Kelvin Thomson (Wills, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Building Energy Efficiency Disclosure Bill 2010 will create a legal requirement for owners of large commercial office buildings to obtain energy efficiency information for their building and to disclose it to prospective purchasers and lessees. It will also require head tenants who are subletting office space to disclose this information. The bill follows on from a landmark agreement to expand and accelerate energy efficiency efforts through a National Strategy on Energy Efficiency released by Australian, state and territory governments in July 2009 which outlined the following four key themes. The first was assisting households and businesses to transition to a low-carbon future, the second was to reduce impediments to the uptake of energy efficiency, the third was making buildings more energy efficient and the fourth was government working in partnership and leading the way.

The $88 million National Strategy on Energy Efficiency builds on the existing resources and financial support available to improve our homes and workplaces. Energy used by our buildings accounts for approximately 20 per cent of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions, split fairly evenly between homes and commercial buildings. The business sector is by far the largest energy user in the Australian economy. The industrial sector alone accounts for almost half of Australia’s energy end use, and around two-thirds of stationary energy use. Australia has one of the more energy intensive industrial sectors among developed countries. In terms of carbon pollution reduction measures, energy efficiency has been something of a Cinderella and has been somewhat overlooked. The fact is that this is an area which would benefit from a lot more attention.

Energy consumed by residential appliances and industrial and commercial equipment is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions in Australia. By addressing a large number of areas where low-cost energy efficiency opportunities exist and are yet to be fully exploited, this strategy enables Australians to access highly energy efficient appliances and equipment for residential, commercial and industrial applications, aligned with leading international standards. As the minister for Environment Protection, Heritage and the Arts has outlined:

Greener offices are not only more comfortable to work in, they can also boost productivity, bring down sick leave, support green building industry jobs and have the potential to deliver savings of 20-40 percent on energy bills.

Energy efficiency is a fast, cheap way of making inroads into Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions. This scheme will provide a strong incentive in the market for building owners to improve their properties by investing in cost-effective energy efficient upgrades. The disclosure scheme will also apply to office buildings owned by the Australian government, in line with the government’s commitments under the National Strategy on Energy Efficiency.

Building owners will need to disclose a valid Building Energy Efficiency Certificate, which will include an energy base building star rating under the National Australian Built Environment Rating System, which is known in the trade as NABERS. It will also include an assessment of the lighting energy efficiency of tenancies and some suggestions on how to improve the building’s energy efficiency. This scheme is part of an ambitious plan to make Australia’s homes and businesses more energy efficient by improving base standards and star ratings—for appliances, equipment and buildings—and by phasing out inefficient technologies. This strategy sets the foundation for a transformation of Australia’s building stock through cost-effective voluntary action in response to better information about building energy use. Armed with this information, consumers and businesses will be able to make informed choices about the energy efficiency of the buildings they buy and lease—and builders and building owners will respond to those market signals by investing in energy efficiency. New buildings will be designed and constructed according to improved energy efficiency standards that will lead to a reduction in energy consumption. These standards will account for climatic variation. Major renovations will be subject to the same standards.

Another result of the agreed National Strategy on Energy Efficiency is a national buildings framework that aims to deliver consistency on how buildings are assessed and rated for energy efficiency and to set out a pathway for increasing minimum performance standards over time. As the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency has observed, the framework will:

• set increasingly strong minimum performance standards over time for new buildings and major renovations, with standards to be reviewed and increased periodically—

for example, every three years—

• cover all classes of residential and commercial buildings;
• apply to new and existing buildings;
• cover the building envelope including roof, walls, doors and windows as well as the energy efficiency of key building services;
• aim to bring together assessment and rating tools for existing and new buildings;
• include common measurement and reporting to help in setting building standards and assessing building performance;
• allow for the use of rating tools developed by the market, provided they are accurate, transparent and user friendly;
• encourage innovation in meeting defined performance standards;
• continue to communicate energy efficiency improvements using star ratings; and
• facilitate effective monitoring and compliance.

I think these are all very worthwhile steps forward. In talking about the issue of energy efficiency, I want to suggest some measures which would enhance building energy efficiency and help lower our greenhouse emissions. At the moment consumers can find what is the most efficient refrigerator or car from a government website. I think that kind of information about building performance should also be publicly accessible. In addition, building rating certificates should be displayed in building foyers, again for public accountability and transparency. I think the tenant’s rating should also be disclosed. Given that tenants consume about half the energy in a standard building, they should be required to disclose details in a foyer and on a government website. Disclosure of ratings should be extended to other building types such as hotels, hospitals and retail and shopping centres. While there is a focus on energy efficiency, I think water conservation is equally important and disclosure of a water rating should also be considered.

I mention to the House the submission by the Australian Conservation Foundation to the Prime Minister’s Task Group on Energy Efficiency, which said:

Forward-looking and energy efficiency focused building code revisions would require new buildings to meet a minimum of 5-star NABERS requirements now. Such measures are simple and generally well-understood and as such provide a robust means of directing greater investment into energy efficient measures and practices. This would significantly improve the energy efficiency of new building stock and eliminate the need to retrofit them in the short- to medium-term upon revisions of the building code to more environmentally stringent standards …

A greater focus needs to be placed on the 98 per cent of commercial floor space that is existing building stock. A strategic approach to greening existing commercial buildings must involve retrofitting. However, barriers and impediments to the investment in ‘green’ retrofitting persist. Getting policy leverage will require providing unambiguous market signals as well as providing incentives for investing in modern technology. Accelerated depreciation would help to shorten the payback period by enabling owners/investors to defer tax payments (in exchange for implementing energy efficiency measures earlier).

I have also mentioned recently in parliament the benefits of smart grid technology and the consumer interface with this grid, the smart meter. These could communicate with smart thermostats, appliances and other devices, giving people a much clearer view of how much electricity they are consuming. As the Economist points out:

Studies have found that when people are made aware of how much power they are using, they reduce their use by about 7%. With added incentives, people curtail their electricity use during peaks in demand by 15% or more.

I have mentioned to the House previously that I have been to visit the CSIRO zero-emissions house in Doreen, which has this kind of smart metering whereby you can see exactly what kind of emissions are being generated in any one room at any one time. I believe that is an excellent incentive for house owners. Groundbreaking research by the Warren Centre for Advanced Engineering has demonstrated that better management practices deliver high-performance buildings and that large advances in energy efficiency can be achieved without major capital expenditure on technologies. Its Low energy high rise building research report, which involved a survey of 127 buildings in Australia’s capital cities and extensive analysis covering the attitudes and energy management practices of tenants and building asset and portfolio managers, showed that most buildings could achieve a four-star NABERS energy base building rating solely through improved management practices. According to the centre:

Project Director, Sue Salmon said that the findings were good news in the current financial climate.

“This report is internationally ground-breaking.

“It proves that despite the global financial crisis, major improvements in energy efficiency are possible without huge capital expenditure.

“What it is telling us is that the greatest environmental gains can be achieved with little or no cost. Even better, the energy savings can put money back into the pockets of owners and tenants,” …

Ms Salmon said key features of buildings that perform well related to human attitudes and practices.

“For example buildings where management is at least partially in-sourced perform better by as much as 1.3 stars NABERS energy rating and buildings where the building, asset and portfolio manager all feel able to affect efficiency perform better by 0.9 stars.

“Buildings that disclose their NABERS performance to tenants perform better by 0.5 stars NABERS Energy.

“This corresponds to a performance improvement of approximately 30 per cent for an average building.

“Extrapolated across the CBD office building sector—

this amounts to—

a 1.2 per cent reduction in Australia’s total emissions.”

This report:

…was based on three years of development and research by the Warren Centre for Advanced Engineering, involving extensive and detailed investigation of attitudes and practices among tenants, building managers, asset managers and portfolio managers.

Participants involved the leading tenants and landlords in Australia.

“With the NABERS Energy benchmark and now these new research results the Australian commercial property sector has the tools to be global stars in cutting greenhouse gas emissions,” …

There is a global push towards the concept of carbon neutral buildings and precincts. I refer again to the submission from the ACF, which stated:

The 2008 G8 Plan of Action on IEA Energy Efficiency Policy Recommendations, which was endorsed earlier last year by the Australian Government, recommends that governments should adopt a package of priority measures for promoting energy efficiency …

See this speech in context