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November 8, 2012

New NABERS energy management guide released

Filed under: Buildings — Tags: — tom @ 4:02 am

The NABERS Energy Management Guide for Tenants, which is designed to help office tenants take control of their energy costs and environmental impacts, has been released.

Environment Minister, Robyn Parker has released the NABERS Energy Management Guide for Tenants, which is designed to help office tenants take control of their energy costs and environmental impacts. Parker states that the guide will assist tenants in office buildings to manage their energy use efficiently while still having the light, warmth, cooling and power needed to support their business’s operations.
“The NABERS Energy Management Guide for Tenants has been designed to give tenants control of their own energy,” Parker comments. “Given that office tenants are responsible for, and can control, around 50 percent of the energy use in their buildings there are large potential savings to be made.
“Office tenants are a diverse group; there are large and small offices, new fitouts and established tenancies. The guide provides advice for tenants for each situation, including practical advice on steps any tenant can take themselves to save energy, as well as directions on where to go for professional advice and assistance,” she adds.
The guide will complement the Office of Environment and Heritage’s recently released Energy Efficient Lighting Technology Report, which is designed to help businesses choose the right lighting upgrade through outlining the technical specifications and business case for various lighting options.
As well as practical advice, the guide also provides several real-life examples of office tenants that have achieved great savings through simple initiatives, for example:

  • Colliers achieved a four-star NABERS Energy rating through management commitment and encouraging staff to change their behaviour. The high NABERS Energy rating was achieved without the use of contemporary lighting technologies.
  • EP&T used smart metering to reduce energy consumption. In one incident site managers were able to identify and disable an override on the air-conditioning system, saving $6286 a year from one simple action.
  • A Canberra tenant used lease negotiations to obtain energy efficiency improvements from the building owner, such as improvements in base building services and lighting initiatives.
  • The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) installed high tech energy efficient lighting, increasing upfront costs but leading to greater energy savings. RICS achieved a five-star NABERS Energy tenancy rating 15 months after the installation was completed. Energy consumption was reduced by 44 percent.

The guide is available for download for free from the NABERS website.

December 21, 2011

NABERs Office Offer Greatest Workplace Value

Filed under: Buildings — Tags: , , — tom @ 4:08 am

We know that sustainable buildings are better for the environment and more often than not, the hip pocket, but can they truly offer more value to our office spaces? If the latest report by the Australian Property Institute (API) is anything to go by, those sentiments certainly ring true. With the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) showing overwhelming support for office retrofits, they may have further ammunition with the findings of this report.

In a study of over 300 New South Wales office buildings, both NABERs (206) and non-NABERs (160) rated, the findings were in complete favour of the former. The report ‘Building Better Returns’ showcases buildings in both Sydney and Canberra. 90 of the NABERs rated buildings are located in the Sydney CBD, with a further 91 in suburban Sydney and 25 in suburban Canberra.

Of the 366 buildings rated, those with a 5 star NABERs energy rating showed a 9% green premium value. When the rating dropped one to one and a half stars, the premium dropped to 2 – 3 %.

An incredibly interesting aspect of the report also showed that green premiums in buildings also reduced vacancies, reduced outgoings, reduced incentives and reduced yields, each intensified with higher levels of NABERs energy ratings.

In the final comment of the report, assessors noted the importance of sustainable office buildings to the industry, and how investigation into this growing sector is a necessary factor in gaining the best industry workplace model.

“Green office buildings are a key element in the office property landscapes in Australia, supported strongly by all stakeholders in the sustainability agenda,” the report states, “This research has been the first key step in trying to explicitly articulate and assess the premium attached to green office buildings in Australia in a rigorous manner, using internationally-accepted methodologies”.

Office spaces are some of the highest carbon emitters in this country. With the average person spending most of their life in these buildings it makes sense to get the most value out of them. The report will go a long way in convincing those who may be a little more concerned with their hip pocket rather than the environment that retrofitting energy inefficient spaces is a feasible and value driven opportunity.

The majority of the battle for promoters of green building such as the GBCA is convincing its worth to big businesses. With the aid of the report and its statistics, that battle may be over.

By Emily D’Alterio 21.12.2011

http://designbuildsource.com.au/nabers-office-offer-greatest-workplace?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=nabers-office-offer-greatest-workplace

November 23, 2011

Finding the green premium

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , — tom @ 3:06 am

AUSTRALIA’S valuers have confirmed the hype: going ”green” definitely increases the value of an office building.

In fact, the buildings that are worth the most are those that have the best energy rating, the Australian Property Institute found in a report that it said was the first rigorous assessment of green office buildings in Australia. Buildings with low energy ratings lost value.

The study, which focused on Sydney and Canberra, said office buildings with a 5 star NABERS energy rating created a premium of 9 per cent, while 3-4.5 star rating gave a 2-3 per cent premium in value. The Green Star rating showed a green premium in value of 12 per cent.

NABERS (National Australian Built Environment Rating System) measures energy and water use in existing buildings, while Green Star evaluates the environmental design and construction of buildings.

The API was the lead group for the study, which was headed by Richard Bowman, senior API committee member and a partner in real estate services with Ernst & Young. He headed a panel of experts – mainly valuers in each state – that represented big estate agents and valuations firms.

Jennifer Cunich, executive director of the Victorian division of the Property Council of Australia, said that year on year, its data indicated that green buildings were preferred over lower performing buildings.

“There are many factors that are driving green building demand such as tenants, lower operating costs, higher yields, healthier workplaces, rating tools (NABERS and Green Star), corporate social responsibility and enhanced productivity,” she said.

“Significantly, many CEOs are leading this green building race as they seek to differentiate themselves from their competitors.”

Other key findings of the API report were:

  • Lower NABERS ratings (fewer than 3 stars) showed a major discount in value in the Sydney CBD (10 per cent discount) and Canberra (13 per cent).
  • In NABERS 5 star, Canberra had the largest green premium (21 per cent), and the biggest discount (13 per cent) in the lowest NABERS energy ratings.
  • In rents, the Green Star rating had a 5 per cent green premium.
  • Big discounts in rents in the lower NABERS ratings for the Sydney CBD (9 per cent) and Canberra (6 per cent).
  • In 5 star NABERS, Sydney CBD had the largest green premium (3 per cent).
  • Green premiums were also evident in reduced vacancy, reduced outgoings, reduced incentives and smaller yields, particularly in the higher NABERS categories.

The study found green premiums in value differed in specific office markets. For 5 star NABERS, it was most evident in suburban Sydney (8 per cent green premium), Canberra (21 per cent). The impact in the Sydney CBD was less – 4 per cent.

It also found these premiums in values and rents were generally comparable to those in recent US studies.

The study evaluated 206 NABERS-rated office buildings and 160 non-NABERS buildings in Sydney and Canberra. Of these, Sydney CBD accounted for 90, Sydney suburban 91 and Canberra 25. They included premium, A, B and C grade, and 97 per cent were greater than 2000 square metres.

For Green Star, the analysis used 23 4-6 Green Star buildings for the ”office design” and ”office as built” categories, but was limited by the amount of rental information available.

The study was prompted by concern about the impact of the property industry. It said buildings contributed up to 23 per cent of carbon dioxide emissions, 40 per cent of energy requirements, 16 per cent of water usage, 30 per cent of solid landfill waste, 40 per cent of raw materials and 71 per cent of electricity consumption.

November 9, 2011

Australia Hits Mandatory Disclosure D-Day

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , — tom @ 12:19 am

The federal government’s full mandatory disclosure has finally become effective and some industry members are not happy. Those in the property industry have called the nation wide climate change move ‘risky’ and ‘premature’.

Mandatory Disclosure of Energy Efficiency in Commercial Buildings is the process whereby commercial premises (of 200 sqm or over) must disclose the energy efficiency of their space and meet higher performance energy ratings. The rating system now to be met by commercial spaces is that of the National Australian Built Environment Rating System, or NABERS rating tool.

Known as the Building Energy Efficiency Disclosure (BEED) act, the move will become the first incremental step in the federal government’s National Framework for Energy Efficiency plans, which aims to reduce energy consumptions in order to meet carbon offset goals.

In order to comply with the BEED measures; a Building Energy Efficiency Certificate (BEEC) must be obtained. The certificate verifies three elements including an energy efficiency rating, tenancy lighting assessment (lighting playing a key role in the new act) and energy efficiency opportunities. The energy efficiency rating is clear cut, with the building’s base or whole building rating to meet NABERS protocols, with lighting and energy ratings aptly certified.

The new higher levels of expected performance rating is what certain members of the industry have disagreed with, calling it ‘too much, too soon’. They have, however, had a year to get used to the idea. The proposed disclosure was presented some years ago, with the transition beginning last year. And it is not without cause. Commercial premises create up to approximately 10% of all of Australian greenhouse emissions.

It is perhaps the large fines that are truly bringing the disgruntled industry response, with initial compliance failures bringing with them up to $110,000 worth of fines, with up to $11,000 additional fees for each day that the criteria is not met.

Harsh? Perhaps. But it is difficult to denigrate a government initiative for costly fines, when adhering to the changes could save property owners from 30 – 60% on their lighting and energy costs. The move is, however, fair. It is simply not acceptable for new buildings to have to meet such rigorous energy efficiency ratings, when built spaces have to meet none.

This move has the ability to drastically cut carbon emissions in this country, as well as putting pressure on commercial building owners to stand accountable for their contribution to it.

In terms of risk, the only risk involved is if owners do not change low standards. Premature? The aforementioned year of phasing is long enough to make drastic retrofit changes.

Accountability is the key issue here. It has been a long time coming that the carbon excess blame in this country be taken out of government hands and put into the hands those who can, on the ground level, do something about it.

February 7, 2011

1 Bligh Street achieves world leadership 6 Star Green Star

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , , — tom @ 10:29 pm

1 Bligh Street achieves world leadership 6 Star Green Star and highest rating in Sydney

Co-owners of 1 Bligh Street DEXUS Property Group, DEXUS Wholesale Property Fund and Cbus Property today announced that the 1 Bligh Street office development in Sydney has been awarded a 6 Star Green Star Office Design v2 Certified rating.

1 Bligh Street has also been awarded the highest Green Star rating score in Sydney/NSW, which includes the maximum allowable five points for innovation in categories such as environmental design initiative and exceeding Green Star benchmarks.

DEXUS CEO, Victor Hoog Antink said “Every aspect of 1 Bligh Street, from Australia’s first high rise double skin facade to the unique full building height naturally ventilated atrium, is designed to optimise sustainability and tenant amenity throughout the 28 level development. As co-owners, we are delighted that our vision to deliver the next generation of sustainable office buildings has been recognised through the achievement of a world leadership 6 Star Green Star rating.”

The double skin facade system is a major contributor to the 6 Star Green Star rating and allows the energy consumption of the building to be kept at a minimum, and facilitates the energy performance to be maintained at 5 Stars NABERS Energy levels with a 42% CO2 reduction when compared to a similar sized conventional office tower.

Other innovations which contributed to 1 Bligh Street’s leading score and sustainability credentials include:

  • the solar cooling system which feeds into the tri-generation system that reduces the strain on the CBD grid infrastructure by a further 25% and provides free cooling for the building
  • the specially formulated high strength concrete used and the column design which reduces the number of columns, and therefore minimises the amount of concrete used
  • the first use of a black water recycling in a high rise office building that will save 100,000 litres of drinking water a day, equivalent to an Olympic swimming pool every two weeks
  • state-of-the-art water efficient fittings, rainwater harvesting and fire system water reuse
  • all timber and plywood used in the structure is recycled or from FSC accredited sources
  • 90% of all steel used in the project comprises more than 50% recycled content

80% of all PVC type products have been replaced with non PVC materials
Grocon CEO, Daniel Grollo, who is also a founding member of the GBCA, said he was proud that all involved had shown world leadership on this project. “This is a fantastic project in the centre of Sydney and symbolises a new way forward in sustainability features,” he said.

“The use of unique high strength concrete with a lower cement content means there is 5,768 tonnes less of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere and to date, we have recycled 37,000 tonnes or 94% of all construction waste produced on the project.”

Green Star is a comprehensive, national, voluntary environmental rating system undertaken by the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) that evaluates the environmental design and construction of buildings. The 6 Star Green Star Rating is the highest awarded by the GBCA.

“We congratulate the co-owners DEXUS Property Group, DWPF and Cbus Property for this world class achievement,” says the Chief Executive of the GBCA, Romilly Madew. “Achieving five innovation points (out of five) reflects that 1 Bligh Street is a truly ground-breaking green building. Following DEXUS’s 123 Albert Street in Brisbane receiving a 6 Star Green Star and DEXUS’s/Cbus Property’s pursuit for sustainability throughout their respective portfolios, 1 Bligh Street further confirms the co-owners’ commitment to sustainability and green building innovation.”

When 1 Bligh Street is completed in May 2011 the building will provide a new benchmark for sustainable office space. 1 Bligh will provide the highest levels of tenant amenity including spectacular views in all directions, in particular, the premium northern aspect over Sydney Harbour and Circular Quay.

The unique full height atrium and elliptical shaped floor plates enables 74% of the building to be within 8m of either the facade or the atrium, providing large amounts of natural light into the building and spectacular views in all directions. Occupying a premium corporate address in the heart of Australia’s financial capital, 1 Bligh will be a striking new addition to the Sydney skyline.
For further information contact:

DEXUS/DWPF/Cbus: Emma Parry 0421 000 329
Grocon: Jane Wilson 0407 831 456

Published at http://www.gbca.org.au/media-centre/industry-news/1-bligh-street-achieves-world-leadership-6-star-green-star/2878.htm 29/3/2010