The Building Research Establishment (BRE), has launched an expansion to NABERS UK Energy for Offices – the leading energy efficiency rating scheme for existing office buildings. The NABERS UK rating scheme will now include Whole Building and Tenancy ratings.
These two additional ratings have joined the NABERS UK Base Buildings rating and complete the NABERS UK Energy for Offices suite, meaning that both owners and occupiers can rate their spaces.
“Understanding building performance is critical in establishing the starting point of a building’s sustainability journey and where improvements can be made,” explained Jen Dudley, Senior Product Manager, BRE. “This is another great NABERS UK milestone that will support office tenants and building owners on their journey to reduce their energy consumption.”
NABERS UK Energy for Offices rates the actual energy performance of commercial offices based on metered energy consumption. Building owners can now undertake assessments and verify the energy performance of their whole building, which is especially relevant for owners who have single occupancy or for buildings where the metering configuration does not facilitate a base building rating (which covers owners central services, heating and cooling systems and shared services).
Office occupiers can also now use NABERS UK to assess the energy used by their tenanted space, which will typically include lighting and power, special tenancy requirements or local air conditioning.
All of these ratings provide a vital measure of the energy performance of office buildings, allowing owners and occupiers to understand their current performance using a Star Rating of 1 to 6 and to target and drive improvements in energy efficiency. Following the launch of the whole building and tenancy rating calculators, the industry can now access the scheme rules, training and verification process, enabling the scheme to be fully implemented by office owners and occupiers.
Jen Dudley, Senior Product Manager from BRE said: “Understanding building performance is critical in establishing the starting point of a building’s sustainability journey and where improvements can be made. This is another great NABERS UK milestone that will support office tenants and building owners on their journey to reduce their energy consumption.
With special thanks to our NABERS and BBP colleagues, and the wider NABERS UK network, for their ongoing support and commitment to building better buildings and operating them more efficiently.”
NABERS Director Carlos Flores said: “Until recently, NABERS UK ratings had been restricted to buildings with highly sophisticated energy metering. This expansion makes a huge leap forward in terms of inclusivity in the scheme, providing an easy path for any office building to receive a NABERS UK Energy rating, even those with simpler metering arrangements. Building owners can now certify all their existing office buildings under NABERS UK, and use these to set improvement targets across their entire portfolios. It is an incredibly exciting moment for industry and the environment.”
Sarah Ratcliffe of BBP said: “We are delighted to see the whole suite of NABERS UK ratings now available to the market. Assessing and verifying the energy performance of buildings could not be more important as the industry strives to tackle energy efficiency and emissions reductions. This is a vital tool and we urge office owners and occupiers to use it fully to unlock the potential of their existing buildings.”
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