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.
