A statement released by the Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (DEWHA) has outlined the latest updates on the mandatory disclosure of the energy efficiency of commercial office buildings.

The Australian Government, together with the State and Territory Governments have agreed to implement a new national scheme for mandatory disclosure anticipated to come into effect mid 2010.

This new scheme requires building owners to undertake energy efficiency tests and release the information to prospective buyers and tenants so a ‘like for like’ comparison can be made on between potential buildings.

On 2nd July 2009, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) agreed to introduce mandatory disclosure throughout 2010 as one of the key measures under the new National Strategy on Energy Efficiency.

The platform will be based around the NABERS Energy star rating system.  Currently a voluntary environmental rating system for office premises, NABERS is tailored for use by building owners and occupants to measure the environmental performance of the building that are in their control.

The process will unfold in two stages.  Initially, Stage one will involve the implementation of the mandatory disclosure scheme for large commercial office buildings of 2000m2 or larger.  The proposed stage two of the project would see the expansion of mandatory disclosure to include other commercial buildings including schools, hospitals, retail and hotels.

The process still much work to go before a finalised time-frame can be put into place but once all forms of government have agreed on the design of stage one, work will commence on putting in place appropriate legislation, establishing an administrative unit, and developing a training scheme to ensure the necessary skill-setis available to the assessors.

If you would like to keep up-to-date with further developments then keep a keen eye on www.planetgreensolutions.com.au