24 August 2011 – Australian buildings are becoming so much more efficient that the NABERS rating scale has been extended from 5 to 6 Stars.
NABERS is a national rating program, administered by the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage. It includes tools for Energy, Water, Waste and Indoor Environment.
The new 6 Star rating was launched by Office of Environment and Heritage’s chief executive Lisa Corbyn recently. Corbyn says the extra star acknowledges that the Australian property industry is reaching a standard previously considered beyond world‟s best practice.
“In the 10 years since the NSW Government introduced the first environmental performance rating for offices, Australian commercial buildings have become so much more efficient the time has come to introduce a sixth star,” Corbyn says.
“This is a move that was called for by top performers in the commercial property industry who are already moving beyond NABERS 5 Star excellence towards a market-leading 6 Star goal.
“It reflects an ongoing improvement in the environmental performance of Australian buildings over the past 10 years, underpinned by the robustness of the NABERS tool as a performance measure.”
Ms Corbyn says office buildings using NABERS to measure and manage energy and water use demonstrated improved greenhouse performance by an average 11.5 percent and water efficiency by 9 per cent.
STRONG UPTAKE
Sixty percent of Australian office space has been rated with NABERS Energy, 68 percent in NSW. Around five percent of rated buildings are currently achieving a 5 Star rating, set as an aspirational target in 2000. A 6 Star rating will be awarded for ‘market leading performance’, and will represent a 50 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions or water use from 5 Stars.
More information
Office of Environment & Heritage www.environment.nsw.gov.au
NABERS www.nabers.com.au