Proptech Aus announces Australian-first data standard for energy efficiency features

The Proptech Energy Efficiency Features Standard is an industry-led, voluntary property attribute standard.

Key residential property technology businesses agreeing to adopt a trusted, research-backed set of energy efficiency property attributes into their tech platforms and solutions.

An important collaborative initiative to provide more comprehensive property information, insights and experiences for their real estate customers and consumers at key decision-making moments

Backed by the Proptech Australia, the peak body for the property technology sector, this is an Australian- first data standard from the property technology sector.

With a mandate to support Australians to make the best property choices by enabling a key set of energy efficiency property attributes to be identified, verified and showcased across the residential property experience.

With cost-of-living concerns impacting all Australians, this standard will enable visibility for a key cluster of residential energy efficiency property attributes at point of sale or rent. It will enable them to be showcased consistently across all property touchpoints and empower more refined property and market insights from key Proptech data organisations.

It will also deliver alignment across proptech platforms and solutions for these key energy efficiency features. With the majority of real estate agency employing a bespoke technology stack this helping to drive energy literacy and eliminate fragmentation and confusion from one platform to the other.

Kylie Davis, President of Proptech Australia

“The energy efficiency standard is the most significant and game changing initiative in Australian proptech and real estate in decades. It demonstrates how a collaborative approach and common standards can both simplify workloads for proptechs and elevate the client experience for home buyers, renters and owners. This is a step change for the industry that will positively impact the quality of homes - and how we live in them - for generations to come.”

Proptech and the power of property attributes

Individual energy efficiency features in a home have the potential to deliver a more comfortable with less ongoing costs.

It is vitally important that the property technology sector align to this new perspective on residential property as property “quality” is now resetting with a view of ongoing affordability and comfort of a property.

“Energy efficiency features need be visible in property marketing, management and insights. Building consistency with these features in property experiences will deliver multiple benefits - collaboration is the key to simply and effectively driving change in the right direction to deliver better homes for all Australians”

With cost-of living pressures impacting all Australian Energy efficiency features in homes are set to drive a new value proposition in residential real estate.

Perceptions of value in The property market are moving from what a house HAS, to what a house CAN DO FOR YOU - ongoing affordability and more comfortable all year round. Its vitally important we clean up our property attributes align and collaborate for the sake of all Australian

Cecille Weldon, Project Lead

Specialist Advisor Proptech Assoc

Director Weldonco Advisory

Good News for the Real Estate sector and Consumers

At the agency level, they are embedded in property marketing, delivering efficiencies in property services and underpinning the end-to-end engagement process which lies behind the face-to-face interactions between agency staff and buyers and renters.

Property technology has become essential to managing the customer journey. This includes buying and selling, renting, investing, campaign creation and management, and property inspection and maintenance solutions, through to managing transactions.

Some emerging proptechs are now offering additional carbon reporting, energy efficiency and energy performance reporting, and property upgrade support.

At the consumer level, property listing portals remain an essential part of the process of buying and selling, and renting.

The way properties are showcased utilises the language of “property features” to help consumers make comparisons quickly and easily. This approach can influence the way a property is “seen” because it will highlight certain features while leaving out others.

This visibility of particular property features has a currency all of its own, driving perceptions of value – such as “European appliances” or “Caesarstone benchtops”.

However, when it comes to energy efficiency features, there is a lack of visibility, consistency across CRM and listing portals. As a result, confusion around naming protocols, and ambiguity in the way energy efficiency features are treated, undermine the customer experience.

These property features in a home can make a difference to people’s lives, delivering the potential for important lifestyle benefits, such as reduced running cost and a more comfortable home.

For the Proptech sector, our platforms and solutions underpin the whole property lifecycle and enable property professionals, businesses and consumers to engage in every touchpoint of the property journey.

We have a responsibility to ensure the quality of the property attributes we collect, manage, report and showcase because energy efficiency features really matter.

Research-backed

CSIRO has recently published key research with a focus on the current state of play of energy efficiency features in proptech platforms and solutions. It can be found here: “Property Attribute Standard for Energy Efficiency Features, Evaluation of current status and recommendations” by Lygia Romanach 

This baseline research reviewed a year’s worth of listing data from Proptrack/REA in relation to a cluster of seven energy efficiency features. The findings highlighted how agents and consumers are confused in the backend of property technology about these property attributes. It further investigated the importance of a consistent approach to energy efficiency features in property marketing. 

The research provides important independent research validation for the need for Energy Efficiency Features Standard for property technology. Here’s an excerpt from the executive summary:

"In terms of the property listing description text, the study found that a wide range of often generic terminology is used when disclosing energy efficiency information. This is problematic as it brings ambiguity and hinders consumers’ capacity to build their literacy on residential energy efficiency, compare properties and make an informed decision when buying and/or leasing a property. 

“To make energy efficiency features’ information clearer and more concise, and facilitate consumer action, the findings of this study suggest that it would be beneficial to standardise how energy efficiency information is provided in property listings. It is also imperative that real estate professionals do use the property attribute list when including information about a property on the platform. To that end, this study makes a first attempt to provide recommendations to improve the disclosure of residential energy efficiency information within property listings for the seven features investigated in this study. These recommendations could be used to inform further conversations within the real estate industry to refine and develop standardised industry." 

Timeline for the development of the Energy Efficiency Features Standard

The first stage, which launched in January 2025, is the agreement to collaborate. This is an important milestone, as the Proptech sector is commercially competitive.

A key group of proptechs have signed up as Founding Signatories to the Proptech Energy Efficiency Features Standard. 

They encompass both large and influential proptech companies, as well as emerging residential proptechs. They are:

• Data – Cotality (formerly CoreLogic), Proptrack, Valocity, Domain Insights, REIP, Little Hinges, Capture3D. 

• Portals – realestate.com, domain.com, view.com.au.

• CRM Solutions – MRI Software, Sell Smart.

• Property inspection, maintenance, upgrade – Sensor Global, Milk Chocolate, Proptech Labs, 360 Property services, Tapi.

• Affordability and finance – Real Flow. 

• Lifestyle and Community – Erin Living Technologies. 

• Home efficiency and energy – Hubble, Intellihub, Evitat, Val.ai

The second stage is the development and delivery of the list of Energy Efficiency Features that will comprise the Standard itself.  The standard will align with 8 key criteria.

The first feature –  a data set and explanatory notes – was delivered to each of the signatories in the first quarter 2025 to enable readiness for the standard and to allow each company’s internal teams to contribute to the standard.

The complete list of features is due to be sent to signatories with explanatory notes by the standard’s Advisory Committee by the end of June, 2025.

The final stage will be the integration of the energy efficiency property attributes into their proptech platforms.

Sign up to join the collaboration here

For more information

www.proptechfeaturesstandard.au