Photo by dylan nolte on Unsplash
If we’re going to hammer down carbon emissions, energy efficiency is a vital tool in the box that must be used.
The benefits of energy efficiency don’t stop at tackling climate change. As the International Energy Agency says “Energy efficiency is a jobs machine.” An IEA report out earlier this year showed that improving the energy efficiency of buildings created the greatest amount of jobs for every million dollars invested.
Over in Australia, the uptake of the NABERS energy efficiency certification has slashed AU$1billion off energy bills and reduced carbon emissions by 7 million tonnes.
And the equivalent here, NABERSNZ, which rates the energy efficiency of office buildings, is enjoying lots of interest, and has now measured and rated the energy use of a million square metres of office space.
But as more questions are being asked about the future of the post-Covid office, with international media outlets proclaiming that ‘the office, as you know it, is dead’, what does the future hold for NABERSNZ and office energy efficiency?
Vivien Li manages NABERSNZ for the Green Building Council, and is predicting the numbers of NABERSNZ ratings will continue to grow.
Vivien says: “The project registration numbers for both NABERSNZ and Green Star have been increasing over the last few months.
“For NABERSNZ, we’ve seen many new organisations come to us to rate the energy efficiency of their buildings, which is awesome. And recently we’ve seen interest in rating buildings under NABERSNZ and Green Star Performance before putting them up for sale – presumably because that may attract prospective buyers.”
Might an increased, Covid-driven, focus on health and well-being see more interest in healthy offices? Certainly some scientists are now suggesting that better building design, including measures like improved ventilation, could help fight the spread of Covid-19.
Vivien agrees, and says: “There will only be more focus on the workplace health and well-being in the future.
“In a competitive market, building owners will increasingly be called upon to demonstrate the health and efficiency of their buildings. And a straightforward way of doing that is through a universal language, like green building tools.”