FAQs

NABERS - the National Australian Built Environment Rating System - measures an existing building's environmental performance during operation. NABERS rates a building on the basis of its measured operational impacts - these may include energy, water, waste and indoor environment. These environmental indicators and the associated measurement techniques have been the subject of extensive research and deliberation, drawing on international and local expertise.

Today, NABERS for offices incorporates NABERS Energy (previously known as the industry standard Australian Building Greenhouse Rating (ABGR) scheme for energy and greenhouse efficiency), NABERS Water, NABERS Waste and NABERS Indoor Environment. These ratings are designed is a similar way to ABGR. Other components of NABERS will be designed with a similar purpose.

Green Star – Office ratings, developed by the Green Building Council of Australia, are designed to assess the environmental potential of office buildings. These ratings establish how the premises will perform under ideal circumstances based on design information and management processes. The actual operational performance data established by NABERS ratings will complement Green Star ratings, establishing a valuable feedback loop to building designers, developers, tenants and owners.

BASIX is a web-based planning tool designed to assess the water and energy efficiency of new residential developments at the design stage, developed by the NSW Department of Planning. NatHERS and AccuRate are simulation packages used to assess the potential energy performance of the fabric of a house, based on the layout and materials used.

If you are building a new home, you will need to submit a BASIX Certificate with your development approval. One of the ways to complete the Thermal Comfort section of the BASIX tool is to use a building thermal performance assessment e.g. NatHERS simulation package, supplied by a NatHERS Accredited Assessor.

The NABERS tool was originally developed by the Australian Dept. of Environment and Heritage (DEH). The NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change (formerly Dept. of Energy, Utilities and Sustainability) was selected by DEH as the successful tenderer to proceed with the commercialisation of NABERS, with the contract for NABERS commercialisation signed in March 2005.

DECC manages the operation and development of accredited NABERS rating systems throughout Australia. This is overseen by the NABERS National Steering Committee, which is comprised of representatives of the Australian and State and Territory Governments, and the Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council as an observer. NABERS is available throughout Australia, with accredited assessors available to perform accredited ratings in every state and territory.

NABERS provides property owners, occupants, investors and other stakeholders with a reliable and easy-to-use method of assessing the environmental impacts of buildings in use.

NABERS can be used to define and set operational performance targets and measure and rate actual performance. Accredited ratings can also be used to disclose and report on performance to interested parties, establish commercial relationships for the monitoring and maintenance of performance targets, enlist professional services to improve a rating, and make decisions about priority actions or investment options.

Government agencies and councils, planning and housing authorities, and utilities may also be interested in the information that NABERS generates as a means of encouraging environmental improvement and providing incentives.

Currently, NABERS provides separate ratings for:

• Office building: This covers the environmental impacts of the activities and services traditionally supplied by, or within the control of, the landlords/operators of office buildings.
• Office tenancy: This covers the environmental impacts of the activities that are under the control of office occupants.
• Hotels: available for AAA-rated business hotels
• Homes: This is designed for occupants of homes, covering all situations where the home carries all of its own services and land as a single identifiable package.

Ratings are in development for hospitals, hotels, schools and retail centres.

NABERS has been developed to:

• Rate the environmental performance of operational buildings and homes.
• Provide separate ratings for the different stakeholders within a building (such as landlords and tenants) where appropriate.
• Provide an explicit and consistent rating system methodology, with a clear performance-based structure and methodologies and defaults where necessary.
• Provide a realistic rating scale that recognises and rewards current performance levels, and encourages and promotes best practice.
• Allow for voluntary self-assessment, with the option of seeking a certified rating from an accredited provider if desired.
• Use measured quantities as the primary means of assessment. Where measurement is not feasible, then practice-based or default scores may be acceptable in some categories.
• Contain appropriate adjustments for factors such as climate and occupancy patterns.

The vast majority environmental impacts from buildings are due to the operation of existing buildings in the marketplace. Most existing rating systems in Australia and overseas are intended for use at the design and development phase. Whilst design is clearly of crucial importance, good design is no guarantee of sound environmental performance during operation.

It makes sense therefore to use a rating system that is specifically tailored for existing buildings, and that measures relevant impacts during the operational phase of buildings. This approach has a number of benefits, including:

• NABERS provides a rating of the things that a building owner/operator can reasonably assume responsibility for, rather than items that were decided possibly by another party many years ago and cannot be easily changed.
• As NABERS is based on actual measured performance rather than on prescriptive design parameters, it is complementary to expert design tools and design-based ratings systems.

NABERS measures environmental performance against the impact categories listed below. The relevance of these impact categories in a NABERS assessment will depend on what sort of premises is being rated. NABERS is structured this way because it is important for a rating system to recognise: 

• The different realms of accountability and responsibility for commercial building owners, commercial tenants, or home owners.
• The varying key environmental issues relevant to different building types.

Energy use and greenhouse emissions - Energy-related greenhouse emissions are a key factor in increasing the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, leading to human induced climate change. How buildings are operated can affect their energy demand significantly.

Water use - Building users can be major water consumers, but users can also adopt practices to harvest water sustainably and effect considerable reductions in demand on existing constrained supplies.

Waste - Waste contributes to resource depletion and a range of pollutants and emissions. The reduction of waste minimises the area needed for landfill, and reduces the environmental impact of overall materials throughput.

Indoor environment - As well as minimising impacts to the wider environment, It is important for the health, satisfaction and productivity of occupants that buildings provide a comfortable indoor environment for those who use them.

Other impact categories are under development.