CoreLogic Asia Pacific (CoreLogic) and Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, have introduced RapidRate, an innovative tool designed to estimate the energy efficiency performance of Australia’s 11 million residential properties.
This groundbreaking program harnesses CoreLogic’s extensive property data spanning four decades and integrates it with CSIRO’s advanced RapidRate artificial intelligence model. The result is an accurate estimation of each home’s energy performance rating, crucial for understanding heating and cooling costs as well as the associated carbon footprint.
Since its pilot program announcement in 2023, insights gleaned from pilot participants and collaboration with banking industry stakeholders have significantly shaped the development of this energy efficiency platform.
Lisa Claes, CoreLogic International Chief Executive Officer, highlighted the strong industry interest in RapidRate, underscoring a genuine demand for deeper insights into property-level energy performance:
By enriching property data with energy performance metrics, banks and lenders can effectively analyze and report on their climate commitments tied to their property portfolios. RapidRate fills critical data gaps, promoting more efficient, sustainable, and cost-effective housing solutions.
Revolutionizing Home Energy Assessment
CSIRO’s RapidRate AI tool is engineered to assess dwelling energy efficiency with minimal user input. Leveraging factors like floor area, orientation, and construction materials, RapidRate employs advanced machine learning to generate a star rating aligned with the Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS).
Melissa James, Senior Experimental Scientist at CSIRO, emphasized the versatility of RapidRate when integrated with CoreLogic’s property data:
“RapidRate transforms CoreLogic’s property data into actionable insights about home energy efficiency. Understanding the energy performance of Australian homes is foundational to enhancing their overall performance, making them healthier, more comfortable, cost-effective to operate, and environmentally friendly.”
Melissa James, Senior Experimental Scientist at CSIRO
Banking Sector Benefits from Enhanced Insights
Enhanced energy efficiency insights empower the banking sector with invaluable tools to mitigate risks, enhance sustainability, and align with global climate commitments across housing portfolios.
Tom Coad, Head of Banking & Finance Solutions at CoreLogic, highlighted RapidRate as a pivotal tool for enhancing financial records with previously inaccessible information:
“Banks and lenders recognize the need for insights into energy efficiency to manage portfolio segmentation and mitigate risks, while also establishing a baseline for ongoing performance tracking to meet compliance requirements. Continuous data acquisition through RapidRate supports climate transition planning, financial emissions reporting, and development of customer-centric solutions. It ensures financial institutions remain at the forefront of residential energy transition, optimizing strategies for their clients.”
Tom Coad, Head of Banking & Finance Solutions at CoreLogic
Coad emphasized that the launch of NatHERS-aligned energy efficiency star ratings through RapidRate marks the initial step toward creating a comprehensive data-driven ecosystem.
The banking and finance sector is proactive and deeply committed to understanding the energy efficiency of their property portfolios, empowering them to assist clients in reducing their carbon footprints. This partnership with CSIRO opens new avenues in the fight against climate change, paving the way for future capabilities such as Whole-of-Home appliance modules. Each enhancement will contribute to ongoing improvements in housing stock energy performance.
This initiative marks a significant advancement in leveraging data and technology to drive sustainable practices in the real estate sector, positioning Australia at the forefront of global efforts to enhance property energy efficiency.
