Government seeks industry views on CBD expansion

The Commercial Buildings Disclosure (CBD) program requires office buildings to disclose their NABERS energy rating when they are sold or leased. It began in 2010, with a threshold of 2,000m², driving a 35 per cent reduction in energy use in the buildings it covered. In 2017, the threshold was reduced to 1,000m², bringing further energy savings.

Now, the program is being reviewed for further expansion – a move that is generally supported by industry. Organisations such as AIRAH, ASBEC, EEC, GBCA, and PCA have backed the expansion of the CBD program in previous reviews.

If it goes ahead, there will be major implications for those in the HVAC&R space, as a significant portion of a building’s energy is used by its services.

What’s on the table?

According to the draft roadmap, the first stage of the expansion includes reducing the floor threshold for offices and introducing mandatory disclosure to office tenancies.

The expansion of the program would not only reduce energy use and emissions, but would also see greater demand for NABERS energy assessors.

The draft roadmap states that mandatory disclosure will only be introduced to those sectors that have existing NABERS rating tools and a pool of trained assessors. The demand for skilled workers to implement sustainability upgrades is expected to increase over time, including increased demand for workers to complete HVAC optimisation and upgrades.

Have your say

The discussion paper on the CBD Program expansion is open for consultation until September 13, 2024. You can provide feedback and read the feasibility report at the DCCEEW website.

DCCEEW is holding public webinars on the expansion of the CBD program:

• Office buildings and tenancies on August 27 at 1pm (AEST) – register here
• Future expansion to other commercial building types such as hotels and data centres on August 29 at 1pm (AEST) – register here.

HVAC&R focus

To incorporate the views of the HVAC&R industry into the review, AIRAH has scheduled a special session with Mara Putnis, a director in the Commercial Buildings Policy section within DCCEEW, and Monique Alfris, Associate Director of NABERS.

The webinar will be held on Tuesday, September 3 at 12.30pm (AEST).

For more information and to register, visit the AIRAH website.