7. Regulation and Standards
7.1 Commercial Building Disclosure (CBD)
Under the new Building Energy Efficiency Disclosure legislation which took effect in July 2010, most sellers or lessors of office space of 2,000 square metres or over, are required to disclose an up-to-date Building Energy Efficiency Certificate (BEEC) if they wish to sell, lease or sublease that office space.
As part of the Strategy, governments will consider expanding the program to cover other building types (such as hotels, shopping centres and hospitals) from 2012.
From 1 November 2011 a full BEEC will need to be disclosed. BEECs are valid for up to 12 months, must be publicly accessible on the online Building Energy Efficiency Register, and include:
- a NABERS Energy star rating for the building
- an assessment of tenancy lighting in the area of the building that is being sold or leased and
- general energy efficiency guidance
The NABERS Energy star rating must also be included in any advertisement for the sale, lease or sublease of the office space.
7.2 Building Code of Australia: energy efficiency requirements
The 2010 edition of the Building Code of Australia (BCA) has increased the energy efficiency provisions for buildings. The provisions include:
- a 6 star energy rating, or equivalent, for new residential buildings; and
- a significant increase in the energy efficiency requirements for all new commercial buildings.
These initiatives include energy efficiency requirements for hot water in new houses and lighting in new houses and apartments with all proposals being subject to regulatory impact assessment. The initiatives were a response to the National Strategy on Energy Efficiency (Link to 1.1), which commits all Government levels to a comprehensive 10-year roadmap to accelerate energy efficiency improvements across all sectors of the economy. The NSEE represents the first time that Commonwealth, State and Territory Governments agreed to a nationally consistent roadmap to reduce the carbon footprint of businesses and households across Australia
7.3 Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS)
MEPS programs are made mandatory in Australia by state government legislation and regulations which give force to the relevant Australian Standards. Regulations specify the general requirements for MEPS for appliances, including offences and penalties if a party does not comply with the requirements. Technical requirements for MEPS are set out in the relevant appliance standard, which is referenced in state regulations. State based legislation is necessary because the Australian constitution gives Australian States clear responsibility for resource management issues, including energy.
Many of the appliances in the MES list are relevant to the building industry, including commercial building chillers and air conditioners.
7.4 Renewable Energy Target (RET)
In August 2009, the Government began implementing the Renewable Energy Target (RET) Scheme to ensure that 20 per cent of Australia's electricity supply will come from renewable sources by 2020. In ten years' time the amount of electricity coming from sources like solar, wind and geothermal will be around the same as all of Australia's current household electricity use.
In June 2010, the Parliament passed legislation to separate the RET into two parts which commenced on 1 January 2011 - the Large-scale Renewable Energy Target (LRET) and the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES). The changes are intended to provide greater certainty for households, large-scale renewable energy projects and installers of small-scale renewable energy systems. Combined, the new LRET and SRES are expected to deliver more renewable energy than the existing 45,000 gigawatt-hour target in 2020.
- The LRET, covering large-scale renewable energy projects like wind farms, commercial solar and geothermal, will deliver the vast majority of the 2020 target.
- The SRES will cover small-scale technologies such as solar panels and solar hot water systems and deliver the remainder of the target.
Importantly, the regulations also establish a new inspection regime for statistically significant numbers of RET solar system installations to be checked each year. The enforcement of electrical safety is the responsibility of State and Territory Governments. Solar PV systems are also subject to important safeguards under the RET, including ensuring solar PV systems are installed in compliance with relevant standards. The Regulator now has wider enforcement powers, including strengthened financial penalties, if RET support is inappropriately claimed.
The Office of the Renewable Energy Regulator (ORER) has been established as a statutory authority to oversee the implementation of RET.
7.5 Energy Efficiency Opportunities
The Energy Efficiency Opportunities program requires large energy-using businesses to identify, evaluate and report publicly on cost effective energy savings opportunities. Participation in EEO is mandatory for corporations that use more than 0.5 petajoules (PJ) of energy per year. There are approximately 220 corporations registered for the Energy Efficiency Opportunities program covering all sectors of the economy, including the commercial property sector.
7.6 National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting (NGER)
The National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act 2007 establishes a national framework for corporations to report greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption and production from 1 July 2008. The Act makes registration and reporting mandatory for corporations whose energy production, energy use or greenhouse gas emissions meet specified thresholds.
There are two levels of thresholds at which corporations are required to apply for registration and report -- facility thresholds and corporate thresholds. If a corporation exceeds any one or more of the four thresholds (shown in the table below) for each reporting year, registration is required.
7.7 NABERS
National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS) is an environmental rating for office buildings and homes, and measures an existing building's environmental performance during operation. NABERS rates a building on the basis of its measured operational impacts in categories such as energy, water, waste and indoor environment. These environmental indicators and the associated measurement techniques have been the subject of extensive research and deliberation, drawing on international and local expertise.
NABERS was originally developed by the then Australian Government Department of Environment and Heritage (DEH). The NSW Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) (formerly the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water) was selected by DEH as the successful tenderer to proceed with the commercialisation of NABERS, with the contract for NABERS commercialisation signed in March 2005.
OEH manages the operation and development of accredited NABERS rating systems throughout Australia. This is overseen by the NABERS National Steering Committee, which is comprised of representatives of the Australian and State and Territory Governments, and the Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council as an observer. NABERS is available throughout Australia, with accredited assessors available to perform accredited ratings in every state and territory.
The OE is finalising a draft Strategic Plan for NABERS, to be released for public comment by the end of 2011. The Strategic Plan will propose a clear vision for NABERS as an influential and transformational scheme, and a pathway to improve collaboration and to keep the tools relevant and effective. Further details of the consultation process will be published on the OEH website closer to the release date.
7.8 NatHERS
Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) provides a framework that allows various computer software tools to rate the potential energy efficiency of Australian homes. NatHERS defines the minimum set of information that must be used by all software tools.
NatHERS is an initiative of the Ministerial Council on Energy. Policy direction on NatHERS is provided by the Energy Efficiency Working Group (E2WG) under the Ministerial Council on Energy (MCE) which includes representatives from all States and Territories as well as the Commonwealth.
