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We are excited to see the BRE extend the NABERS UK scheme to include Whole Building and Tenancy ratings under the recently released NABERS UK V2.0 launch. These two additional ratings will join the NABERS UK Base Buildings rating, launched in November 2020, and will complete the NABERS UK Energy for Offices suite.
NABERS UK is a simple, reliable and comparable system for rating the energy efficiency of office buildings across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Unlike design-based ratings, NABERS Energy ratings measure and verify the actual energy use of offices, helping building owners to accurately track and communicate the energy performance of their buildings.
Just as the Base Building Rating looks to assess only the Landlord responsible energy the Tenancy Rating allows for businesses to rate the space they occupy within a building. The Rating tool considers the Tenant responsible energy only and considers factors such as occupied area, occupancy hours and occupancy density to create a comparable metric of performance.
The Whole Building rating combines the Base Building and Tenancy rating to measure the whole building performance. Typically this will be used for single tenant occupiers however it offers an important alternative to Landlords whose buildings currently cannot obtain a Base Building rating due to lack of sufficient metering.
All three rating types can be targeted at the Design Stage by signing up to a Design for Performance Agreement and following the process detailed in the Guide to Design for Performance.
The UK has a design for compliance culture which has led to the ‘performance gap’ that exists between the original design intent and how a building truly performs in use. Design for Performance (DfP) is a process that overcomes this where a developer or owner commits to design, build and commission a building to achieve a targeted NABERS UK Energy rating.
Unlike design based ratings, NABERS Energy ratings measure and verify the actual energy use of offices, helping building owners accurately track and communicate the energy performance of their buildings. The system utilises a clear and easy to understand 6 star rating system with 1 – 3 stars representing below average performance and 6 stars market leading.
Through our extensive experience, we can offer a wealth of advice for delivering a NABERS UK Energy Rating including offering the role required in order to conduct and issue a NABERS UK rating. Our experienced Building Performance Engineers and Simulators can provide the advanced simulation modelling required to help predict a building’s future performance.
As the UK adapts to the implementation of NABERS UK ratings on new or refurbished buildings a number of our clients have started to query what rating their existing building stock can achieve. We have the in house expertise to enable us to conduct NABERS ‘Ready’ surveys where we will conduct an inspection of the existing building, make an assessment of the metering arrangement and ascertain whether the building in its current configuration is capable of being rated and what steps need to be completed to enable it to be rated. If the building is capable of being rated we will look at the historical metering data and be able to ascertain what level of NABERS rating the building would achieve. We can also out of that make recommendations on how the building can improve its rating in the future. If you have an existing building for which you’d like us to undertake this assessment then please get in touch.
NABERS UK lodgement and registration fees can be found here: https://www.bregroup.com/products/nabers-uk/nabers-uk-pricing/
NABERS UK Assessor, Independent Design Review and Design for Performance fees are dependent on the project size and complexity. Please contact us for specific advice for your project.
As DfP Pioneers Watkins Payne have taken a leadership role in committing to implement the Design for Performance approach for two of the schemes Pioneer Projects (Portland House and St James’s Market Phase 2). To date we have carried out the Design for Performance lead consultancy role for office buildings totalling over 250,000m2. Our Building Performance Engineers have many years’ experience in providing the advanced building simulation required to predict a NABERS UK rating at design stage.
Our registered Independent Design Reviewer (Robert Marshall) has carried out 3 Independent Design Reviews to date and is an Accredited Assessor for the scheme.
All DfP Projects must target a rating of at least 4 Stars. All our projects are looking to target a minimum rating of 4.5 Stars with 80 percent targeting a rating of 5 Stars or greater.
Within Australia NABERS has proven to be hugely successful and is referenced in tenant lease agreements, office design criteria and national policies. This has created a market of competition and transparency which has eliminated the performance gap and resulted in a greater than 40% reduction in real world energy performance since its inception. This has translated into NABERS becoming a key market Indicator for success with the best performing buildings achieving longer leases, lower vacancies and better value than lower rated equivalents.
We expect NABERS UK to have the same transformative effect on the UK market.
Rob has a particular understanding of maximising building energy efficiency both in design and operation and the importance of continuing to constantly improve our MEP services designs. Speak to Robert about your project today.
