Portfolios scale up ambition in NABERS 2026 SPI

According to NABERS Director, Magali Wardle, the NABERS SPI 2026 represents a “race to the top” in terms of building performance at the portfolio scale. Wardle made this observation during the launch webinar for the 2026 SPI results, which showcased the achievements of 31 companies representing 67 portfolios across commercial offices, shopping centres and hotels.

Hotel portfolios, which first debuted in the SPI in 2025 made a stronger showing in 2026, with 9,600 hotel rooms within the scope of the reporting. In addition, the rankings encompassed 8.2 million square metres of office floor space and 6.3 million square metres of retail shopping centre space.  

“The Sustainable Portfolios Index continues to evolve as a tool for transparency and leadership,” says Wardle.

“What we’re seeing in 2026 is not just more participants, but broader participation across assets, sectors and metrics.”

Trio of excellence in hotel portfolios

Three companies with five portfolios between them representing 36 hotels were in the 2026 SPI. CapitaLand achieved the number one spot across Energy and Water, while Schwartz Group continued to disclose progress and new entrant, Pro-Invest Group, joined the league.

“As both asset owner and asset manager, we participate in the NABERS Sustainable Portfolios Index because it brings rigour and comparability to how we assess performance across our hotel portfolio,” says Cindy Van Der Wal, Senior Environmental Social Governance (ESG) and Communications Manager at Pro-Invest Group.

“More than a point‑in‑time result, NABERS ratings provide the insight needed to embed continuous improvement into our asset management decisions, strengthening operational performance and the quality of asset and experience delivered for guests.”  

During the webinar, Van Der Wal explained that engaging with the NABERS rating process has been invaluable in engaging with investors, hotel management, consultants and other stakeholders.

There is also a growing demand in the travel market for credible sustainability information and data, particularly from corporate travel buyers and from the third-party reservation agents.

 “(We) can see how valuable NABERS has become for commercial property,” Van Der Wal says. “And the hotel sector is seeing different triggers, for example booking.com and different procurement strategies.”

Office portfolios lift performance across all metrics

The NABERS SPI 2026 Office Energy Index includes 402 rated assets, covering approximately 8.2 million square metres – around 26% of the national commercial office market.

Charter Hall has the highest portfolio coverage for the Energy Index, with more than 1.5 million square metres of office space assessed.

“NABERS ratings allow Charter Hall to independently measure our progress, validate performance and align with emerging trends for real estate,” says Andrew Cole, Group Head of ESG with Charter Hall.

“Insights we gain from our NABERS rating are increasingly informing strategic asset planning, as well as support the way we leverage our entire portfolio to drive operational savings, inform investment decisions and support sustainable finance transactions.” 

Office energy

Three portfolios share the top spot for Office Energy with 5.6 stars: Charter Hall (Office Trust No. 3); Walker Corporation (Parramatta Square) and Quality Green Group.

A strong group follows at 5.5 stars: Cbus Property; Walker Corporation (Collins Square); Charter Hall (Wholesale Property Trust and Long WALE Fund); Lendlease (Barangaroo International Towers); and QIC Real Estate (Office Fund).

Indoor Environment Quality gains traction

Four portfolios achieved 6.0 stars across the Indoor Environment Quality (IEQ) dimension: Walker Corporation (Parramatta Square and Collins Square); Charter Hall (Wholesale Property Trust); and Brookfield Property Partners.

“NABERS Indoor Environment ratings are important to us as they provide a consistent benchmark to measure and assess the indoor environment attributes of our properties that directly impact tenants and occupants,” says Danny De Sousa, Vice President ESG & Innovation, Brookfield Properties.

More SPI KPIs

NABERS Office Water and Office Waste along with the Renewable Energy Indicator (REI) rankings continued to demonstrate strong engagement, and not just from the major Real Estate Investment Trusts. Castlerock’s Services Australia Fund, for example came in at 4.9 Stars for water, while Charter Hall’s PGGM Industrial Partnership 2 (CHPIP2) Fund recorded the highest REI in the office sector at 91.94%, followed by Vision Super’s Local Government Property Fund at 89.15%.

This year also saw the debut appearance of Electrification Progress as a portfolio metric.

Why the NSW Government values the rankings

Tim Grigg, Director of Sustainability, Resilience & Net Zero at Property and Development NSW spoke at the launch webinar, and explained the state government agency uses the SPI as a “competitive tool”.

It looks to improve ratings and rankings year on year and finds the NABERS ratings are a valuable tool that “helps people understand what we are trying to achieve.”

Property and Development NSW have participated in the NABERS SPI since its first intake in 2019, and in 2026 they were the only government participant. The agency owns approximately 150 commercial properties spread across the state including into the far west at Broken Hill.

The average age of the buildings is 60 years old – proving existing buildings of any era can audit and improve their performance across energy, water, IEQ and waste. Around 25 of the agency’s buildings have more than 1000m² of net lettable area, and this is where the ratings effort is focused.

“For the New South Wales Government, there’s the Net Zero Government Operations Policy, which mandates a requirement for buildings that are greater than 1000 square metres to have NABERS ratings on energy, water, waste, and indoor environment. And there are measures that we have to achieve within that,” Grigg says.

According to Grigg, the ongoing work of improving energy efficiency, renewable energy procurement and electrification means that refrigerants are now the primary source of Scope 1 emissions on a portfolio level.

Gaining insights for action

Listed property group Dexus has participated in the NABERS program for more than a decade and features in both the SPI Office and SPI shopping Centre rankings.  

Parag Shinde Sustainability, Development & Operations (DEXUS) tells the webinar audience that engagement in the SPI is supporting market analysis and strategy.

“We think it’s the best quantitative operational asset sustainability performance benchmark tool,” Shinde says. “It’s helping us set goals and aspirations aligned with our climate action and customer prosperity pillar to drive consistent and ongoing improvements.”

The new electrification progress feature is also proving valuable. Shinde says it is “one of the fundamental things we are using right now to track ourselves and our peer groups on how electrified the asset portfolio is.

“And it’s forming part of our key inputs and insights supporting our broader market analysis and strategy for the future to get (to) 100% decarbonisation and electrification and achieving our 2040 and 2050 net zero targets.”

The shift towards full participation

One of the clearest signals in the 2026 SPI is the growing number of organisations committing to full participation across all NABERS indexes. This year, nine companies reported across energy, water, indoor environment and waste.

“A high NABERS rating is not only evidence of sustainability. It is a pathway to finance, a signal to investors, a point of engagement with tenants, and increasingly, a requirement for market participation,” Wardle says.

“The SPI reflects how expectations are shifting and evolving.”

Explore the 2026 SPI data and rankings here.

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