiency features and help people compare one property to another.
VALAI holds property-level data on more than 14 million homes across Australia, generating scores automatically without anyone visiting the property or fitting a device.
From there, homeowners can sharpen their own score by confirming details about their home and any energy efficiency upgrades through VALAI's Home Efficiency Australia website.
Australian households are increasingly looking at ways to make their homes more energy efficient. Picture: Getty
VALAI founder and chief executive Allys Todd said most people could tell you what a home costs to buy, but almost nobody could tell you what it would cost to run.
"Energy is one of the biggest ongoing costs of owning a property, yet it's been effectively invisible at the exact moment people are making their decision," Ms Todd said.
"A home efficiency score gives buyers a clear read on how a property performs before they commit, so running costs and comfort become part of the decision, not something they discover with the first bill."
It comes as REA Group - publisher of realestate.com.au - partners with VALAI to help Australians understand how a home’s energy performance compares to similar properties in the suburb.
Home energy efficiency scores are helping home buyers and sellers on their property journeys.
Under the partnership, VALAI's home efficiency scores will be added to property profiles on realestate.com.au, translating complex property energy data into a simple score out of 10 and providing a comparison to the suburb benchmark.
The score reflects a property’s energy performance taking into consideration heating, cooling, hot water, appliances and the thermal fabric of the building, with a higher score meaning lower energy consumption and running costs.
Showing the value of upgrades
Modern homes are often built with energy efficiency features such as insulation, solar panels and efficient lighting to meet today's construction standards, automatically receiving higher energy scores.
But it's a different story for older homes that have been upgraded later in life with energy efficiency features in an effort to future-proof them.
Prevalence of energy efficient features - all households
Source: realestate.com.au April 2026 Residential Pulse Survey N= 2957.
The new VALAI feature on realestate.com.au will also offer suggestions on how to improve the home’s energy efficiency, detailing estimated savings and available rebates if energy upgrades were made.
The practical steps a homeowner can consider to improve a home’s energy efficiency include adding solar and home batteries, a hot water heat pump and air conditioning.
Ms Todd said sellers have never had a way to prove the work they've put into a home.
"If you've upgraded the heating, improved the insulation or added solar, that investment shows up in lower running costs, but until now, it hasn't shown up anywhere a buyer can actually see it," she said.
Insulation was the most common home energy efficiency feature already installed in homes, according to the survey. Picture: Getty
"A score makes that work visible and comparable. For homes that perform well, it's proof.
"For homes that don't, it shows the owner exactly which upgrades would make the biggest difference before they go to market."
The hope is that the ability for homeowners to update the energy efficiency details of their own home will improve transparency and encourage others to consider their own upgrades.
Aussies want better housing energy efficiency
The rise of home energy scores comes as Australians prioritise energy efficiency more than ever, according to the Australian Home Energy report published by PropTrack and Origin Energy last month.
The report, which examined the findings from the 2026 realestate.com.au Residential Audience Pulse survey, found households planned to spend around $8,340 on energy efficiency upgrades on average over the next five years, up from the $7,950 average recorded in 2025.
Main challenges to adoption energy efficiency features
Source: realestate.com.au April 2026 Residential Pulse Survey N= 2957.
However, 43% of respondents indicated that upfront costs continued to be the biggest hurdle to adopting energy efficient features, followed by perceived lack of control (20%) and limited grants/incentives (16%).
Knowledge gaps were also holding households back, with 74% of respondents who had no understanding of energy efficiency having no plans to invest in improvements.
Eleanor Creagh, senior economist at realestate.com.au, said cost of living pressures remained front of mind for Australian households, continuing to drive interest in home energy efficiency, to help bring energy bills down.
“Despite the growing momentum for planned future investment, many households still face real barriers to taking action, with both upfront costs and a lack of understanding the key hurdles," Ms Creagh said.
“Younger Australians and renters remain the most challenged when it comes to adopting electrification, even though the long-term benefits and cost savings are significant.
"It comes as no surprise that those with a stronger understanding of energy efficiency are more likely to make updates, underscoring the importance of clear information, practical support and accessible incentives to help more Australians get started.”
The most common home energy efficiency feature was insulation, with 41% of survey participants indicating they had insulation in their homes.
One in three respondents had efficient lighting and solar power, while 23% had heat pump heating and cooling.