This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
THE NABERS program has invited the property industry to start up a discussion on extending the traditional five-star rating scale.
NSW Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water (DECCW) Acting Built Environment Manager Mark Davis has released a paper canvassing industry views on extending the NABERS Energy for Offices rating scale to six or seven stars.
“When the NABERS Energy rating scale was created 10 years ago, we thought five stars was the best any building could be possibly be. It was an aspirational target.
“A decade on, technology and management practices in the property sector have improved greatly, helped by the reliability of NABERS as a measure. Today, approximately 5% of buildings are achieving five star ratings and some developments are already targeting beyond five stars.
“As a result, DECCW is seeking industry and stakeholder input into the evolution of the NABERS Energy tool,” he added.
DECCW administers the national NABERS environmental performance benchmarking tools on behalf of all other Australian governments.
Davis said the new stretch goals are being driven by both the industry and the NABERS national steering committee to ensure that NABERS continues to offer tools which drive and measure innovation. Any change will be implemented across the three types of NABERS Energy ratings for offices: base building, tenancy and whole building ratings.
Davis said there are currently no buildings that would achieve seven stars and perhaps eight around Australia that may reach beyond the existing five.
“One of the issues of concern for industry is that a 7-star benchmark may diminish the significant achievement of today’s commendable 4.5 or 5 star rating. However, introducing a 7-star scale at this stage will mean that industry only has to contend with one change which establish aspirational targets for zero-emission buildings and it will provide certainty to the marketplace for the long-term,” he continued.
Davis said to cater for future building technologies and the zero emission building, while limiting the impact on the tool’s existing markets, the position paper canvasses three options:
ï‚· Recalibrating the current 5 star rating scale
ï‚· Extend to 6 stars in early 2011, introducing the seventh star in the future as needed
ï‚· Extend to 7 stars in early 2011.
NABERS is seeking industry input on the proposed changes. A decision is planned by early 2011.
Australian Property Journal
