Does every Building need good NABERS?
In the world of energy, Nabers is quickly becoming a buzz word. Due to the success of the scheme in Australia it was launched in the UK in 2020. But what is it and will it work successfully here?
Alice Greville talks to our accredited NABERS UK Assessor, Chris Stevens-Barnes, to find all about NABERS UK, how it is used and how it can literally change the Energy Performance of your building.
To contact either, please email:
Chris Steven-Barnes
Senior Sustainability Consultant
Chris.Stevens-Barnes@mainer.co.uk
Alice Greville
Graduate Sustainability Consultant
alice.greville@mainer.co.uk
Hi Chris, so could you start by telling us what NABERS stand for?
Hi Alice, NABERS stands for the National Australian Built Environment Rating System, as its name suggests the scheme started in Australia in 1999 and is widely considered to be a world leading environmental performance rating tool for commercial buildings. It follows the mantra that “What gets measured gets managed” and they have shown that rated buildings have saved an average of 30-40% on their energy over 10 years.
And what is NABERS UK?
NABERS UK is a performance-based rating scheme that operates across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Like the efficiency star/letter ratings that you get on your fridge or washing machine, NABERS provides a rating from one to six stars for offices. The aim is to help building owners understand the performance of their buildings against others in their portfolio or competitors and therefore provide a benchmark for progress.
That makes sense but why has it been adopted in the UK?
The NABERS UK rating scheme measures the operational performance of the building, this is major change for the UK, which is more used to using Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) as a target and measure of building energy performance. The issue with this is that EPCs are based on predicted or designed performance rather than what has actually been used or measured, hence the ‘performance gap’ that has been continually raised over the years as buildings rarely perform as they were designed.
And who administers the scheme?
NABERS UK is currently administered by BRE (Building Research Establishment), who is responsible for the day to day operations of the scheme. This includes providing the training for assessors, approving licences to undertake surveys and undertaking QA on submitted assessments.
We now understand the background but what does it assess?
NABERS UK currently offers two products;
Energy for Offices - This measures the efficiency of an office building and rates its performance. The energy rating works by comparing the energy consumption of a building against a set of benchmarks that have been developed using actual data. The rating currently covers the base building performance, this includes central services like heating and cooling, lifts and lobby lighting and doesn’t include tenant usage such as PCs and other appliances.
Design for Performance - This is a process whereby a developer or owner commits to design, build and commission a new office development or major refurbishment to achieve a specific NABERS energy rating. It involves creating a building energy model, having this independently reviewed and then submitting to NABERS UK for certification. Once completed they will have an assessment carried out under the Energy for Offices scheme which then shows whether they actually achieved the rating they aimed for.
Is it commonly used in the UK and do you have any examples of the rating in use?
NABERS UK went live in November 2020 and the majority of assessments that have been submitted so far are under Design for Performance, so for new developments yet to be or currently under construction. There are only two existing buildings that have been submitted under Energy for Offices at the moment and they have scored 3 stars and 4.5 stars respectively, this is on a scale of one to six stars where one is poor, three is average and six is market leading.
Nabers UK: Design for Performance (click image for larger pdf version to download)
Source: NABERS Design for Performance Brand Guidelines
Do you think the scheme will succeed in the UK?
Following years of discussion on how to close the performance gap between how buildings perform in design versus reality, NABERS UK offers a certified and accredited methodology using actual consumption data so that real world performance can be measured and then compared against similar buildings. There is certainly the appetite in the market for the scheme to succeed.
How do you see the scheme developing?
NABERS UK currently rates the energy performance of offices only, however, in Australia NABERS ratings are used to rate office tenancies, apartments buildings, data centres, shopping centres, hospitals and hotels with more building types coming online. The types of ratings also cover water, waste, indoor environmental quality and carbon neutrality in addition to energy. So there is certainly scope for the scheme to expand in the future once it has become more established in the UK market.
And finally, how do you see Mainer Associates getting involved?
One of the projects Mainer Associates is involved in at 11 & 12 Wellington Place in Leeds has a Design for Performance assessment submitted with a predicted rating of 5 stars so we are already involved.
I’m now an accredited NABERS UK assessor and as awareness of NABERS UK grows and clients begin to see what benefits there are, Mainer Associates are now looking to be involved in more projects both for Design for Performance and Energy for Offices.
Thank you for the NABERS overview Chris and we look forward to your next NABERS project!
11 & 12 Wellington Place in Leeds
If you’d like to learn more about Nabers UK and how it can benefit your project, please contact
Chris at Chris.Stevens-Barnes@mainer.co.uk or please contact us here