The Energy Efficiency Council (EEC) has welcomed the Federal Government’s $10 million funding expansion of the Commercial Building Disclosure (CBD) program but urged the government to accelerate inclusion of larger commercial energy users such as shopping centres and data centres.
In addition to a $10 million expansion of the program, the Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy Josh Wilson also announced an additional $10 million to increase the range of energy ratings tools and services for the world-leading National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS).
EEC CEO, Luke Menzel, said the Commercial Building Disclosure program has a simple premise – the energy performance of a building is provided at point of sale or lease.
“This allows buyers and tenants to compare and contrast, and gives building owners and managers the information they need to invest in the energy performance of their building,” he said.
“The program has applied to large office buildings since 2010, and it has been a runaway success – lowering bills and emissions while raising asset values and tenant retention. It is so good the biggest question has been why it only applies to offices.
“This new roadmap goes some way towards fixing that. It sets out a timeline expanding the program to new commercial building types, with office tenancies and hotels the next cabs off the rank. This is a great first step, but the roadmap isn't proposing expansion to some big asset classes like shopping centres and data centres until the 2030s.”