Water heating, space heating and cooling, home energy rating assessment and pre-rinse spray valve updates

29 June 2023

The Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action released the Victorian Energy Upgrades (VEU) Specifications 2018 - Version 15.0 (VEU Specifications) which came into effect on 31 May 2023.  We released updates to the VEU registry and the commission’s guidance documents and forms to reflect the amendment of the above instrument on the 31 May 2023. 

We have now released updated guidance documents and forms to incorporate further changes to reflect the updated activity requirements in the VEU Specifications. We have also made changes to the Appliance Activity Guide in response to stakeholder feedback on the activity’s eligible baseline condition. 

Changes to commercial and industrial heat pump water heater (activity 44) documents

The VEU Specifications made a change to the scenario numbering for commercial and industrial heat pump water heater activity (activity 44) from activity scenarios 44A, 44B and 44C to activity scenarios 44A(i), 44A(ii) and 44A(iii). No changes were made to the activity definitions beyond updating how it is referenced to bring the scenario numbering protocol in line with other activities in the VEU Specifications.

All commercial and industrial heat pump water heater documents have been updated to reflect the updated scenario numbering:

• Commercial and Industrial Heat Pump Water Heater Activity Guide
• Commercial and Industrial Air Source Heat Pump Water Heater Product Application Guide
• Commercial and Industrial Heat Pump Water Heater Product Application Form
• VEEC Assignment Form Template: Commercial and Industrial Heat Pump Water Heater Activity Business and Non-Residential premises

Other updates have been made to the Commercial and Industrial Air Source Heat Pump Water Heater Product Application Guide to:

• provide further clarification on accreditation requirements of laboratories
• clarify requirements for AS/NZS 5125 test reports. 
• require information relating to certification of components to AS/NZS 2712 where the storage volume of the heater is more than 700L

Other updates have been made to the Commercial and Industrial Heat Pump Water Heater Activity Guide to:

• reflect the prohibition on claiming certificates under VEU program and the Commonwealth’s Renewable Energy Target Scheme
• reflect minor updates to document, including clarification of EPA’s waste management requirement.  These updates do not reflect a substantive change to the guide’s content.  

All updated commercial and industrial heat pump water heating documents are able to be downloaded from the commission website.  Accredited persons must select the updated activity scenario numbers of 44A(i), 44A(ii) or 44A(iii) when making a creation claim for activities undertaken from 31 May 2023 (see updated VEEC creation form for the activity)

Changes to Water Heating and Space Heating and Cooling Activity Guide

We have made amendments to the Water Heating and Space Heating and Cooling Activity Guide, including:

• Amendment to the record-keeping requirement for water heating activities to include geotagged photographs of the installed product (as per previous requirement)
• Amendment to the record-keeping requirement for space heating and cooling activities to include geotagged photographs of the brand, model and serial number of the installed product (not required for activity 28) (as per previous requirement)
• Clarification of the eligible premises requirement for all activity 6 scenarios to only apply where activities involve decommissioning. 

Changes to VEEC assignment form for home energy rating assessment activity (activity 45)

We have released an updated VEEC assignment form for the home energy rating assessment activity to include consent by the consumer for sharing of information by the commission with the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action. 

Changes to Appliance Activity Guide

We have made the following amendments to the Appliance Activity Guide further to stakeholder queries and feedback on the eligible baseline environment for the water efficient pre-rinse spray valve activity (activity 36):

• Amendment to the record-keeping requirement for activity 36 to include geotagged photographs of:
  • the installation environment before the product is installed (including existing product replaced if applicable); and
  • the installed product after installation.

Public Register Information

For accredited persons approved to undertake water heating and space heating and cooling activities, we will be adding the following activities to the public register page on the VEU Registry of your account:

• Activity 3C – Water heating – Heat pump replacing gas
• Activity 3D – Water heating – Electric boosted solar replacing gas
• Activity 6(23) – Space heating and cooling – High efficiency air conditioner.

Please review your updated public register page after 1 July to assess if you would like to update the relevant consumer facing information for your organisation.

VEU Registry outage

We will be updating the VEU Registry to implement changes to the system on Friday, 30 June. As a result, the VEU Registry will not be available from 7pm to 9pm on 30 June. 

Where to get help

Contact the Victorian Energy Upgrades program support team if you have any questions about this update by either:

• phone (03) 9032 1310
• email veu@esc.vic.gov.au.