Sydneysiders will save on household bills and benefit from more energy and water efficient buildings thanks to a new apartment rating tool.
The National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS) apartment buildings rating tool will help developers, buyers, owners and renters assess the sustainability and operational costs of residential buildings.
The federal government’s announcement of the development of the rating tool follows City of Sydney calls to expand the program that has been successfully taken up by commercial building owners.
“With around 1,900 apartment buildings in our city, home to around three quarters of our residents, the City has been a strong advocate for an apartment rating tool to measure and improve environmental performance,” said City of Sydney CEO Monica Barone.
“We estimate 80 per cent of Sydneysiders will live in apartments by 2030 and these residents will demand higher environmental standards for their apartment buildings.
“The apartment rating tool will create a market incentive for more efficient and sustainable apartment buildings across the city. It will help reduce operational costs, help owners and tenants save on energy and water bills, and help our great city become more sustainable.”
The City will support the NABERS apartment rating tool through its high-rise retrofit program, which helps 20 buildings per year to improve their environmental performance.
More than 600 of the City’s apartment buildings are six storeys and above and they will be among the first to benefit from the NABERS rating tool.
Ms Barone said improvements to environmental performance in the commercial office sector were an excellent example of what can be achieved by a NABERS rating.
“Over the past 10 years, Sydney’s commercial office sector has reduced its environmental impact through more sustainable development and retrofitting of existing buildings,” Ms Barone said.
“Sharing environmental performance information has created stronger competition, motivating commercial building owners to improve their environmental performance.
“Apartment buildings are now set to follow this path towards better environmental performance and cost savings for owners and tenants.”
The development of a national rating tool for apartment buildings is a key action in the City of Sydney’s residential apartment sustainability plan. The plan uses data from the City’s smart green apartments program – a three-year sustainability trial that took place in 30 buildings across the city from 2011–13.
An independent evaluation of 21 buildings in the trial found environmental retrofit projects reduced annual carbon emissions by more than 3,000 tonnes per building, saving each building up to $90,000 a year.
For media inquiries or images, contact City of Sydney Senior Media Advisor Alex Cauchi on 0467 803 815 or acauchi@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au