TS 2016 Achieving what NABERS achieves

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Session 8 Paper 3, Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh, 14-15 April 2016

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This paper explores the key drivers behind a successful energy performance scheme, the National Australian Built Environment Rating Scheme (NABERS), exploring how these drivers could be adopted to foster a similar scheme within the UK. Whilst Australian government involvement partially explains the success of NABERS in Australia, the benefits of higher returns on capital and rent that arise from better performing buildings, and ‘competitive sustainability’ are likely to be key incentives for uptake within the UK. Having a performance-based benchmark allows for continual assessment and improvement of building performance over its lifetime with a resulting focus on cost effective energy efficiency measures and actual greenhouse gas emissions. Key challenges include adaptation to metering requirements and stimulating competition to recognise marketable value.