Davis Langdon investigated the opportunities associated with achieving national emissions targets via the Australian property sector. A principal finding is that in order to achieve a 40% reduction in GHG emissions the existing commercial building stock will have to be upgraded to a MINIMUM Australian Building Greenhouse Rating of 4.5 stars.
Summary
This report is the third in a series of Davis Langdon's insights into Sustainability. In December 2007, the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali resulted in a new global warming pact, agreed to by Australia, with the Federal Government committing to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 25 to 40 percent by 2020. This report investigates the opportunity, costs and benefits associated with achieving national emissions targets via the Australian property sector. It considered five scenarios - that is upgrading the existing building stock to achieve 2, 3, 3.5, 4 and 4.5 star Australian Building Greenhouse Ratings (ABGR). The study also focuses on B, C, and D grade buildings which have low or no Property Council of Australia (PCA) energy compliance requirements and constitute almost 60% of total office stock in terms of NLA.
Some of its principal findings are:
- the 2, 3, and 3.5 star scenarios do not meet the minimum required emissions reductions (i.e. 25%)
- in order to achieve a 40% reduction in GHG emissions is Australia the existing commercial building stock will have to be upgraded to a MINIMUM ABGR of 4.5 stars;
- emissions trading alone will not be a sufficient incentive for the majority of Australian property owners;
- some form of capital injection or benefit (such as accelerated depreciation) will be required in order for the majority of existing building owners to be motivated;
- upgrading to ABGR 4.5 stars will provide other long term advantages for building owners and tenants
To read the full report, please click here
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