The property industry has criticised the federal government’s introduction of full mandatory disclosure for office buildings as premature.
”The government should have provided a lot more breathing space for industry to get the assistance to comply with the legislation,” Property Council of Australia chief executive Peter Verwer said.
As of yesterday, under the commercial building disclosure program, a building energy efficiency certificate is required if more than 2000 square metres of office space is sold, leased or subleased.
The certificate includes energy and lighting ratings, but does not stipulate a minimum environmental standard, as previously reported. The law applies to building owners and also tenants who sublet the space. Failure to comply may result in fines up to $110,000 for the first day of non-compliance and up to $11,000 for each extra day.
The parliamentary secretary for climate change and energy efficiency, Mark Dreyfus, said the program made information available on the energy efficiency of large commercial office buildings. ”Energy efficiency directly impacts running costs for the occupiers of buildings. Disclosure of this information before sale or lease will greatly assist potential buyers and tenants make informed decisions,” he said.
There are more than 21 million square metres of commercial office space in Australia’s major urban areas, spread across more than 3900 buildings. Commercial buildings account for about 10 per cent of Australia’s total greenhouse gas emissions.
The CBD program is managed by the federal Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency. A certificate includes a National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS) energy star rating for the building; an assessment of tenancy lighting in the area that is being sold or leased; and general energy efficiency guidance.
The tenancy lighting assessment provides a nominal lighting power density measurement in watts per square metre.
Mr Verwer said the property council was critical of the lighting requirements. ”It took the department 10 months to develop the lighting tool or rating system and 10 weeks to implement it. It’s simply unfair. It was flagged last year as an interim measure, but there has been no education,” he told BusinessDay.
Mr Verwer said CBD assessors had only had their first training in August and September and were untested. Industry supported the first part of the certificate - a base building rating using a tried and tested NABERS scheme - and was committed to mandatory disclosure. But industry was never happy with the methodology used on the lighting standards. ”It was not properly pilot tested,” Mr Verwer said.
Energy Efficiency Council chief executive Rob Murray-Leach said the lighting assessment added an extra dimension to the information that must be disclosed. ”Switching to efficient lighting can cut tenants’ lighting bills by 30 to 60 per cent,” he said.
