Industry keen for NABERS CBD program expansion kick off

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The Fifth Estate - Industry observers say the expanded Commercial Building Disclosure (CBD) program to include office tenancies and large hotels will kick off good another bout of…

Industry observers say the expanded Commercial Building Disclosure (CBD) program to include office tenancies and large hotels will kick off good another bout of energy efficiency gains for the built environment. But they’re keen to see a start date.

The program currently aims to require commercial offices of 1000 square metres or more to declare their NABERS energy rating when offered for sale, lease or sublease. Unless exempt, this affects building owners and lessors, tenants, prospective buyers, real estate agents, banks and investors.

The consultation is being undertaken by the federal Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW), and has been in the works since the release of the CBD Program Expansion Roadmap in October 2025.

Industry players are calling for the program to announce a release date.

Steve Hennessy, sustainability consultant for WT Partnership, said the expansion had been in the works for a while, but the industry was still waiting to see when it would happen.

Hennessy told The Fifth Estate that while he did not originally support making NABERS disclosures mandatory, he changed his mind after seeing the impacts of the program.

“What we’re seeing is the building owners have become very good at reducing their energy [and] we’ve seen a reduction in energy consumption from a base building perspective.

“If you look at the building energy use, the base building energy use has been coming down, but the tenancy energy use hasn’t, whereas many years ago, you have between 65 per cent and 70 per cent of total energy would be base building.

Hennessy said tenants’ “minds are on other things”, but their energy use is starting to “stick out like a sore thumb”. Expansion of the CBD program to include tenants will encourage them to start thinking about their energy.

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