And that isn’t the only reason to look at improving your buildings “green” credentials. Many commercial property owners are looking for ways to make their building greener as there is a trend with tenants towards favoring buildings with higher NABERS ratings.

 What is NABERS?

The National Australian Built Environment Rating is a performance based rating system for buildings in Australia, based on the building’s environmental impacts from all aspects of their operations.

It provides tenants and owners with an in-depth report about how well they manage their resources to minimise impacts on the environment. The NABERS rating system also includes ratings for offices, households, hotels, hospitals and the transport sector.
Currently the NABERS rating has been extended to six stars in response to improved energy efficient technology, which now allows buildings to perform better than the previous highest rating of 5 stars. The exclusive 6 star achievements also acknowledge those companies who are providing the highest level of leadership in environmental preservation.

NABERS Ratings for Office Spaces

Carbon emissions from the country’s buildings and commercial spaces are growing in an alarming rate of 4% annually and contribute significantly to the national carbon emissions.

To address the growing problem the NABERS office rating was launched in 1998 to deliver assistance for both office space owners and tenants to reduce their carbon emissions and their overhead production costs through energy saving measures and efficiency.

By observing NABERS’ guidelines building owners and tenants can reduce 20 to 40% of their current energy consumption and save significant amounts of carbon emissions as well, not to mention huge savings on their energy bills.

NABERS Today

The country’s property industry has embraced the idea of a growing low carbon economy with its higher demand for energy efficiency in buildings and commercial spaces. The industry has acknowledged the fact that tenants are seeking spaces with better ratings to save money on electricity and boost production with reduced overheads.
The impending mandatory implementation of a scaled NABERS rating will no doubt bring further “green” building innovations, focusing on energy and water conservation through a number of means. Currently Canberra has already implemented a mandatory minimum rating of 4.5 stars for government tenants and multinational companies as part of their goal to bring down the city’s carbon emissions.

According to the director of a well known real estate firm, soon high energy efficient building standards will the norm, with non-green buildings struggling to keep up with their competition in terms of lease fees and tenancies.

We are exploring these fields as part of the expanding business of Eclipse Solar, should you require more information on this topic please contact us on enquiries@eclipsesolar.com.au