EEC welcomes outcomes of CBD Review 08 February 2016
The Australian Government released its long-anticipated review of the Commercial Building Disclosure (CBD) Program on Friday 5 February. The Minister for Resources and Energy, Josh Frydenberg, is proposing to continue the CBD Program and:
- Expand the program to smaller buildings by lowering the threshold for mandatory disclosure of energy efficiency to any office space equal or larger than 1,000 m2; and
- Extend the validity period for tenancy lighting assessment from one to five years. This is a sensible way to reduce compliance costs for building owners without reducing the impact of the CBD Program.
This proposal is in line with the Energy Efficiency Council’s recommendations, and would be a great outcome for tenants, building owners and the energy efficiency sector. Any changes to CBD Program will likely come into effect on or after 1 July 2017.
Key findings from the review
The review of the CBD Program was carried out by ACIL Allen with oversight from a committee that comprised government staff and Rob Murray-Leach from the Energy Efficiency Council. The review is an excellent report, and can be downloaded here.
The review makes a critical finding that the economic benefits of improved office worker productivity could be double the benefits of energy savings and greenhouse gas reductions. While the review conservatively estimates that energy and greenhouse savings from the CBD program over 2010-2014 were $72 million Net Present Value (NPV), worker productivity improvements were conservatively estimated at $111 million to $167 million NPV.
Consultation
The Australian Government is inviting submissions on the propsed changes to the CBD by 5pm on 12 March 2016. The public consultation can be accessed here.
The EEC will be developing a submission in consultation with, and on behalf of, its members.