CBD Program roadmap offers clear pathway to reducing emissions

Since it began in 2010, the CBD Program has been a powerful force for improving energy efficiency in Australia’s buildings. According to the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA), since the program began, office buildings covered by the program have reduced energy use by more than 40% on average (FY11 to FY23), and more than 11 million tonnes of carbon emissions have been avoided annually.

Currently, the program requires commercial buildings of 1,000m² or more to obtain a NABERS energy rating and to disclose that rating when selling, leasing or subleasing their building or office space.

The roadmap sets the policy direction of the CBD Program for the next 10 years and guides its future expansion in line with four broad policy principles:

• Base the program expansion on trusted and benchmarked NABERS energy ratings
• Only use regulation when there is a strong rationale for government intervention
• Prioritise sectors that offer the largest energy and emissions savings
• Expand the program in a staged fashion, considering all major commercial building sectors between now and 2035.

According to the roadmap report, the changes to the program could deliver a three-fold improvement in emissions reductions out to 2035.

“Expanding the Commercial Building Disclosure program will improve the energy performance of more large buildings, reduce energy costs and emissions, and help Australian businesses to save money while acting on climate change,” says Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy Josh Wilson.

Changes on the way

The roadmap includes regulatory and non-regulatory activities and is divided into nine stages from now until 2035.

In terms of changes to the CBD Program itself, priorities signalled in the roadmap are to include the NABERS Renewable Energy Indicator in disclosure, and expand the program to large hotels and office tenancies. The expansion to tenancies is important because tenant energy use can account for up to 50% of energy use in offices, and it is not currently covered by the program. It includes fixed lighting, plug loads such as computers and printers, and smaller HVAC&R equipment.

Looking further ahead, the roadmap identifies medium-priority sectors to tackle, such as smaller office buildings (potentially 500–1,000m²), shopping centres and retail stores, data centres, aged care and retirement living.

Near the end of the 10-year window, other sectors will be targeted, including warehouses and cold stores. There is also scope for establishing minimum energy performance standards to drive improvements among building owners who do not respond to market incentives.

The non-regulatory changes to the program include the publication of the roadmap, ongoing improvement of the NABERS tool – with $10 million of government funding – and a push for state and territory governments to disclose NABERS ratings for their buildings.

Some of the high-priority regulatory changes will take place in 2025–26. Others will require legislative reform, ministerial determinations and further impact analysis.

More information and the full policy roadmap is available at the CBD Roadmap website.

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