RapidRate, a new artificial intelligence (AI) system, is being trialled by the CSIRO and CoreLogic Australia to predict energy efficiency for homes across Australia.
According to CSIRO, understanding home energy efficiency can assist the industry and homeowners in improving energy performance and cutting power bills, but data on home energy efficiency was restricted or not easily accessible prior to the trial.
The pilot project combines CoreLogic’s 40 years of detailed property data with CSIRO’s RapidRate artificial intelligence model to generate a heating and cooling load estimate and an energy efficiency star rating for residences.
The CSIRO’s RapidRate insights will first be provided to CoreLogic’s core banking and finance customers, with ambitions to expand to other market segments in the future.
The new AI system, according to CSIRO Chief Executive Dr Larry Marshall, is another example of the practical solutions from science that CSIRO has produced to help Australians achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
“Improving the energy efficiency of homes right around the country can reduce emissions and translate to longer-term energy and cost savings on their energy bills. Achieving net zero emissions by 2050 is one of Australia’s greatest challenges, but collaborative science and technology holds the key to creating solutions that will get us there,” Dr Marshall said.
The Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) was established in 1993 to provide a consistent technique and regulatory framework for energy ratings for new residential homes; however, CSIRO said data on homes built before NatHERS is sparse.
CoreLogic International Chief Executive Officer Lisa Claes stated that the revolutionary system has a plethora of potential economic, environmental, and societal benefits, including assisting emissions reduction and aligning with pathways to net zero by 2050.
According to Claes, there is an urgent need to fill knowledge gaps in existing property energy performance, resulting in more efficient, sustainable, and comfortable housing that costs less to operate.
“It is a thrill to be at the vanguard of revolutionising energy efficiency with Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, to use innovative technology and data, to develop a solution for one of this generation’s greatest challenges,” Claes said.
“Combining our considerable breadth and depth of knowledge and respective industry expertise gives us the power and the privilege to make a real and significant difference towards improving energy efficiency performance across the entire residential sector,” she added.
