COAG has agreed that a national scheme for reporting energy efficiency in the commercial office market is required. This will have significant ramifications for property owners. As part of the National Framework for Energy Efficiency, the Building Energy Efficiency Disclosure Bill passed in June 2010.

Initially, only Class 5 office buildings will be required to disclose the energy efficiency upon sale or lease of the whole building, tenancy or sublease space greater than 2,000m2. During the transitional period from October 2010 to October 2011, the only requirement will be the disclosure of a valid NABERS Energy base or whole building rating.

After that time, all prospective tenants or buyers must be provided with a Building Energy Efficiency Certificate (BEEC) which:

• is valid for one year and summarises the performance of the building through a NABERS Energy rating, as well as an assessment of the lighting efficiency of the building
• includes suggestions on how to improve the energy efficiency of the building

The first NABERS Office Energy base building star rating assessment can take time and it is strongly advisable for building owners to start preparing now for the introduction of this measure.

Davis Langdon has in-house NABERS Assessors with the capacity to perform NABERS assessments, provide strategic advice to improve your building or tenancy, while managing the costs. Early preparation is vital in order to reduce any future unexpected costs.

In Sydney our NABERS Assessors are Doug Rayment and Marcel Frei, our Melbourne Assessors are Adam Holland and David McGregor and our Adelaide Assessor is Jared Toms.