The Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) and the former Australian Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (DEWHA) developed this Handbook to assist users with the application and understanding of the National Construction Code (NCC) Volume One energy efficiency provisions.

The objective of this Handbook is to provide details of the current energy efficiency requirements of NCC Volume One. This Handbook aims to provide practitioners with sufficient knowledge to successfully apply energy efficiency requirements at the design, approval and construction stages of the building process.

The Handbook has a practical focus. In addition to giving adequate theoretical knowledge, the Handbook is intended to provide an understanding of the policy objectives and the technical basis of the NCC requirements. This will enable practitioners to manage a range of situations where different design and assessment tools are needed.

The Handbook is structured to first provide the reader with an understanding of important terms and terminology used in the energy efficiency requirements of NCC Volume One and an overall introduction to the concept of energy efficiency.

The following chapters will provide the reader with an understanding of the performance based NCC series and its position in the overall building regulatory hierarchy. The remaining chapters of the Handbook are generally focussed on describing the intent of the energy efficiency Deemed-to-Satisfy (DtS) Provisions in Section J of NCC Volume One as well as providing examples where relevant