What is NABERS?

The NABERS rating scheme was introduced to give property owners an indication of how well their building performs in comparison to other buildings around Australia.

Buildings use 40% of the world's energy, emit 40% of the world's carbon footprint and use 20% of the world'd available drinking water - according to the World Economic Forum. It is therefore vital that building owners and lessees take ownership of their impact on the environment and aim to reduce the impact their buildings have on the environment.

Through the NABERS scheme, it has been found that even small changes can have a significant impact on the efficiency of a building.

Basic changes for Electricity reductions:

Dividing lighting circuits into purposeful zones

After Hours timers

Lux detectors, which turn off lights in areas where there is enough sunlight coming through windows.

PIR (Passive Infra-Red) sensors which turn off lights if there is no movement after a set time.

These might be looked at as the "low hanging fruit" to start your journey to a more energy efficient office. More complicated systems can be utilised which will also yield excellent results and short payback periods, often less than 3-4 years.

While currently this ratings system is not applied to strata titled buildings, our strata managers have increasingly developed their expertise in the reduction of waste. This not only provides positive environmental impacts but also financial benefits of short payback periods, often resulting in cheaper strata levies.