NABERS is excited to partner with the Commonwealth Government to offer customers fee-free ratings for a year from 1 July 2020 in selected sectors across the country. The offer includes all NABERS ratings, new and renewing across Energy, Water, Waste, Indoor Environment and Climate Active Carbon Neutral (if offered in the sector).
Eligible sectors include:
- all apartment buildings ratings
- all hotels ratings
- all data centres ratings
- all shopping centres ratings, and
- office buildings and tenancy ratings smaller than 1,000m2
Building owners will now only need to pay the Assessor fees and can combine multiple ratings to save on these fees. That means customers can try out additional ratings such as NABERS Water, Indoor Environment or Waste at a lower cost.
We have also provided a 100% fee waiver for NABERS Assessors accreditation fees so Assessors can continue to do their great work over the next year.
Australian property companies have become world leaders in measuring, disclosing and reducing their actual environmental impact, and NABERS has played a central role in that transformation. But the environmental challenges we are facing require us all to go much further, as well as much faster. So, we wanted to support as many customers as possible to continue their great work reducing their environmental impact through these challenging times.
– Carlos Flores, Director, NABERS
This package ensures that we continue to drive demand for sustainability services. However, it’s not just about the demand generation, it’s also about keeping sustainability’s hard-earned seat at the table in these sectors.
Above: NABERS Ratings included in the free ratings
The initiative is provided with the help of our colleagues at Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources, as financial relief in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic to help NABERS Assessors and building owners. The initiative is designed to target those sectors where ratings are heavily affected, to help building owners continue to track progress towards their sustainability targets, while driving demand for Assessors and building services companies.
NABERS has conducted a thorough consultation process over the COVID-19 response, including three consultation papers, webinars and a consolidated ruling release. Many Assessors and building owners expressed concerns for sectors where NABERS ratings regimes are less embedded, as a halt in NABERS ratings and tracking performance could undo years of progress and lead to reduced demand for sustainability services.
The stimulus package was designed to support thousands of buildings regularly using NABERS to set environmental improvement targets. However, buildings which have never participated in NABERS in the selected sectors are also welcome as part of the package. The stimulus package offers an opportunity for Assessor firms to seek new clients, as well as to upskill on new areas with growing demand, such as NABERS Waste or NABERS Indoor Environment.
Depending on the building, to add a NABERS Water rating to an Energy rating often only requires the building owner to pay for a few more hours of an Assessor's time for assessment and lodgement. Similarly, the standard air quality measurements that a building must undertake requires a few extra readings and some administrative time in order to get a NABERS Indoor Environment Rating.
Additionally, having NABERS Energy, Waste and Water together can now get you 6 extra innovation points in your WELL certification.
We hope that these free ratings create opportunities for sustainability services and building owners to continue their great work for the environment over the next year and beyond. Anyone wanting to find out more about NABERS in general can do our free NABERS Essentials training, a 3-4 hour short course designed as an introduction to NABERS, and now free thanks to the COVID-19 response package.
Pricing and conditions of offer are detailed on our website, or contact us at nabers@environment.nsw.gov.au