NABERS Sustainable Portfolios Index 2021

The third edition of the NABERS Sustainable Portfolios Index (SPI) is available online. In 2021, the SPI showcases the proven environmental performance of the top 43 building portfolios and funds around Australia.

The SPI provides a public portfolio of building performance in terms of emissions, water usage, waste and indoor environment quality, and tracks progress over time. A portfolio consists of two or more buildings with NABERS ratings owned by the same company.

The Index covers office buildings and shopping centres, and provides a comparison on where a portfolio stands against its peers.

NABERS Director Carlos Flores, M.AIRAH, highlights the the impressive results in the 2021 SPI.

“Despite the unparalleled challenges of the last year, we’ve seen these organisations double down on their sustainability efforts and continue their many years of hard work to help the environment,” he says.

“We also saw a 13 per cent increase in property portfolios disclosing in the SPI, spearheaded by a 27 per cent increase in funds disclosing their portfolio NABERS Indoor Environment performance.”

Aside from measuring sustainability benchmarks, the Index is also a valuable tool for key sustainability finance players. Banks use the SPI as a benchmarking tool for providing sustainability linked loans.

According to the Associate Director of Sustainability at the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), Sebastian Loewensteijn, it is becoming increasingly important that portfolios demonstrate a commitment to a climate transition in order to access green funding.

This year’s Index highlights portfolios that have set public targets to achieve net zero emissions. These include the Net Zero Momentum Tracker, the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) and World Green Building Council’s Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment, and the Science Based Targets Initiative.

It also showcases two property portfolios that have achieved full carbon neutrality, including Local Government Super’s Local Government Property Fund and The GPT Group’s GPT Wholesale Office Fund.

Scott Armstrong, Head of Property at LGS, says he hopes this achievement will demonstrate that it is possible to effectively reduce emissions and offset any impact on the environment through targeted action.

The Sustainable Portfolio Index is available to read in full here.