CBD Legislation Update – Exclusion for Mixed Use Buildings
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Today the Australian government announced that mixed use buildings will be excluded from the CBD legislation for a period of twelve months and major new refurbishments will have a two year exclusion from date of refurbishment.
Following industry consultation the Australian Government Department of Energy Efficiency and Climate Change set up an industry forum to review the implementation of the Commercial Building Disclosure legislation (mandatory rating legislation).
This group includes Roger Walker, Head of Sustainability at Napier & Blakeley. We are pleased to advise that Roger’s advice that the legislation should exclude buildings which do not have a minimum of 75% office use has been accepted by the Hon Minister Combet.
Future Proofing your Commercial Property
If you are contemplating an upgrade of your office, retail, hotel or industrial property, you may be left with a redundant building if you are not 
considering a sustainable property solution.
Napier & Blakeley offer a wide range of consultancy services that will help you deliver a more efficient and marketable solution for your property. Our services include:
- Energy assessments
- Sustainable design advice
- Government Funding advice
- Project financing options
- Cost Planning and Life Cycle analysis
- Project Management
- Property Tax profiling
Green Building Funding Available for Hotels
A part of the Green Building Funds $30M Grant program is available for Hotels but what will you be required to do to access the funds?
Formal guidelines have not been established but in line with the previous Green Building Fund you will be required to demonstrate greenhouse gas savings. A NABERS Energy assessment is a sure way to demonstrate existing property performance so you can then measure the improvements being targeted through upgrades.
If you are considering upgrading and applying for a Green Building Fund Grant for your Hotel then we can assist you in this process. Napier & Blakeley have been successful in obtaining over $5M in funding for our clients in the previous Green Building Fund rounds.
The Hotel NABERS Energy rating is not applicable for all hotels and you should consider the following when reviewing the requirements to obtain a rating.
Recent Trends in Technical Due Diligence
Is your ‘too good to be true’ deal really sustainable ?
Lack of Capital post GFC has lead to a significant neglect of R&M and Capex spend.
Having worked on property due diligence valued over $10B since the GFC, Napier & Blakeley have seen only nominal spend on upkeep compared with previous years.
Risk of Non-Compliance (i) 
During this period the increasing trend has been a notable reduction of Repair and Maintenance (R&M) and Capital Expenditure (Capex) budgets. Whilst this strategy may have been necessary in some circumstances e.g. postponement of non-essential Capex, we have found too commonly evidence of non-compliance regarding statutory maintenance such as testing, auditing and reporting of essential safety measures and fire safety systems.
Reduced Life Expectancy and Premature Capex
Recent technical due diligence and condition assessments have also found that the lack of R&M and Capex budgets for economic life driven plant and equipment overhauls and refurbishments has resulted in increased short and medium term Capex.
The tax return deadline is fast approaching, maximize your depreciation deductions today and for the life of your investment!
It’s tax time again and so soon “it seems like only yesterday’ we can hear you all saying. 
Napier & Blakeley have prepared depreciation schedules for property investors for over 25 years and are the most knowledgeable company in Australia in this space, having introduced this service to the Australian property market and developed it into what it is today.
Our clients are many and loyal and are always impressed with our expertise and our efficiency, maximising their after tax property returns, creating more free cash flow and actually assisting them in structuring and managing the future of their asset.
Every year we are ready at this time of year to deliver your property depreciation needs efficiently, as we know it is tax time and we understand what investors need and how to assist them with their annual returns.
How the energy disclosure is to impact on the Aussie property market
Australia will start requiring landlords to disclose energy efficiency ratings for their office buildings when leasing or selling from the start of November. Nearly a third of the Australian office market is currently rated for energy efficiency by the government and the new legislation will likely have an impact on valuations and create a push for upgrading efficiency. Here are some questions and answers on how the new regulation works, how foreign investors and REITs will be affected, and what implications the new rules could have on the property market.
How do the new rules work ?
Sellers or lessors of office space of 2,000 sq metre (21,530 sq ft) or more will have to disclose an up-to-date energy efficiency rating. Starting from Nov. 1, owners will need an energy rating from the National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS) when leasing or selling. When putting properties on the market, advertisments should include the ratings. The NABERS rating measures energy performance on a scale of 1 to 5 stars with the median market performance currently at 2.5 stars.
Does the election outcome create further opportunity for greening your office building, retail centre or hotel ?
The short answer is yes it does, with direct financial support for improvements in emission reductions for commercial buildings.
Election promises impacting the commercial property industry were:
- Green Building Fund extension (now office, retail and hotels that can be NABERS Energy rated) with $30Million dollars available for funding for new application rounds from now until July 2011.
- Tax allowance bonus for Green building improvements, for office buildings, Retail Centres (over 10,000sqm) and Hotels. Conditions will apply, but if you meet them then this is a 14.5% reduction in project costs for improving energy efficiency.
With the details yet to be defined by the responsible departments we assume that the green building fund mark 2 will be delivered fairly quickly and with their previous rounds offering around $15million per round then another two rounds should be undertaken. Perhaps one for January and one for April 2011, which allows for time to set up and then for all funding agreements to be finalised before the tax allowance bonus commences in the following financial year.
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Commercial Building Disclosure (CBD)
Commercial Building Disclosure (CBD) is a national program designed to improve the energy efficiency of Australia’s large office buildings.
The disclosure requirements under the CBD program will commence on 1 November 2010.
The CBD program will ensure that credible and meaningful energy efficiency information is available to prospective purchasers and lessees of large commercial office space. Owners and lessors of commercial office space with a net lettable area of 2,000m² or more will be required to disclose energy efficiency information to prospective purchasers and tenants when the space is to be sold, leased or subleased.
Transitional Provisions
The legislation contains transitional provisions that will apply for the first twelve months of the program (i.e. from 1 November 2010 to 30 October 2011). During this period, a valid National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS) Energy base or whole building rating, must be disclosed. After the transition period, a full Building Energy Efficiency Certificate (BEEC) is required to be disclosed.
Why does concrete crack?
Unlocking the mysteries of a critical building resource
Concrete has been the main stay of building construction for generations. Today, traditional reinforced concrete is an integral and important component of building structures. It usually takes the form of footings in ground, slabs on ground, columns and suspended slabs.
Concrete however, is not the perfect substance. As such it can suffer from defects. These defects can have a huge impact on the appearance, capital expenditure, maintenance costs, safety and effective life of the total structure.
What then are the typical forms of concrete defects? Some of the more common defects can be categorised as follows:-
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Structural design inadequacies – distortion, bending cracks, deflection, shear cracks, impact damage temperature change cracks, abrasion, torsion cracks and erosion.
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Environmental causes – weathering/staining, biological growth, bacteriological attack, efflorescence (lime leaching), freeze-thaw damage and fire damage
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Aggregate properties – aggregate swelling/shrinkage/softening, alkali-silica reaction and sulphide staining/spalling.
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Chemical attack – sulphates, chlorides, acids and salt weathering.
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Reinforcement corrosion – cracking, spalling and de-lamination
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Concrete Cancer – cracking of the concrete caused by the corrosion of steel reinforcement in concrete structures
The shattering truth about glass
Since the 1960s, there have been numerous, high profile incidents of ‘spontaneous” failure of toughened glass in building facades. In some cases, glass has been known to simply ‘pop’ out of high-rise building windows and fall onto the streets below Why does this happen? The cause lies within the makeup of the glass itself.
Nickel sulphide is a rare and unintended inclusion in the production of glass panels. However, the presence of nickel sulphide can be a problematic one. This is due to what is technically called, ‘delayed transformation’.
For those interested in technical detail, these follow:
Nickel sulphide crystals can take one of two forms. At high temperatures, a dense crystal is present. At lower temperatures, a less dense crystal is present. Provided the transition from high to low temperature (ie. cooling) is gradual, the crystal can move between forms without problem.
For example, in ordinary annealed glass, the crystals do not cause problems because the cooling process occurs slowly during manufacture.
