Originally published here. 

19th April 2023, London – The Building Research Establishment (BRE), has today 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.

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.” 
-ENDS-

Notes to Editors
For all press enquiries, please contact brepress@pagefield.co.uk 

For more information on the expansion, please visit NABERS UK introducing Whole Building and Tenancy ratings - BRE Group 

About NABERS UK

The NABERS UK scheme was developed through the industry backed and funded Design for Performance initiative. Spearheaded by the Better Buildings Partnership, this resulted in the launch of NABERS UK in November 2020. The NABERS UK Steering Committee Members are: British Council for Offices (BCO); British Property Federation (BPF); BSRIA; CIBSE; IWFM; RIBA; RICS; UKGBC. 

NABERS UK Supporters are Atelier ten; AECOM; Arup; ATKINS; Built Physics Limited; Bryden Wood; Buro Happold; chapmanbdsp; Cundall; EVORA EDGE; Greengage; Hilson Moran; Hoare Lea; Inkling; KJ Tait Engineers; Mecserve; TFT; Thornton Reynolds; Twin and Earth; Watkins Payne Partnership; WSP Global.

NABERS UK has now been integrated into industry standards and guidance including the BCO Guide to Specification, the RIBA Plan of Works, UKGBC & LETI Energy Use Intensity Targets for Offices, BSRIA Soft Landings and CIBSE’s TM54. NABERS is also utilised by the GLA in its ‘be seen’ energy policy guidance.

About Building Research Establishment (BRE)

BRE is the Administrator of the NABERS UK Scheme.
BRE is a world leading, multi-disciplinary, building science centre with a mission to improve buildings and infrastructure, through cutting-edge research and knowledge generation. BRE maintains a range of products, services, standards and qualifications that are used around the world to bring about positive change in the built environment. Learn more at www.bregroup.com.

About NABERS

NABERS is a national rating system from Australia that measures the environmental performance of buildings and tenancies. Put simply, NABERS measures the energy efficiency, water usage, waste management and indoor environment quality of a building or tenancy and its impact on the environment.  

NABERS is a reliable and easy to understand sustainability rating for the built environment. Like the efficiency star ratings that you get on your fridge or washing machine, NABERS provides a rating from one to six stars for buildings efficiency. NABERS measures actual impact, not intent.   

NABERS is a world leading building performance rating due to its integrity of methods, transparency of process and accountability to industry. NABERS is administered by Australia’s New South Wales Government, and is in three countries; Australia, New Zealand and now the UK. 

About the BBP:

The Better Buildings Partnership (BBP) is a not-for-profit collaboration of the UK’s leading property owners who are working together to improve the sustainability of the UK’s existing commercial buildings. The organisation's aim is to deliver market transformation through sustainability leadership and knowledge sharing across the UK property industry. The BBP currently has 51 members who represent more than £280bn Assets Under Management (AUM).