Pictured L to R: Kiwi Property chief executive Clive Mackenzie, Associate Minister of Energy Hon Minister Shane Jones and NZGBC’s Andrew Eagles at the handover of Kiwi Property's 6-star NABERSNZ pilot rating certificate
Thousands more New Zealand businesses can now use an independent energy rating to identify wasted energy and opportunities to cut their bills, as a programme previously available for offices expands to shopping centres, shops, warehouses and cold stores.
NABERSNZ measures how efficiently a building uses energy in everyday operation. It gives owners and tenants an independent star rating so they can compare performance with similar properties and track improvements.
NABERSNZ is administered by the New Zealand Green Building Council (NZGBC), with support from licensee EECA (the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority).
The Australian programme it is based on shows that rated Australian buildings saved A$2.1 billion in energy costs and avoided 15.2 million tonnes of emissions over the past decade. Those are cumulative Australian results, not a forecast of New Zealand savings.
NZGBC chief executive Andrew Eagles says the expansion could help businesses take greater control of their energy costs.
“An energy bill tells you what you’re spending, but not whether your building is using energy efficiently. This gives more businesses a way to understand how they compare and where to focus improvements,” he says.
“A rating alone won’t cut a power bill. The value comes from using the assessment to identify improvements and then making changes to how the building runs. Some savings can be achieved without additional capital spending.”
“This independent rating measures how efficiently a building uses energy in everyday operation, helping owners and tenants understand how their building compares and where improvements could be made.” It also enables access to lower interest finance options such as green loans and bonds which reduce costs for business owners”
New Zealand’s largest shopping centre, Sylvia Park, is an early example of the performance the expanded programme can recognise. Owner Kiwi Property has achieved a 6-Star NABERSNZ pilot rating for the centre, the highest available.
Its features include a large solar panel installation and energy efficient lighting.
“Achieving a 6-Star rating for Sylvia Park is a significant milestone for Kiwi Property and reflects the sustained work of our teams to improve the energy performance of our assets. We’re also pleased that Te Awa at The Base, which we co-own with Tainui Group Holdings, has achieved a strong 5-Star rating,” says Helen Ronald, Kiwi Property’s GM Asset Management.
“The expansion of the NABERSNZ rating tool to shopping centres gives us an independent, credible benchmark that will help us identify further opportunities to improve efficiency and reduce emissions across our retail-led portfolio.”
Funding from ASB Bank has enabled the expansion.
“Energy efficiency is becoming an increasingly important consideration for building owners, tenants and investors. By supporting the expansion of NABERSNZ into new sectors, we’re helping more New Zealand businesses access trusted information about their building performance and where improvements can be made. The expansion also enables more businesses to access ASB’s sustainable finance solutions, supporting investment in lower-carbon, lower-cost buildings that are fit for the future,” said ASB’s Ben Speedy, Executive General Manager, Business Banking.
Extra information:
NABERSNZ is administered by the New Zealand Green Building Council on behalf of licensee EECA (the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority).
The office programme began in New Zealand in 2012 and has seen more than 380 office buildings participate, with more than 200 ratings issued each year.
Source for Australian figures: NABERS Annual Report 2025/26, Director’s welcome. The A$2.1 billion in energy cost savings and 15.2 million tonnes of avoided emissions are cumulative results from rated Australian buildings over the past decade, not annual savings or projected New Zealand outcomes.
Introduction to NABERSNZ - https://nzgbc.org.nz/introduction-to-nabersnz
To find out more about this expansion and whether your building can be NABERSNZ rated please contact NZGBC Impact Manager Bobby Shen at bobby.shen@nzgbc.org.nz
NABERS (National Australian Built Environment Rating System) is a rating scheme founded in Australia in 1999, developed and administered by the New South Wales Government. NABERS has become one of the most successful initiatives at helping reduce energy use and carbon emissions in non-residential buildings globally. In Australia NABERS has been expanded to cover a wide range of sectors of the built environment, including hotels, shopping centres, schools, data centres, apartment buildings, hospitals, warehouses and cold stores and more. The types of ratings also extend beyond energy and cover water, waste, indoor environmental quality, embodied carbon and carbon neutrality.