The Next Wave - assets.sustainability.vic.gov.au

The Next WaveRetrofitting Victoria’s Office Buildings

Davis Langdon, an AECOM company

Sustainability Victoria - The Next Wave

27 February 2012


The Next Wave

Retrofitting Victoria’s Office Buildings

Prepared for

Sustainability Victoria by Davis Langdon Australia Pty Ltd

Contact

Sustainability Victoriasustainability.vic.gov.auPh: +61 3 8626 8700

The Next Wave © Sustainability Victoria 2013

While reasonable efforts have been made to ensure that the contents of this publication are factually correct, Sustainability Victoria gives no warranty regarding its accuracy, completeness, currency or suitability for any particular purpose and to the extent permitted by law, does not accept any liability for loss or damages incurred as a result of reliance placed upon the content of this publication. This publication is provided on the basis that all persons accessing it undertake responsibility for assessing the relevance and accuracy of its content.

The Next Wave should be attributed to Davis Langdon Australia Pty Ltd.

The Next Wave is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia license. In essence, you are free to copy, distribute and adapt the work, as long as you attribute the work and abide by the other license terms. To view a copy of this license, visit: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/



27 February 2012

Contents Glossary 5 Key Findings 7 Executive Summary 8 Methodology 19 1.0 Office Market Characteristics 24

1.1 Victorian Office Market Summary 24 1.2 City of Melbourne 30

1.2.1 Market Size 30 1.2.2 Building Age 32 1.2.3 PCA Grade 33 1.2.4 Tenant Type 35 1.2.5 Number of Floors 36 1.2.6 Ownership 37 1.2.7 Typical Lease Term 38

1.3 Metropolitan Regions 40 1.3.1 Market Size 41 1.3.2 PCA Grade 41 1.3.3 Building Age 42 1.3.4 Tenant Type by Industry 42 1.3.5 Number of Floors 43

1.4 Regional Market 44 1.4.1 Market Size 46 1.4.2 Building Type 48 1.4.3 PCA Grade 49 1.4.4 Building Age 49

2.0 Office Market Typical Energy and Water Usage 52 2.1 Methodology 52 2.2 Typical Energy/Water Consumption and GHG Emissions 53

2.2.1 DCCEE Baseline Study 54 2.2.2 Typical Energy/Water Consumption and GHG Emissions – City of Melbourne 56 2.2.3 Typical Energy/Water Consumption and GHG Emissions – Metropolitan

Suburbs 56 2.2.4 Typical Energy/Water Consumption and GHG Emissions – Regional Market 57

3.0 Office Market Retrofitting Drivers and Barriers 60 3.1 Drivers 60 3.2 Barriers 63 3.3 Retrofit decision making process 65

3.3.1 Ownership Type 65 3.3.2 Tenant Type / Structure 67 3.3.3 Property Attributes 69 3.3.4 Economic Capacity for Investment 73

3.4 Retrofitting Cycles 75 3.4.1 Building Elements 75 3.4.2 Economic and Vacancy Rate Cycles 75 3.4.3 Legislative 75 3.4.4 City of Melbourne Retrofitting Cycles – Lower Grades 76

3.5 Retrofitting Market Regulations and Incentives 77 3.5.1 Finance Mechanisms 77 3.5.2 Requirements 81 3.5.3 Incentives 82

4.0 ESD Planning and Upgrades 86 4.1 Overview 86 4.2 Education, Planning and Budget 87 4.3 Baseline Data 87 4.4 Environmental Benchmarks 88



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4.5 Ecological Sustainable Design 90 4.5.1 Climatic Conditions 90 4.5.2 Passive Design 91

4.6 Monitoring and Validation 93 4.7 Assessing ESD Initiatives 94

4.7.1 Assessment Methodology 94 5.0 Improving Value in the Victorian Office Market 120

5.1 City of Melbourne 120 5.2 Metropolitan Market 121 5.3 Regional Market 122 5.4 Effect of ESD Upgrades on Office Yields and Values 124 5.5 Successful Office Upgrades 126

5.5.1 Green Building Fund Projects 126 5.5.2 Case Studies 127

6.0 Recommendations 132 6.1 Market Data Insights 132

6.1.1 Construction Year 132 6.1.2 Building Size 134 6.1.3 Regional Centres 136 6.1.4 Heritage Buildings 137

6.2 Opportunities for Emissions and Water Savings 138 6.3 Typical Building Types and Retrofit Opportunities 139 6.4 Implementation Initiatives 139

6.4.1 Education 139 6.4.2 Funding Schemes 140

7.0 Guidance for Further Study 142 8.0 References 143 Appendices 145 Appendix A 146

City of Melbourne Office Market Data Appendix B 148

ANZSIC Division and Subdivision Codes and Titles Appendix C 151

NLA by ANZSIC – City of Melbourne Appendix D 153

Rural Office Market by Municipality Appendix E 156

Heritage Overlays in Regional Centres Appendix F 162

SEIFA Economic Index – Victoria Appendix G 165

ESD Initiatives Appendix H 175

Green Building Fund - Victorian Projects Appendix I 184

Regional Summary Pages Appendix J 199

Typical Building Recommendations Appendix K 222

List of Tables and Figures


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5 Davis Langdon, an AECOM Company

Glossary ABS Australian Bureau of Statistics

ANZSIC Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification

API Australian Property Institute

AVPCC Australian Valuation Property Classification Codes

BCA Building Code of Australia

BEEC Building Energy Efficiency Certificate

CAD Central Activity District

CBD Central Business District

CBD Program Commercial Building Disclosure Program

CLUE Census of Land Use and Employment

CoM City of Melbourne

COAG Council of Australian Governments

CPM Carbon Price Mechanism

CSR Corporate Social Responsibility

DPCD Department of Planning and Community Development

EEO Energy Efficiency Opportunities

ESD Ecologically Sustainable Design

ESI Energy Saver Incentive

GBF Green Building Fund

GFA Gross Floor Area

GHG Greenhouse Gas

HCFC Hydrochlorofluorocarbon

LGA Local Government Area

MAV Municipal Association of Victoria


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NABERS National Australian Built Environment Rating Scheme

NCC National Construction Code

NFEE National Framework for Energy Efficiency

NLA Net Lettable Area

OEH Office of Environment and Heritage

OMR Office Market Report

PCA Property Council of Australia

PJ Petajoules

SEIFA Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas

TEC Total Environment Centre

VBEEPS Victorian Building Energy and Environmental Partnership Scheme

VGV Valuer General Victoria


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Key Findings The key findings of this study are:

Buildings constructed between 1960 and 1999 would yield the most success from a targeted performance-based retrofitting scheme, due to the large numbers of these buildings spread across CBD, metropolitan and regional areas.

Lower grade buildings in the B, C and D grades represent 80% of the City of Melbourne office market. Due to a lack of data the exact ratio of lower grade building stock in metropolitan and regional areas cannot be determined. However, limited data from metropolitan areas, in tandem with building age, size and type, enable some insights into the nature of the lower grade buildings in these markets.

Although D grade buildings represent 20% of the office buildings in the City of Melbourne, they account for only 6% of the total office Net Lettable Area (NLA) so may require a different approach to larger office buildings.

It is estimated that the City of Melbourne is the largest emitter of carbon emissions cumulatively contributing an estimated 1,127,000 tonnes (46%) of base building carbon, while the metropolitan Melbourne market (excluding City of Melbourne) emits a similar amount at 1,094,000 tonnes (45%), and regional areas emit 215,000 tonnes of carbon (9%).

Based on Gross Floor Area (GFA), Commercial Building Disclosure thresholds currently capture 690 existing buildings across Victoria with a GFA greater than 2,000m². If the threshold for disclosure was lowered from 2,000m² NLA to 500m² NLA, it would capture an additional 2,107 buildings across the state, enabling the encouragement of retrofits in a broader market.

Key barriers to market transformation identified in the report include financial risks, disruption to tenants, lack of tenant demand, capital constraints and industry risks.

Key drivers for retrofits include the establishment of interactive education tools for tenants and building managers, government procurement changes and easier access to finance for building retrofits.

A heritage buildings retrofit strategy to address the considerable proportion of buildings affected by heritage overlays in the Victorian office market would have a significant impact in metropolitan and regional centres.


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Executive Summary

This study was commissioned by Sustainability Victoria to deliver a greater understanding of the size and impact of lower-grade commercial office buildings across Victoria.

The main goals of this report are:

to provide analysis of Victoria’s office stock segmentation and provide insights into the various office markets in which these buildings operate

to inform the future direction of policy and initiatives enabling decision makers to achieve the highest possible environmental and economic return.

In place of state-wide or national initiatives, targeted campaigns using this evidence base will enable the Victorian government to refine initiatives to better target lower grade (B, C and D grade) buildings. Traditionally, retrofitting initiatives and research have been focussed on the Melbourne CBD, where the highest volume of investment grade building stock resides. This report takes a state-wide view of lower grade building stock, incorporating metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria, presenting a more holistic and opportunity rich portrait of Victoria’s current market. In addition to the significant opportunities found in this report, there were also notable gaps in the availability of some data on Victoria’s lower grade office market. Future studies would benefit from further research, particularly in relation to building grades, ownership and actual environmental performance.

Victorian Office Market Summary

This report segmented the Victorian office market into three distinct zones; City of Melbourne, Metropolitan (excluding the City of Melbourne) and Regional. As detailed in the table below, an analysis on the location of office buildings across the three zones found an almost equal share of GFA between the City of Melbourne (46%) and the Metropolitan regions (45%). However, only 18% of total buildings are located in the City of Melbourne in comparison to 65% in Metropolitan regions.

Table ES 1 Victorian Office Market Summary

Region Total GFA (m2) Total Number of Buildings

City of Melbourne 5,298,443 (46%) 4,420 (18%)

Metropolitan (Ex Melbourne) 5,144,030 (45%) 16,115 (65%)

Regional 1,012,216 (9%) 4,169 (17%)

Total 11,454,689 24,704

Source: Davis Langdon Research, Valuer General Victoria 2010


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Understanding B, C and D Grade Office Building Stock in Victoria

B, C and D grade building types differ significantly across all three zones, in terms of size, age and use. In order to better understand how these different building grades function, their general characteristics have been listed below, with recommendations for improving the take up of retrofitting activity.

City of Melbourne

80% of Melbourne CBD’s building stock is B, C or D graded, and on an NLA basis has the largest opportunity for retrofitting. Education programs for lower grade building managers and owners, as well as supportive access to finance would accelerate the retrofitting of this stock.

B, C and D grade stock is most highly concentrated in buildings built between 1960 and 1999, when the first medium / high rise offices began to be constructed. As shown in Figure ES1, 70% of the total B, C and D Grade office NLA in the City of Melbourne was constructed during this period. The grades shown in the chart below are as at the time of data collection. Older buildings may have originally achieved a higher grade when first constructed but the extent of any movement between grades is unknown. Unlike metropolitan and regional areas, these buildings are more likely to be owned by trusts and companies, rather than individuals or owner occupiers. Also, since major retrofits are generally only required every 15 to 30 years based on the lifecycle of key services, these buildings represent an excellent opportunity to encourage the uptake of sustainable initiatives as part of their planned retrofit.

Figure ES1 Distribution of Low Grade Buildings by Construction Year – City of Melbourne (not including Premium and A Grade)

Note: All buildings listed as Premium, A Grade, not graded or missing a construction date are not included. These represent 824 buildings with a combined NLA of 3,073,754m²

*104 buildings (118,105m² NLA) built in this period have not been given a PCA grade and 22 buildings (654,735m² NLA) are classified as A Grade which explains the seemingly small number during this period in this chart

Source: Davis Langdon Research, City of Melbourne CLUE 2008

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

050,000

100,000150,000200,000250,000300,000350,000400,000450,000500,000

No. ofBuildings

NLA(m²)

Construction Year

B GradeC GradeD GradeTotal Number of Buildings (RHS)

TargetTarget Market


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Metropolitan (excluding City of Melbourne)

While marginally smaller in GFA, metropolitan Victoria has the largest number of buildings out of the three zones and is estimated to have a similar level of carbon emissions per year to the City of Melbourne. Data on the grading of buildings in these areas are not as widely available. However, it was clear from data from the office markets of Frankston, Footscray and Dandenong that there is a high proportion of B grade building stock in these areas.

Overall data for the metropolitan market (covering all grades of buildings) in Figure ES2 shows a considerable percentage (60%) of metropolitan GFA in buildings with a floor area of at least 500m2.

In order to maximise retrofit results in this zone financial incentive programs targeting smaller office spaces and lowering the threshold for mandatory disclosure could potentially capture these areas.

Figure ES2 Distribution of Metropolitan (not including CoM) Office Buildings by GFA Range

* Buildings that do not have a designated floor area in the Valuer General Victoria database are included within the 0-99m2 range. There are 75 buildings with no GFA specified.

Refer to appendix for raw data.


Figure ES3 indicates the regional distribution of office buildings within the metropolitan area. Office buildings recorded as single occupancy/single title/single stratum, low-rise and multi-level have been included in the below results.

Figure ES3 Number of Buildings by Metropolitan Region


0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

7,000

0200,000400,000600,000800,000

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No. of buildings

GFA(m²)

GFA Range (m²)

Total GFA of Buildings

Number of Buildings (RHS)

Target Market

2,068

2,660

2,793

3,092

5,502

0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000

North and West

City Fringe

South East

Outer East

Inner East

Number of Buildings


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Regional Victoria

Similarly to the metropolitan market, there was a severe lack of building grade data available for the Victorian regional market. However, additional valuable insights were discovered about this market which need to be considered as part of future schemes targeting retrofits of lower grade buildings in this market.

The concentration of the Victorian regional office market into the top five Regional Centres is a significant finding in this report and should also be a focus for any initiative encouraging the upgrade of lower grade buildings. 60% of the regional office market GFA is located in the Regional Centres of Greater Geelong, Greater Bendigo, Greater Shepparton, Ballarat and Latrobe, which all have an office market over 50,000m² GFA (see Figure ES4).

This zone also has the highest concentration of heritage buildings in the state – where mean building age is at least 60 years in several of the Regional Centre. Therefore, devising a heritage focused retrofit strategy will help these buildings improve their performance.

Figure ES4 Regional Office Market, including Municipalities with a GFA over 50,000m²

Note: Refer to appendix for raw data.


Figure ES5 Number of Buildings – Regional Centres


0100200300400500600700800

0

50,000

100,000

150,000

200,000

250,000

No. ofbuildings

GFA(m²)

Total GFA

No. of Buildings (RHS)

Top Regional CentresRural Regions minusTop Regional Centres

270

296

320

392

742

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800

Latrobe

Greater Shepparton

Ballarat

Greater Bendigo

Greater Geelong

Number of Buildings


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Energy and Water Performance

Given the lack of comprehensive data on energy and water use in Victorian office buildings, this report has used a statistical approach to estimate typical total emissions and water use in each region of the state.

Figure ES6 Typical Victorian Office Market Emissions

Source: Davis Langdon Research

Note: These are typical estimates of emissions for base building use only. Tenancy related emissions are not included here.

These theoretical estimates point to a similar opportunity for emissions savings in the remainder of the Metropolitan office market when compared to the City of Melbourne. As the chart above demonstrates, at 1.09 billion kgCO2 of base building emissions per year in the Metropolitan market, there is comparable scope for emissions savings as in the City of Melbourne where there is the potential for 1.13 billion kgCO2 savings.

The combined office markets of the five Regional Centres would also present emissions savings on par with the North West and South East suburban markets – in the vicinity of 120 million kgCO2 of base building emissions per year.

These estimates suggest that retrofitting schemes targeting the Metropolitan regions have just as much potential to reduce emissions as in the CBD. They also show the concentrated potential present in the Regional Centres for emissions savings. It should be noted that these findings are based on a theoretical understanding of the Victorian office market emissions – further detailed study is required to gather actual performance data in this area.

The Commercial Building Baseline Study, project managed by the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency (DCCEE) and discussed further in section 2.2.1, aims to provide actual figures for greenhouse gas emissions in the commercial building sector. The findings from the DCCEE study were not concluded when this report was finalised.

City of Melbourne1,127

Metropolitan1,094

Regional Centres126Other Regional

90

0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

Million kgCO2

Greater Potentialfor EmissionsSavings


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Impact of Climate Across Victorian Regions

The focus of this report is state-wide analysis of B, C and D grade office building stock, therefore consideration of the impact of Victoria’s climatic regions on initiatives is crucial to tailoring targeted suites of initiatives (individual and integrated) that will result in an improved environment return on investment. Climatic conditions impact on sustainable design, types of materials used and determine initiatives that would be amenable to a particular region.

Key recommendations include selective installation of grey and black water treatment plants depending on the amount of rainfall in a region and adopting passive design improvements to lower heat load in regions with above average temperatures. Each of these climate regions have been identified and assigned rankings to a family of initiatives. An integrated approach to targeting building owners should be a key consideration in addressing the impact of climate on retrofitting initiatives.

Figure ES7 Mean Monthly Temperature (°C) Difference – Key Victoria Towns

Source: Bureau of Meteorology

Figure ES8 Mean Monthly Rainfall – Key Victoria Towns


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6

8

10

12

14

16

18

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Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

ºC

Ballarat Bendigo Geelong Horsham Melbourne Mildura Portland Sale Shepparton Swan Hill Wodonga Warrnambool

102030405060708090

100110


mm



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Maximising Returns on Government Investment

Future policies that target building retrofits should be tailored to specific building demographics and regions in order to achieve the maximum return on invested resources (administration) and allocated funds.

Victorian building owners enthusiastically embraced the Green Building Fund; in stream A, 52 Victorian projects successfully collected over $22 million in grant funding over the three rounds (out of the total $90 million). As detailed in the appendix list of approved projects, these were all located in the Melbourne CBD and inner metropolitan areas.

The average Green Building Fund grant per project was $423,000 (which must be matched dollar for dollar by the owner) which indicates, from an expenditure perspective, that the majority of projects were larger in terms of project scope and were most readily adopted in office buildings greater than 2,000m² NLA.

From a catchment perspective the Green Building Fund program meets the federal government’s mandatory disclosure objectives of targeting office buildings over 2,000m², which this report estimates will capture 690 office buildings across Victoria, most of which are concentrated in the Melbourne CBD and city fringe.

It is acknowledged that the federal government’s commercial building disclosure program excludes a significant portion of the office market. In order to achieve Sustainability Victoria’s objective of encouraging retrofits more broadly, if the threshold was lowered to 500m², the program would capture an additional 2,107 buildings across the state (see Figure ES9). As seen in Figure ES2, this lower threshold would ensure a large proportion of the metropolitan office market (60% of total GFA) would be captured by the program.

Figure ES9 Office Market by Floor Area Range (<2,000m2) – Victoria

Note: 82 office buildings have an unclassified GFA.


9,499

7,245

2,922

1,405 836 545 343 229 206 130 6540

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

No. of buildings

GFA Range (m2)

Total Stock <2000sqm

Buildings with Unclassified GFA

0-499m² : 21,907 500-1,999m² : 2,107


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Drivers and Barriers

Addressing obstacles and incentives for retrofits is an important step in achieving a state-wide dissemination of targeted retrofit policies. Government procurement practices, regulations, accessibility to finance and a range of other initiatives already exist with varying degrees of effectiveness.

Table ES2 Current Financing Schemes Available to Victorian Property Owners

Scheme Administrator / Source Type of Program Geographic

Coverage

Existing / Future

program

Size Criteria

Low Carbon

Australia

Commonwealth/ Independent Company

Investment Loan Australia Existing $100m fund, with five streams covering Loans, Operating Leases, Finance Leases, On bill financing, EUAs

Depending on the product, buildings owners and tenants can access these programs. The investments made by LCA are co-investments which require a co-contribution from clients.

Tax Breaks for

Green

Buildings

Commonwealth/DCCEE Tax Deduction Australia Future $180m over three years; 50% of eligible capital expenditure of retrofit

Building owners apply for a one of tax deduction after raising the star rating of their building to a minimum of 4 star NABERS rating.

Victorian

Energy

Efficiency

Target

(VEET)

Victorian Government / Essential Services Commission

Certificate pegged to pre determined energy use reduction target

Victoria Existing (residential only)

No direct financial incentives, energy efficient products offered by energy retailer

Liability with energy retailers, incentives provided only to residential sector to assist with achieving energy reductions

1200 Buildings City of Melbourne Energy efficiency retrofit program with access to finance via sustainable Melbourne Fund

Municipality of Melbourne

Existing Sustainable Melbourne Fund has $7m in capital commitments

Melbourne municipality buildings only, become a signatory of the 1200 buildings program and be a commercial building including – office, hotel, public buildings, institutional, recreational, cultural buildings.

City Switch Nation scheme, operated in collaboration between local governments across Australia

Marketing and promotion, tenancy management advice, NABERS assessment and reporting.

Australia Existing No direct financial assistance

Office focused for owners and tenants, who have a NABERS rating, with an agreement to commit to improving it


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Table ES3 Proposed Financing Schemes Available to Victorian Property Owners

Proposed

Scheme Administrator / Source Type of Program

Geographic

Coverage

Existing / Future

Program Size Criteria

Victorian

Building

Energy and

Environment

Partnership

Scheme

(VBEEPS)

Victorian Government / Property Council of Australia

Matched funding for building retrofits initiatives which improve energy efficiency

Victoria Future (PCA Proposed)

Estimated $20.4m (50/50 split between govt funding and private sector funding)

Commercial office buildings only; Matched dollar for dollar funding to a max government contribution of $100,000


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The report found that the most common barriers to retrofitting B, C and D grade buildings were accessibility to finance, split incentives, lack of knowledge about building upgrades and disruption to tenants. This report confirms the view that there is a lack of information available for building owners and managers that explains the benefits and process of retrofitting lower grade office buildings. It is recommended that there is an increased emphasis from government and industry bodies on providing this information in a manner that is readily available, easy to use and relevant to a wide range of buildings.

To address these market barriers, educational packages – such as online tools or case study material – and financing mechanisms targeting lower grade, smaller GFA buildings are recommended. Any new tool targeting the lower grade building sector in Victoria should include tailored strategies for upgrading office buildings in metropolitan and regional locations – where a large proportion of Victoria’s lower grade buildings are located. Additionally, government procurement practices, and lowering the threshold on mandatory disclosure programs will enable a more comprehensive reach into metropolitan and regional areas.

ESD Retrofitting Initiatives

Figure ES10 Environmental Building Performance Improvement Process

Selecting the most appropriate ESD initiatives as part of a retrofit in lower grade office buildings is one of the most important steps in the building performance improvement process depicted in Figure ES10.

Utilising leading property management literature such as the Property Council’s Existing Buildings // Survival

Strategies 1, a list of initiatives have been distilled and scored according to their benefit for each main stakeholder

– owner, tenant, facility manager and maintenance contractor.

An integrated approach is recommended that considers other factors covered in this report (in addition to stakeholders) – such as environmental impact, typical building features and climate or other regional factors. Based on the scoring process, the top ESD initiatives recommended for stakeholder benefit include a BMS installation or upgrade, energy and controls audits, removal of any asbestos and having a building management team on site (see Figure ES11). When these initiatives are further weighted based on environmental benefits and suitability, the audits and recommission of existing plant score highly. Others such as installing external window shading rank highly but would involve more disruption to the tenant and are subsequently lowered in the weighting system.

1 Property Council of Australia, Davis Langdon and Arup, Existing Buildings // Survival Strategies, June 2009.

Education, Planning and

Budget

Baseline Data

Benchmarks

ESD Initiatives

Implement ESD

Initiatives

Monitoring & Validation


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Figure ES11 ESD Initiatives Ranked by Stakeholder Benefit

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27 February 2012


Methodology

Introduction

This report is based upon the original scope provided in June 2011, which outlined the following requirements:

Sustainability Victoria is now seeking a greater understanding of the size and impact of the lower-grade B, C and

D grade commercial building stock in Victoria, particularly those in suburban and regional locations

Sustainability Victoria also seeks a greater understanding of the drivers and barriers to improving the

environmental performance of these buildings, as well as an analysis of the opportunities for upgrades in this

sector (considering architectural solutions as well as building services upgrades)

Based on these parameters, Sustainability Victoria stipulated analysis of the lower grade commercial buildings sector in Victoria, through tailoring existing research data and taking into consideration (where available):

size and number of storeys

construction type

PCA Grade

age

ownership

location

tenant structure (single/multi-tenant, owner-occupied etc)

typical energy/water consumption and GHG emissions

An overview of the elements and processes of lower grade commercial building upgrades, retrofits, tuning and operations

A summary of the drivers and barriers to increasing the sustainability performance and architectural quality of lower grade office buildings

A summary of typical renovation/retrofitting cycles of base buildings and fit-outs

A summary of typical rents and valuations by grade and location, and the effect of improved sustainability on rental yield and building valuation

A brief report on existing exemplar upgrade projects in Victoria, Australia and/or overseas

A review of the current regulations, resources and other programs (not limited to Victoria) affecting the sector and driving change

The breadth of information gathered during this first phase led to a request to expand the study into the following areas:

The addition of a ‘recommendations’ section outlining suggested actions to promote retrofits in B, C and D grade buildings based on presented evidence base and Davis Langdon views

Additional statistical research into the demography of B, C and D grade buildings across the CBD, metro and regional zones

Potential overlaps with other schemes that currently exist, and offer insights on inclusions for future schemes

Implementation initiatives – boosting educational level of building owners and managers as well as financial instruments/incentives such as grants and tradable energy efficiency certificates


27 February 2012


Market size and segmentation

The office buildings assessed within this project were divided into three key market locations:

1) Melbourne CBD

2) Metropolitan

3) Regional

The method for collecting data for the three key market locations follows:

CBD – CLUE data provided by the City of Melbourne provided a detailed geographical breakdown of office buildings in the CBD, their age and size The Property Council of Australia (PCA) was liaised with to ensure the full extent of available data was considered and cross referenced with the Valuer General Victoria (VGV) data.

Metropolitan – The VGV and the Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) were able to provide information on building size and value. The metropolitan municipalities were grouped into the following five geographical regions; City Fringe, South East, Inner East, Outer East and North & West.

Regional – The VGV was the main source of data. Additional information such as regional population size, and demographics was sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Stakeholder engagement

The following stakeholders were consulted, provided information or raw data for the report.

Stakeholder Group

Property Council of Australia (PCA)

Australian Institute of Architects (AIA)

Australian Institute of Refrigeration Air Conditioning and Heating (AIRAH) Facilities Managers Association of Australia (FMA)

Property Funds Association (PFA)

City of Melbourne – CLUE data

NABERS Administrators (NSW Department of Environment and Heritage) Valuer General Victoria

Australian Property Institute (API)

Municipal Association of Victoria

The Warren Centre – University of Sydney

City of Darebin


27 February 2012


Data sources

City of Melbourne/CLUE

City of Melbourne Census of Land Use and Employment (CLUE) data was made available to segment different building types and geographical locations. The City of Melbourne’s CLUE provides an extensive office market database for this area. CLUE data is gathered by the City of Melbourne every two years from businesses in the municipality.

The CLUE data in this report is current as of July 2011. Although the 2008 dataset has been used, the 2010 survey has not been finalised. CLUE data also provides information on the construction year of office buildings. In the 2008 CLUE data, buildings that do not have a construction date listed have their construction date listed as zero. Of the 1,795 buildings in the City of Melbourne, 882 do not have a PCA grade associated with them in the CLUE records.

PCA Office Quality Grade Matrix

The PCA office quality grade matrix has five different grades for commercial office – Premium, A, B, C and D grades. Melbourne CBD had the highest concentration of PCA graded buildings compared to metropolitan and regional areas. The lack of grading in metropolitan and regional areas meant other data from the Department of Planning and Community Development (DPCD) and MAV had to be used to capture the current performance of Victorian office stock. In the future, expanding the reach of the PCA office grade research to capture more information on metropolitan and regional assets will be crucial to getting a clearer picture of the Victorian office market in future.

Australian Bureau of Statistics

ABS data on the Index of Relative Socio-economic Advantage and Disadvantage Score and Rank by LGA –

(catalogue number 2033) was used as a demographic measure in local government areas. This was used to give an indication of the availability of government funds for investing in sustainable building upgrades.

Population growth was also referenced in Appendix I (catalogue number 3218).

Valuer General Victoria

The following information was obtained from the VGV office (although to a degree in an aggregate form to protect privacy and confidentiality):

size and number of storeys

construction type

PCA Grade

value

age

ownership

location

tenant structure (single/multi-tenant, owner-occupied etc)

Australian Valuation Property Classification Codes (AVPCC) were used in the VGV data to classify building types across the metropolitan office market. The data includes buildings with the following codes: Office Premises – single occupancy/single title/single stratum (AVPCC 220), Low rise office building (AVPCC 221) and Multi-Level office building (AVPCC 222). Special Purpose (223) buildings have been excluded from the dataset due to their unique (typically high technology) use. Buildings outside of the AVPPC 22 (Office) prefix that may include an office component (ie. Mixed use operation 212) have also been excluded from this analysis.

The nature of the collection process by individual valuers is subjective in terms of the AVPCC code that is selected for the premises. However, all office codes begin with AVPCC 22 and therefore it is expected that this is a general interpretation by valuers. Other building types that may include an office component are scheduled under different commercial codes (ie. Retail) and therefore would not be representative of the Victorian office market and have therefore been excluded.


27 February 2012


The following explanation provided by the VGV explains the data collection process:

The valuation data is submitted to VGV from all 79 municipal councils from a variety of valuation programs for

VGV to audit and certify as true and correct in accordance with the Valuation of Land Act 1960. This is done in a

two year cycle and the data that was provided for this report was from the 2010 Revaluation which is the most

recently completed cycle.

Those records with a strata title are given an AVPCC. It is up to the external valuer what AVPCC code they are

assigned. In 1989 the Strata Titles Act was superseded by the Building Subdivision Act and as such no strata

titles have been issued from this date.

A header record is provided to the VGV to show the total site value and land area for that building. Each of the

children will have had their value apportioned according to the size, age and use of their section of the building. If

a building does not have a header number it means that the total has not been given for the whole building. It

does not affect the valuation as the children will have been apportioned regardless. It can also be down to the

valuation system that the external valuers use as some systems require the valuers to create a header record to

aid their calculations.

1200 Buildings – Segmentation Study

ARUP undertook a study for the City of Melbourne’s 1200 Buildings retrofit program, which segmented different building types across the municipality. The table captured the various ages and their attributes including building age, NABERS rating, PCA grade and size (NLA/GFA).

Warren Centre

The Warren Centre’s Low Energy High-Rise Report was used to extract NABERS ratings data to draw a comparison with PCA office grading data and the age of a building. The tables showed that age was a determining factor in how well a building performed from a sustainability perspective.

Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) and Department of Planning and Community Development

(DPCD)

Data from the Department of Planning and Community Development and Municipal Association of Victoria was used to address the lack of PCA office grade information in suburban areas limited to Central Activity Districts such as Dandenong, Frankston and Footscray.

NABERS

In order to estimate energy emissions and water use in Victorian office markets, this report adopted the normal distribution (bell curve) for NABERS ratings. Although the NABERS ‘bell curve’ is commonly referred to there is no precise distribution of buildings within each star band, merely a theoretical understanding of the breakdown of buildings within each market. The NABERS rating bands are derived from a statistical distribution of building performance using the following principles:

A small number of poorly performing buildings should lie outside the scheme, but the vast majority should be rateable within the scales.

The average performance was set to the middle of the 2.5 star rating band.

In August 2011, NABERS announced the introduction of 6 star which will now change the mid point to 3 stars instead of 2.5. However, since it is expected that currently only a small number of buildings would achieve a 6 star NABERS rating, this report does not include this new category in its normal distribution curve.

Bureau of Meteorology (BOM)

Rainfall and temperature differ greatly across the state. Data for regional centres was gathered to gauge different weather patterns and their impacts on ecological sustainable design principles for different geographical regions.

Office Market Characteristics

Chapter One



24

1.0 Office Market Characteristics

1.1 Victorian Office Market Summary

According to data collected by the Valuer General of Victoria in 2010, there are a total of 24,704 buildings in the Victorian office market – translating to a total GFA of 11,454,689m² as of 2010. This is based on buildings classified as ‘office’ in the rating assessments conducted by Victorian councils in 2010. Figure 1 shows the spread over the three main geographical areas and the considerable size of the office market outside the Melbourne Central Business District (CBD). The metropolitan (excluding CBD) and regional office markets account for 82% of office buildings and 54% of total office GFA in Victoria.

Even though there is minimal information about the grade of buildings in these markets, it is expected that few office buildings outside the CoM would achieve Premium or A Grade ratings, based on the grade requirements in the PCA’s A Guide to Office Building Quality

2. Metropolitan and regional office buildings do not generally meet Premium and A grade building requirements, such as NABERS and Green Star ratings or minimum floor areas. This large proportion of lower grade office buildings demonstrates the importance of this report’s investigation of ways to encourage these building owners to adopt more energy, water and waste efficient practices within their buildings.

Figure 1 Victorian Office Market by Number of Buildings and GFA


2 Property Council of Australia, A Guide to Office Building Quality, 2006.

City of Melbourne

18%

Metropolitan (not incl CoM)65%

Regional17%

Victorian Office Market by Number of Buildings

City of Melbourne

46%

Metropolitan (not incl CoM)45%

Regional9%

Victorian Office Market by GFA (m²)

Number of Buildings Building Area (GFA)



25

The VGV uses Australian Valuation Property Classification Codes (AVPCC) to represent the different types of commercial office buildings in Victoria (see Table 1). This report includes buildings captured within the AVPCC 220, 221 and 222 codes3.

Although the overall figures and associated individual buildings sizes, construction year, value and location are correct, segmentation of the building stock between code 220, 221 and 222 cannot be used as an accurate portrayal of precise office type. As shown in Table 1, the distribution of buildings between single occupancy/ low rise relative to multi-level is incorrect. Comparisons between this data and Figure 1 indicates that the data collection of this field of the valuation form could be improved/reviewed in order to improve the application of this data in the future. Table 1 Victorian Office Market Summary by AVPCC (Not to be used as representation of Victorian office market)

AVPCC Office Type Definition Number of

Buildings

% of

Total GFA (m²)

% of

Total

220 Single Occupancy/Single Title/Single Stratum

A separate occupancy used for professional services

21,972 89% 10,876,953 94%

221 Low-Rise Office Building

1-3 level office building with multiple tenancies (generally no lifts etc.)

795 3% 175,303 2%

222 Multi-Level Office Building

4-100 level office building, usually with multiple tenancies.

1,937 8% 402,433 4%

Total 24,704 100% 11,454,689 100%


Victoria’s 79 municipalities are shown in Figure 2. This report groups the office markets in these municipalities into metropolitan or rural in order to analyse areas with similar geographical, climatic and socio-economic conditions. The total office GFA for each municipality can be seen in Figure 2. For ease of graphical interpretation, the municipalities have been split into three charts in Figure 3, representing municipalities with an office market GFA greater than 100,000m², between 10,000m² and 99,999m² and less than 9,999m².

3 Refer methodology section for greater detail.



26

Figure 2 Victorian Municipalities by Total GFA



27

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119,

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124,

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Figure 3 Total Victorian Office Floor Area (m²) by Municipality




28

VGV data provided information on the office market in Victoria. These figures provide a useful snapshot of the nature and size of the overall office market. Figure 4 Office Market by Floor Area Range (≥2,000m

2) – Victoria

*The Commercial Building Disclosure Program applies to office buildings with a NLA over 2,000m². As the VGV data only provides GFA data, this figure should be used as an indicative number only.


Figure 4 and Figure 5 show the distribution of the Victorian office buildings by GFA range. Figure 4 represents the number of buildings with a total GFA greater than or equal to 2,000m², while Figure 5 shows the number of buildings with a total floor area less than 2,000m². These demonstrate that there is a greater concentration of buildings in the lower GFA ranges. Figure 5 Office Market by Floor Area (<2,000m

2) – Victoria

Note; 82 office buildings have an unclassified GFA. Source: Davis Langdon Research, Valuer General Victoria 2010

9,499

7,245

2,922

1,405 836 545 343 229 206 130 6540

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

No. of buildings

GFA Range (m2)

Total Stock <2000sqm

Buildings with Unclassified GFA

0-499m² : 21,907 500-1,999m² : 2,107

355

169

55 37 31 15 13 4 7 0 40

50100150200250300350400450

No. of Buildings

GFA Range (m2)

Total Stock >1000sqm

2,000m²+ : 690 (Potential* Mandatory Disclosure Obligations)



29

VGV data also provides a construction date for majority of the Victorian office buildings. This data forms a timeline of construction work in Figure 6 and indicates the age of the office buildings in Victoria. It should be noted that construction dates were missing for 1,897 buildings in the VGV data. Figure 6 Office Market by Construction Year – Victoria (Excluding City of Melbourne)


*No buildings are listed in VGV data as being constructed in the period from 1809 to 1840 Note 1 – During the 1980s and 1990s a reversal in the long term trend occurred resulting in greater office area constructed relative to the number of buildings. This was predominantly associated with decentralisation of Victoria’s office market outside of the CBD and primarily into the inner North, West and Eastern suburbs. Refer to Appendix I for regional data. The relationship between the number of buildings constructed and the total area of office space added each year gives a good indication of the scale of these buildings. For example, 1,891 buildings were constructed during the 1990s, considerably fewer than the previous decade but totalling 1,088,508m² in floor area – the largest area of office space constructed in Victoria during any decade. Since the average life cycle of building services is 20 years and fit out is 5 to 10 years (as shown later in Table 16), and a significant amount of the Victorian office market (in terms of m²) was constructed between 1980 and 1999, a considerable proportion will require upgrading soon. Table 2 Office Market by Construction Year – Victoria (Excluding City of Melbourne)

Year Buildings Area (m²) Year Buildings Area (m²)

1800-1809 1 150 1920-1929 558 109,826

1840-1849 2 99 1930-1939 764 146,218

1850-1859 11 6,145 1940-1949 447 118,077

1860-1869 46 12,077 1950-1959 907 172,697

1870-1879 56 16,672 1960-1969 1,624 416,339

1880-1889 206 47,897 1970-1979 2,364 764,572

1890-1899 587 117,757 1980-1989 3,895 1,465,867

1900-1909 469 118,866 1990-1999 1,891 1,088,508

1910-1919 186 35,207 2000-2010 4,405 1,174,600

*Note: No buildings are listed in VGV data as being constructed in the period from 1809 to 1840


0

200,000

400,000

600,000

800,000

1,000,000

1,200,000

1,400,000

1,600,000

0500

1,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,000

Number (LHS)

Area (RHS)

No. of Buildings

GFA(m2)

Trend Reversal: Decentralisation of Offices to

outside of the City ofMelbourne - See Note 1



30

1.2 City of Melbourne

The City of Melbourne’s Census of Land Use and Employment (CLUE) provides a comprehensive office market database for this area. As such, this section of the report uses CLUE data instead of VGV data. CLUE data is gathered by the City of Melbourne every two years from businesses in the municipality. The CLUE data in this report is drawn from the 2008 census because the 2010 figures were not finalised at time of compilation. Figure 7 CLUE Region Map

Source: City of Melbourne CLUE 2008

1.2.1 Market Size

CLUE data segregates the City of Melbourne into 16 precincts, as shown in Figure 7. Table 3 shows the number of office buildings and total area for each of these precincts. The Melbourne CBD represents 39% of buildings and 67% of total NLA in the City of Melbourne office sector. The data also indicates the relative densities of each of these precincts. Carlton and North Melbourne represent 13% and 15% of office buildings (respectively), but only occupy 4% (Carlton) and 3% (North Melbourne) of the total NLA. Conversely, the Docklands represents 2% of office buildings but is the third highest precinct in terms of NLA with 6% of total space in the City of Melbourne.



31

Table 3 City of Melbourne Office Market Precincts

Precinct Buildings NLA (m²)

Average

Density

(m²/building)

Precinct Buildings NLA

(m²)

Average

Density

(m²/building)

Melbourne 692 3,346,678 4,836 Port Melbourne 13 66,745 5,134

Southbank 101 389,696 3,858 Kensington 71 32,549 458

Docklands 36 298,647 8,296 Jolimont 25 30,130 1,205

East Melbourne

76 206,360 2,715 Parkville 18 22,922 1,273

Carlton 228 189,491 831 Flemington 2 8,459 4,230

West Melbourne

201 154,881 771 South Wharf 1 4,194 4,194

North Melbourne

268 139,361 520 Carlton North 2 1,573 787

Fishermans Bend

57 116,218 2,039 South Yarra 4 1,531 383

Note: NLA does not equate to the total NLA for the City of Melbourne office market due to rounding Source: City of Melbourne CLUE 2008

CLUE data also provides information on the construction year of office buildings. In the 2008 CLUE data, 248 buildings did not have a construction date listed or have their construction date listed as zero. Figure 8 shows the distribution of the remaining 1,547 buildings constructed each decade from 1840 to 2009. The chart shows a trend towards larger buildings from around the 1960s onwards, with the ratio of area to number of buildings increasing over time. The period from 1990 to 1999 saw the construction of several high rise buildings in the City of Melbourne, which explains the relatively high quantity of area added to the market during those years. Figure 8 Office Market by Construction Year – City of Melbourne


0

200,000

400,000

600,000

800,000

1,000,000

1,200,000

1,400,000

020406080

100120140160180200

NLA(m²)

No. of Buildings

Number (LHS)

NLA (RHS)



32

1.2.2 Building Age

Of the 1,795 buildings in the City of Melbourne, 882 do not have a PCA grade associated with them in the CLUE records. Figure 9 shows the distribution of the graded buildings broken down by each decade from 1850 to 20094. The data suggests a loose connection between PCA Grade and age, 82% of A Grade buildings were built from 1980 to 2009 and 81% of B Grade buildings were built post 1950, whereas 70% of D Grade buildings were built before 1950. The correlation is not as clear with C Grade buildings where data indicates a 50:50 split between C Grade buildings that were constructed before and after 1950. Figure 9 Number of Buildings by Construction Year and PCA Grade – City of Melbourne


Figure 10 shows the distribution of the NLA of office buildings with a PCA grade and the decade they were constructed. The correlation between PCA grade and age is not as clear when looking at the percentage of NLA for each grade built in various decades. For example, while 70% of D Grade buildings were built before 1950, only 53% of the total NLA of D Grade buildings were constructed in this period – indicating that buildings of that grade constructed post 1950 were of a larger size than those built before 1950. The same applies to B and C Grade buildings with 87% and 57% (respectively) of their total NLA built post 1960. These figures reflect the trend seen in Figure 8 of office buildings constructed from around 1960 onwards becoming larger in terms of NLA. For actual figures used in Figure 9 and Figure 10 refer to Appendix A. Figure 10 NLA by Construction Year and PCA Grade – City of Melbourne

4 Figures in this section exclude buildings missing a construction date or PCA Grade in the CLUE database.

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

No. of Buildings

Construction Year

PremiumA GradeB GradeC GradeD Grade

0

200,000

400,000

600,000

800,000

1,000,000

1,200,000

NLA(m²)

Construction Year




33


1.2.3 PCA Grade

CLUE location data also provides a geographical distribution of office NLA by grade across the City of Melbourne. 699,699m² (14% of the total office area in the City of Melbourne) does not have a PCA grade listing in the current CLUE data. Excluding this building stock and, by using the buildings with an associated PCA grade, analysis of some of the typical locations of these certain grade buildings can be undertaken. Figure 11 NLA by Precinct and PCA Grade – City of Melbourne

Note: No office buildings in South Wharf and South Yarra had a PCA grade and so have been omitted from this chart.

Source: Davis Langdon Research, City of Melbourne CLUE 2008 Figure 12 PCA Grade A Office Space by Precinct – City of Melbourne


Figure 12 shows the distribution of A Grade buildings across the different precincts. Seven of the sixteen precincts have A Grade buildings located in them, the most geographically concentrated of all the PCA grades. Melbourne CBD contains 73% of the total area of A Grade buildings. Due to the large number of buildings in this precinct, A

0250,000500,000750,000

1,000,0001,250,0001,500,0001,750,0002,000,0002,250,0002,500,0002,750,0003,000,0003,250,000

NLA(m²) Left Axis

025,00050,00075,000100,000125,000150,000175,000200,000225,000250,000275,000300,000325,000350,000375,000400,000

NLA(m²)


Right Axis

218,322176,763

28,184 12,815 2,731 8230

50,000

100,000

150,000

200,000

250,000

1,200,000

1,250,000

NLA( m²)

1,205,246



34

Grade buildings only represent 38% of all PCA graded buildings in the CBD. The Docklands and Southbank represent 13% and 11% (respectively) of A Grade area, but of both their total office market (excluding ungraded buildings) 77% of the Docklands and 54% of Southbank are A Grade buildings. As shown in Figure 13, PCA B Grade buildings are located in nine of the City of Melbourne precincts. As with all of the PCA grades, the largest area of B Grade buildings are in the CBD, however, B Grade buildings make up 100% of the graded office market in Port Melbourne and almost half the total graded NLA in Parkville (48%) and East Melbourne (41%). This demonstrates the dominance of particular building grades in different precincts within the City of Melbourne. Figure 13 PCA Grade B Office Space by Precinct – City of Melbourne


PCA C Grade office area by City of Melbourne precinct is shown in Figure 133. After the CBD, Carlton contains 13% of C Grade buildings and has the highest percentage total area with 62% of the PCA rated office market in Carlton being classified as C Grade. Figure 14 PCA Grade C Office Space by Precinct – City of Melbourne


112,032

77,020 65,624

10,629 8,602 8,117 4,158 1,6280

50,000

100,000

150,000

200,000

850,000

900,000

NLA(m²)

861,509

79,871

58,953

29,18925,283

17,2436,993 6,386

0

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

400,000

420,000

NLA(m²)

412,654



35

Figure 15 indicates that PCA D Grade buildings exist across thirteen of the sixteen precincts in the City of Melbourne. The broadest spread of any of the PCA building grades. All PCA graded office buildings in the precincts of Carlton North and Flemington are classified D Grade. Whilst these precincts don’t account for a major portion of the office market in the City of Melbourne they have the highest concentrations of D grade stock in the municipality. Figure 15 PCA Grade D Office Space by Precinct – City of Melbourne


1.2.4 Tenant Type

CLUE data provides information on the industry of office building tenants with an Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC). There are four levels of Industry classification from broad (1-digit, e.g. Professional Scientific and Technical Services) to detailed industry groups (4-digit, e.g. Architectural Services). Figure 16 only shows the broad classifications for each building use, however each establishment in CLUE is classified at the detailed level (for a full list of the detailed industry groups within each broad classification refer to Appendix B). When combined, the top three uses (Professional, Scientific and Technical Services; Financial and Insurance Services; and Public Administration and Safety) account for 63% of the total PCA graded office market in the City of Melbourne. By analysing the grade of buildings each ANZSIC occupies, trends are established on the grade of building that tenants in particular industries are more likely to occupy.

According to CLUE, particular industries or service types are more likely to occupy higher graded buildings, with Premium and A Grade floor space comprising 81% of the NLA for the mining industry graded office space, 75% of the Information Media and Telecommunications industry, 67% of the Financial and Insurance Services and 61% of PCA graded office buildings occupied by Public Administration and Safety tenants. It should be noted that the ANZSIC for Public Administration and Safety includes government offices (both Australian and foreign) and uses such as defence and police offices. Of the lower graded buildings (Grade B, C and D), the ANZSICs most likely to occupy them are Residential (100%), Health Care and Social Assistance (95%), Education and Training (91%) and Other Services (90%) For actual figures for the GFA of each of these ANZSIC uses by PCA grade refer to Appendix C.

48,143

35,55032,452

24,814

13,0549,591 6,6786,1092,807 685 576 472

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

90,000

100,000

NLA(m²)

99,455



36

Figure 16 Office Building Use by Service Type (ANZSIC Classification) and PCA Grade – City of Melbourne


1.2.5 Number of Floors

In Figure 17 the figures indicate that lower grade buildings (Grades B, C and D) are more likely to have fewer floors with 83% of these having ten or less floors. This trend is most prominent in D Grade buildings, of which 75% have between two and four floors above ground. Figure 17 Number of Buildings by Floors Above Ground and PCA Grade – City of Melbourne


0 100,000 200,000 300,000 400,000 500,000

Residential

Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing

Accommodation and Food Services

Retail Trade

Wholesale Trade

Arts and Recreation Services

Health Care and Social Assistance

Mining

Construction

Rental, Hiring and Real Estate Services

Electricity, Gas, Water and Waste Services

Manufacturing

Education and Training

Transport, Postal and Warehousing

Other Services

Administrative and Support Services

Information Media and Telecommunications

Public Administration and Safety

Financial and Insurance Services

Professional, Scientific and Technical Services

NLA (m²)

Premium

A Grade

B Grade

C Grade

D Grade

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

1 2 to 4 5 to 10 11 to 20 21 to 30 31 to 40 41 to 50 51 to 60

No. ofBuildings

No. of Floors

Premium

A Grade

B Grade

C Grade

D Grade



37

Table 4 Number Buildings by Floors above Ground and PCA Grade – City of Melbourne

Number of Floors Premium A Grade B Grade C Grade D Grade

1 0 0 2 5 25

2 to 4 0 7 47 129 266

5 to 10 3 18 64 104 49

11 to 20 0 20 59 52 11

21 to 30 1 8 12 1 1

31 to 40 2 13 1 0 0

41 to 50 3 5 0 0 0

51 to 60 4 1 0 0 0


Legend

≥ 100 Buildings

50 – 99 Buildings

10 – 49 Buildings

≤ 10 Buildings

1.2.6 Ownership

In the 1200 Buildings Segmentation Study commissioned by the City of Melbourne (CoM), nine ownership types are identified in the Melbourne CBD.

1) Governments – government departments, for e.g. local councils, state government departments, consulates and embassies.

2) Out of Government – departments of organisations that have come out of or are held accountable to state or federal governments, for e.g services boards and corporations, commissions, national foundations and trusts.

3) Corporate – large corporations and companies, for e.g. publicly listed and multinational companies

4) Businesses – medium-sized to smaller companies and businesses, for e.g. investment firms, hotels, real estate management firms

5) Individual and Family Owned / Small Businesses and Investors – individual investments, for e.g. small property investments, family-owned businesses, trusts, holdings, nominees.

6) Owners Corporation – a group that manages the property investment of the owner on their behalf

7) Not for Profit – for e.g. community groups, religious groups, charities and support services

8) Professional Associations – associations that represent professionals

9) Other – other significant groups, for e.g. hospitals, universities, sporting associations and private clubs,

In the segmentation study there is no correlation between ownership type and PCA grade. The relationship between the number of owners compared to NLA shows that although the number of owners in the Individual and Family Owned category is the highest, they occupy 41% less floor space than the buildings owned by Corporates.

This represents an opportunity to target performance improvement campaigns towards a small number of owners representing a significant ratio floor area. The upside of this approach would be a higher environmental return with lower upfront costs. .



38

Figure 18 Ownership Type by NLA and Number of Buildings – City of Melbourne

Source: 1200 Buildings Segmentation Study - Arup 2009

1.2.7 Typical Lease Term

Typical lease terms in the City of Melbourne vary between each PCA grade. Figure 19 shows the range of typical office leases for Premium, A and B Grade buildings. The figures indicate that while there appears to be no difference in the typical lease term between Premium and A Grade buildings, B Grade buildings typically have shorter lease terms. Although there is no data available for C and D Grade buildings, the trend for A and B buildings implies that there may be a correlation between grade and lease terms, with shorter lease terms more likely in lower grade buildings. Figure 19 Typical Lease Terms by Grade – Melbourne CBD Office

Source: Savills Research 2011

62,886 153,216 91,249 72,771 51,082351,464

2,933,884

1,617,8381,723,349

0100200300400500600700800900

0

500,000

1,000,000

1,500,000

2,000,000

2,500,000

3,000,000

3,500,000

No. of Owners

NLA(m²)

NLA

No. of Owners (RHS)

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

Premium Grade A Grade B

Years

Low High



39

1.2.7.1 PCA Grade vs NABERS Rating

The Warren Centre for Advanced Engineering’s Low Energy High-Rise Report investigated the relationship between an office building’s PCA building grade and the performance of the building as measured by NABERS. A similar comparison was also made between the building’s age and its NABERS performance. Figure 20 NABERS Energy Rating and PCA Office Grade (Australia wide)

Source: The Warren Centre 2009

In Figure 20, the Warren Centre found little correlation between PCA office building grades and NABERS Energy ratings. As shown in Figure 21, building age did suggest higher ratings were found in newer buildings however this was more strongly correlated to the age of the building technology (both services and a good quality façade) rather than the age of the building. The Warren Centre has advised that the number of C and D Grade buildings surveyed in their report was small and potentially statistically invalid. Therefore, it should be interpreted with caution. Figure 21 NABERS Energy Rating and Office Building Age (Australia wide)

Source: The Warren Centre 2009

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

4.0

4.5

5.0

Premium A Grade B Grade C Grade Unknown

NABERSEnergy Rating

PCA Grade

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

4.0

4.5

5.0

<10 Years 10-20 Years 20-30 Years 30-40 Years 40-50 Years >50 Years

NABERSEnergy Rating

Building Age



40

1.3 Metropolitan Regions

There are 31 municipalities classified as ‘metropolitan’ by the Victorian Department of Planning and Community Development (DPCD), including the City of Melbourne (which has been analysed separately in section 1.2 and is not included in this section of the report). The remaining 30 municipalities have been grouped into the following five geographical regions: City Fringe, South East, Inner East, Outer East and North & West (shown in Table 5). Appendix I summarises the population, climate conditions and age of the office market in each of these regions. Table 5 Metropolitan Office Region Summary

Region Municipalities

City Fringe Port Phillip (Melbourne CBD has been analysed separately)

South East Bayside, Cardinia, Casey, Frankston, Glen Eira, Greater Dandenong, Kingston, Mornington Peninsula

Inner East Banyule, Boroondara, Darebin, Stonnington, Yarra

Outer East Knox, Manningham, Maroondah, Monash, Nillumbik, Whitehorse, Yarra Ranges

North and West Brimbank, Hobsons Bay, Hume, Maribyrnong, Melton, Moonee Valley, Moreland, Whittlesea, Wyndham

Figure 22 Metropolitan Melbourne Office Market Regions

Source: Davis Langdon Research, Municipal Association of Victoria



41

1.3.1 Market Size

According to VGV data, the metropolitan (excluding CoM) office market has a total GFA of 5,144,030m² and comprises of 16,115 buildings. The Inner East region represents the largest office market with 33% of the total GFA and 34% of the total office buildings. Figure 23 plots the relationship between GFA and number of buildings in each of the regions, and shows that the Outer East and City Fringe have higher density office stock than the South East and North West. Figure 23 Office Market by Region – Metropolitan


1.3.2 PCA Grade

There is limited information available on the PCA Grades for office buildings in suburban regions. The DPCD has a database of information for selected suburbs gathered by the Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) for the department’s Central Activity District (CAD) studies of Dandenong, Footscray and Frankston. These suburbs differ in profile due to their proximity to the Melbourne CBD, trends in population growth and access to transport infrastructure such as roads and public transport. Data on the number of buildings in this region is unavailable. Figure 24 Office Market Floor Area by PCA Grade – Selected Metropolitan Suburbs

Note: Information on the number of buildings in these CADs is not available.

Source: MAV, DPCD, Davis Langdon Research

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

0200,000400,000600,000800,000

1,000,0001,200,0001,400,0001,600,0001,800,000

North and West South East City Fringe Outer East Inner East

No. of buildings

GFA(m²)

GFA (m²)

No of Buildings (RHS)

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

70,000

Dandenong Footscray Frankston

GFA(m²)

B GradeC GradeD Grade



42

This CAD data is used in Figure 24 to show the distribution of PCA grades in these suburbs. The vast majority of this stock is B Grade, except in Footscray where there is a higher proportion of C and D Grade space (seen in Table 6). Table 6 Office Market by PCA Grade – Selected Metropolitan Suburbs

Dandenong Footscray Frankston

GFA (m²) % Share GFA (m²) % Share GFA (m²) % Share

B Grade 54,016 82% 13,457 55% 37,992 92%

C Grade 11,013 17% 7,541 31% 3,286 8%

D Grade 731 1% 3,271 14% 0 0%

Grand Total 65,760 24,269 41,278

Source: MAV, DPCD, Davis Langdon Research

1.3.3 Building Age

Data from the VGV also provides an insight into the average building age of office stock across the metropolitan region. The Inner East region has the oldest average building age, while office development further away from the city is more recent – as can be seen in the Outer East where the mean building age drops to 27 years (Figure 25). Figure 25 Mean Age of Metropolitan Office Buildings by Region


1.3.4 Tenant Type by Industry

When searching for further details about the characteristics of the office markets in metropolitan regions, it was established that Darebin was the only other municipality (other than the CoM) which has collected extensive CLUE data. From this Darebin data, tenant industry type and the height of office buildings can be included in this report, even though this data was not available for other suburban municipalities.

Similarly to the City of Melbourne office market analysis in section 1.2.4, this CLUE data provides tenant industry information for office buildings in Darebin (in the form of an ANZSIC). Figure 26 represents the broad classifications for each building, however, a full list of the sub-industry groups within each classification can be found in Appendix B. The top two most common industries occupying office space in the City of Darebin are Health Care and Social Assistance and Business Services, which combined account for 36% of the office market. Businesses in the Public Administration and Safety industry (which includes government offices) account for 3% of the GFA.

27

29

31

35

42

Outer East

South East

North and West

City Fringe

Inner East

(years)



43

Figure 26 Office Market GFA by Industry – Darebin

Source: Davis Langdon Research, City of Darebin CLUE 2009

1.3.5 Number of Floors

The majority of Darebin office market stock is single level buildings – as seen in Figure 27. According to the Darebin Council economic profile, businesses focused on retail, small to medium industrial and small offices make up the largest component of business types in the municipality. Large pockets are zoned industrial and for retail use. Only 38% of buildings have between 2 and 5 floors, while there are none greater than 5 floors.

Figure 27 Office Market GFA by Number of Floors – Darebin

Note: Information on the number of buildings by number of floors is unavailable.

Source: Davis Langdon Research, City of Darebin CLUE 2009

72

234

324

741

929

2,034

3,162

4,959

5,486

5,772

9,841

10,364

12,223

12,454

13,092

16,489

17,993

30,875

35,400

0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000

Food and Beverage Services

Agriculture

Arts and Recreation Services

Rental and Hiring Services

Accommodation

Information Media and Telecommunications

Education and Training

Other Services

Public Administration and Safety

Real Estate Services

Transport, Postal and Storage

Retail Trade

Admin and Support Services

Construction

Finance & Insurance

Wholesale Trade

Manufacturing

Business Services

Health Care and Social Assistance

GFA (m²)

0

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

100,000

120,000

140,000

1 2 to 5

GFA (m²)



44

1.4 Regional Market

The municipalities classified as rural by the Department of Planning and Community Development (DPCD) have been grouped into the following ten regions: Corangamite, East Gippsland, Glenelg Hopkins, Goulburn Broken, Mallee, North Central, North East, Port Phillip and Western Port, West Gippsland and Wimmera. These regions also represent Victoria’s Catchment Management Regions and each have distinguishing climatic and land form attributes. For the purposes of this report we have reclassified these areas as ‘regions’, and larger towns as ‘Regional Centres’. Figure 28 Map of Rural Regions in Victoria

Table 7 shows the total area that these regions cover, the proportion of Victoria’s total area (measured in square kilometres) and the municipalities they comprise. In several cases municipalities partially cross over two or three of the regions. For the purpose of this report they have been grouped under the region that covers the majority of the area in the municipality. In this report, the region of Port Phillip and Western Port does not include any metropolitan municipalities. For a summary of the population, climatic conditions and office markets in each region see Appendix I.



45

Table 7 Summary of Regional Centres in Victoria

Region Municipalities

Total

Area

(km²)

Percentage of

Victoria’s

Total Area

Number of

Office

Buildings

Total GFA

of Office

Market

(m²)

Average

Office

Building

Size (m²)

Corangamite Colac Otway, Corangamite, Golden Plains, Greater Geelong, Queenscliff, Surf Coast

13,300 6% 878 233,961

266

East Gippsland East Gippsland 20,800 9% 122 26,739 219

Glenelg

Hopkins

Ararat. Ballarat, Glenelg, Moyne, Pyrenees, Southern Grampians, Warrnambool

27,000 12% 644 175,478 272

Goulburn

Broken

Benalla, Greater Shepparton, Mansfield, Mitchell, Moira, Murrindindi, Strathbogie

24,300 10% 490 116,155 237

Mallee Buloke, Mildura, Swan Hill 39,300 17% 291 53,705 185

North Central Campaspe, Central Goldfields, Gannawarra, Greater Bendigo, Hepburn, Loddon, Mount Alexander, Northern Grampians

30,000 13% 618 158,942 257

North East Alpine, Indigo, Towong, Wangaratta, Wodonga

19,800 8% 328 51,436 157

Port Phillip and

Western Port * Bass Coat, Macedon Ranges, Moorabool

12,785 5% 182 25,409 140

West

Gippsland

Baw Baw, Latrobe, South Gippsland, Wellington

17,164 7% 514 151,043 294

Wimmera Hindmarsh. Horsham, West Wimmera, Yarriambiac

30,000 13% 102 19,349 190

*Excludes metropolitan municipalities in the following analysis.

Source: Davis Langdon Research, Department of Primary Industries Victoria, Valuer General Victoria 2010



46

1.4.1 Market Size

Figure 29 represents the relationship between the GFA and number of buildings across each regional area. Corangamite has the largest number of office buildings and GFA with 878 buildings and approximately 233,961m² GFA of office space. Figure 29 Regional Office Market by Region

*Not including metropolitan Melbourne


Figure 30 represents the top five regions as measured by GFA: Greater Geelong, Greater Bendigo, Ballarat, Latrobe and Greater Shepparton. When combined, these regions account for 60% of the GFA and 49% of the total number of buildings in the regional office market. All contain large regional cities with individual office market GFAs of over 50,000m² – larger than the total market in other regions, such as East Gippsland, Port Phillip and Westernport (excluding metropolitan Melbourne) and Wimmera. Due to their size, these municipalities will be excluded from the analysis of their wider region, assessed separately and referred to as Regional Centres. Refer to Appendix D for an analysis of each regional municipality’s GFA and number of office buildings. Figure 30 Office Market GFA – Regional Centres

Source: Davis Langdon Research, Valuer General Victoria 2010,

01002003004005006007008009001,000

0

50,000

100,000

150,000

200,000

250,000

No. ofbuildings

GFA(m²)

GFA (LHS)


0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

0

50,000

100,000

150,000

200,000

250,000

No. ofbuildings

GFA(m²)

GFA (LHS)




47

Figure 31 shows the same data as Figure 29, but excludes the top five Regional Centres. A large range of office market sizes remains, but the sub-markets contained within these regions are of similar scales, allowing for more accurate analysis.

Figure 31 Regional Office Market by Region (excluding Regional Centres)

*Not including metropolitan Melbourne


0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

70,000

80,000

No. ofbuildings

GFA(m²)

GFA (LHS)




48

1.4.2 Building Type

There is limited information regarding the construction type of office buildings in rural Victoria. Due to insufficient collection of AVPCC data during valuations, it is not possible to use these codes to assess the distribution of building types in different regions. However, Table 8 shows the indicatives types of buildings that are captured in the aggregate data for regional areas although segmentation cannot be assessed using this methodology.

Table 8 Typical Construction types for each AVPCC

AVPCC Definition Common Building

Types Example Pictures

Single Occupancy/Single Title/Single Stratum (AVPCC 220)

A separate occupancy used for professional services. Can include large multi-level buildings typically owner-occupied.

Converted brick veneer house, single level shop front

Low Rise (AVPCC 221)

1-3 level office building with multiple tenancies (generally no lifts etc.)

Historical building with thick masonry, masonry clad portal frame office

Multi Level Office (AVPCC 222)

4-100 level office building, usually with multiple tenancies.

Low rise commercial concrete structure, curtain wall facade office complex


http://www.realcommercial.com.au/photogallery_new.ds?id=5815057&theme=rca.rent

http://www.realcommercial.com.au/photogallery_new.ds?id=5664385&theme=rca.sold






49

1.4.3 PCA Grade

In regional areas the application of the PCA office quality grade is difficult. As described in section 1.1, due to the requirements for Premium and A Grade buildings outlined in the PCA’s ‘A Guide to Office Building Quality,’ it is unlikely that many office buildings in the regional market would fall into these categories. In the Regional Centres there are several high quality buildings that could fall into one of the higher PCA grades but no detailed study has been conducted to show these actual figures. A report released in May 2011 indicates that ‘Geelong's only premium-grade office space is the TAC building, while Government tenants occupy almost all the A Grade,’5 indicating that there are several buildings that fall into these higher PCA grades. The Bendigo Bank headquarters in Bendigo, which has a 5 star Green Star Rating, is another example of a building in a regional town that would achieve a high PCA grade.

1.4.4 Building Age

The average age of office buildings in each region are shown in Figure 32. North Central has the oldest average office buildings by almost ten years, when compared to Glenelg Hopkins which has the second oldest. North Central contains the municipalities of Central Goldfields and Mount Alexander with an average office building age of between 90 and 94 years (respectively) and the Glenelg Hopkins region which includes Southern Grampians with an average office building age of 101 years. A number of buildings in this region have no construction year, according to data from the VGV. Figure 32 Mean Age of Regional Office Buildings by Region (excluding Regional Centres)

Source: Valuer General Victoria 2010, Davis Langdon Research

5 Keystone Business Park, Inner-city offices second rate and in short supply, 2011, http://www.keystonebusiness.com.au/_blog/Blog/post/Inner-city_offices_second_rate_and_in_short_supply/

72

60

55

54

50

45

42

40

39

33

North Central

Glenelg Hopkins

Wimmera

North East

East Gippsland

Mallee

Port Phillip and Western Port

West Gippsland

Corangamite

Goulburn Broken (Years)



50

Figure 33 shows the mean age of office buildings in the Regional Centres. Geelong, Bendigo and Ballarat have a considerably older office market compared to Shepparton and Latrobe. This is reflected by the high number of heritage buildings in these three municipalities, as discussed in section 3.3.

Figure 33 Mean Age of Regional Office Buildings – Regional Centres

Source: Valuer General Victoria 2010, Davis Langdon Research

64

61

54

35

34

Ballarat

Greater Bendigo

Greater Geelong

Greater Shepparton

Latrobe(Years)

Office Market Typical Energy and Water Use

Chapter Two



52

2.0 Office Market Typical Energy and Water Usage

2.1 Methodology

Given the lack of comprehensive data on energy and water use in Victorian office buildings, this report has used a statistical approach to estimate typical total emissions and water use in each region of the state. In order to calculate energy emissions and water use in all the office markets in Victoria this report has adopted the normal distribution (bell curve) for NABERS ratings. Although the NABERS ‘bell curve’ is commonly referred to, there is no precise distribution of buildings within each star band. The NABERS rating band is derived from statistical distribution of building performance of the sample using the following principles:

A small number of poorly performing buildings should lie outside the boundaries, but the vast majority should be rateable within the scales.

The average performance was set to the middle of the 2.5 star rating band.

In August 2011, NABERS announced the introduction of 6 star which will now change the mid point to 3 stars instead of 2.5. However, since it is expected that currently only a small number of buildings would achieve a 6 star NABERS rating, this report does not include the new 6 star in the normal distribution curve.

For the purpose of this study and to comply with the intention of the NABERS rating system the following variables have been used to generate the bell curve.

Figure 34 NABERS Rating Distribution -Theoretical Bell Curve Statistical Approach

Mean and Standard Deviation

Mean, 2.5

Standard Deviation, 1

Graph Limits

zmin -2.5

zmax 2.5

Normal Distribution Formula

Note: The variables of the bell curve have been generated by Davis Langdon. The Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) advises that the statistical approach used to calculate the NABERS rating bands does not provide the precise distributions associated with generating a bell curve. Although theoretically the distribution above and below the mean (mid-point between 2.0 and 2.5 stars) should be equal. Without extensive market surveying, variations or bias to either side of the mean cannot be accurately predicted.

2

2

2

)(

22

1)(

x

exf



53

The normal distribution formula shown in Figure 34, results in the following distribution in each NABERS rating band, with the average in the middle of 2.5 star band. Figure 35 Theoretical Normal Distribution of NABERS Ratings (without Green Power)

Note: NABERS ratings do not exist for 0.5 or <0.5 stars, however, in order to distribute the market within the bell curve, building performance at these lower levels has been linear extrapolated from higher NABERS star ratings.

The sum of the area under a normal distribution curve never completely equals 100% therefore by adopting this approach approximately 99.45% is accounted for and rounding errors would result in later calculations. In order to avoid this the remaining 0.55% has been equally divided into the <0.5 and 5.0 star rating bands in order for 100% of the market to be included in the analysis and also allow for the summed totals to equal those stated in earlier sections of this report.

2.2 Typical Energy/Water Consumption and GHG Emissions

As at 18 August 2011, there were 183 NABERS Energy ratings in Victoria (mostly in the Melbourne CBD). This comprises of 113 base building ratings, 28 tenancy and 42 whole building ratings. Approximately 18% of Office Energy ratings are not publicly listed. Administrators from the Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) have advised that while they are unable to disclose these individual ratings, they are generally on the lower end of the rating scale. No data exists presently to capture greenhouse gas emissions.

Table 9 NABERS Energy Ratings (without Green Power) Victoria (publicly listed as at 18 August 2011)

Rating Type 0 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 5.5 6.0

Base Building 9 5 7 10 14 20 18 10 14 3 3 0

Tenancy 3 2 0 3 1 3 3 2 3 7 0 1

Whole Building 11 1 2 6 7 3 4 1 4 2 0 1

Source: Office of Environment and Heritage 2011

1%3%

6%

12%

18%

20%

18%

12%

6%

3%1%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

<0.5 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5

NABERS Rating



54

Figure 36 NABERS Energy Ratings (without Green Power) - Victoria (publicly listed as at 18 August 2011).

Source: Office of Environment and Heritage 2011

Note: Refer Table 9 for data.

Using the methodology described, typical annual energy emissions and water usage were calculated for each of the regions discussed in this report. Detailed results are tabulated below and Figure 37 provides a snapshot of the opportunities for emissions savings across Victoria’s office market, based on these typical energy use estimates.

These theoretical estimates point to a similar opportunity for emissions savings in the remainder of the Metropolitan office market when compared to the City of Melbourne. As Figure 37 demonstrates, at 1.09 billion kgCO2 of base building emissions per year in the Metropolitan market, there is comparable scope for emissions savings as in the City of Melbourne where there is the potential for 1.13 billion kgCO2 savings.

There is also a similar potential (104,000 KL/m²) for water savings across the Metropolitan suburbs as in the City of Melbourne, as seen in Table 11.

The combined office markets of the five Regional Centres would also present emissions savings on par with the North West and South East suburban markets – in the vicinity of 120 million kgCO2 of base building emissions per year. There is also more potential for savings in these Regional Centres than in the rest of the regional office markets, as the total emission figures in Table 13 suggest.

2.2.1 DCCEE Baseline Study

In 2011, the DCCEE, as project managers for the National Framework for Energy Efficiency (NFEE), funded the Commercial Building Baseline Study. This project engaged service providers to undertake a national assessment of actual energy used, end-use energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from the commercial building sector for the financial year 2008-09. The purpose of this study is to establish trends in energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions since 1999 and will establish predictions of trends for both energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions out to the year 2020. The assessment will cover:

Private Buildings –including commercial offices, shopping centres, accommodation, private hospitals and educational institutions.

Government buildings - government owned buildings including health, educational, galleries, museums, law courts and correctional centres

The report from this assessment is expected to provide a solid evidence base to support policy and program initiatives used to drive improvements in the performance of commercial buildings in Australia.

As of February 2012, the data for the study had been sourced from a variety of datasets. At this stage the building stock and energy components were complete and currently being integrated to form the overarching model. The report is on track to be delivered before the end of the 2011-12 financial year.

0

5

10

15

20

25

0 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 6

Base Building

Tenancy

Whole Building

Number of Ratings

NABERS Rating



55

Figure 37 Theoretical Modelling of Typical Victorian Base Building Office Market Emissions

Gre

ater

Gee

long

41

Gre

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56

2.2.2 Typical Energy/Water Consumption and GHG Emissions – City of Melbourne

Table 10 Typical Emissions and Water Usage – City of Melbourne (Theoretical Modelling)

Energy Water

Emissions –

Base Building (kgCO2)

Emissions – Tenancy

(kgCO2)

kL

City of Melbourne 1,127,292,539 664,222,229 4,095,991


2.2.3 Typical Energy/Water Consumption and GHG Emissions – Metropolitan Suburbs

Table 11 Typical Emissions and Water Usage – Metropolitan Suburbs (Theoretical Modelling)

Region Energy Water

Regional

Distribution

Emissions –



(kgCO2)

kL

North and West 10% 113,297,789 66,757,215 411,665

South East 13% 141,262,221 83,234,390 513,273

City Fringe 20% 216,944,182 127,827,643 788,262

Outer East 24% 260,092,813 153,251,638 945,041

Inner East 33% 362,842,852 213,793,917 1,318,381

Total 1,094,439,857 644,864,803 3,976,622




57

2.2.4 Typical Energy/Water Consumption and GHG Emissions – Regional Market

Table 12 Typical Emissions and Water Usage (excluding Regional Centres) (Theoretical Modelling)

Region Energy Water

Regional

Distribution

Emissions –



(kgCO2)

kL

Glenelg Hopkins 16% 14,794,850 8,717,407 53,757

West Gippsland 13% 11,526,868 6,791,850 41,883

Mallee 13% 11,426,127 6,732,492 41,517

North East 12% 10,943,483 6,448,108 39,763

North Central 11% 10,241,696 6,034,603 37,213

Corangamite 9% 8,283,142 4,880,585 30,097

Goulburn Broken 8% 7,362,107 4,337,894 26,750

East Gippsland 6% 5,688,968 3,352,049 20,671

Port Phillip and

Western Port

6% 5,405,999 3,185,317 19,643

Wimmera 5% 4,116,678 2,425,625 14,958

Total 89,789,918 52,905,930 326,252


Table 13 Typical Emissions and Water Usage – Regional Centres (Theoretical Modelling)

Region Energy Water

Regional

Distribution

Emissions –



(kgCO2)

kL

Greater Geelong 33% 41,494,216 24,449,182 150,768

Greater Bendigo 19% 23,574,571 13,890,586 85,658

Ballarat 18% 22,539,711 13,280,827 81,897

Latrobe 16% 20,608,921 12,143,169 74,882

Greater

Shepparton

14% 17,350,939 10,223,504 63,044

Total 125,568,358 73,987,268 456,249




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Office Market Retrofitting Drivers and Barriers

Chapter Three



60

3.0 Office Market Retrofitting Drivers and Barriers The drivers and barriers for the energy efficient retrofit of buildings in CBD office markets have been explored at length in various reports and publications, such as the Property Council’s Existing Buildings Survival Strategies

Guide and the Green Building Council’s Dollars and Sense of Green Buildings report. Since this report relates to lower grade buildings with a particular focus on those in suburban and regional locations, this section will look at how issues relevant to the wider market apply to lower grade buildings as well as new obstacles and opportunities that are specific to these types of buildings face.

3.1 Drivers

Tenant Demand

In recent years there has been an increase in demand for higher performance and higher NABERS rated buildings. As lower grade buildings have comparatively fewer sustainable features they are failing to keep up with tenant expectations, as social behaviour changes and sustainable supply chain issues become a larger consideration. It is anticipated that lower grade buildings could potentially have lower tenancy demand in the future. Information from the PCA Office Market Report (OMR) indicates that this has already been occurring. Figure 38 Melbourne CBD Vacancy rates by Grade

Source: Property Council of Australia 2010, Office Market Report

Figure 38 shows the increase in Melbourne CBD C Grade office vacancy rates from 7.5% to 9.1% over a period of only one year. However, as these figures are only from the CBD data there is no evidence to show that this is also the case in suburban and regional areas. Ownership type will also affect the level of tenant influence in driving energy efficient retrofits. As discussed in section 3.3.1, the difference in behaviour of Corporate and Non-Corporate building owners can be quite distinct. In regard to tenant influence, from research conducted on the potential uptake of the City of Melbourne’s 1200 Buildings Program, it was reported that in the Non-Corporate sector ‘the tenants appeared to have less influence, with much of the dialogue between building managers and tenants being reactive and focussed on problem solving.’6 As anecdotal evidence would suggest, the Non-Corporate sector (as defined in Figure 32) would be more prevalent in regional and suburban municipalities, therefore this driver may not be as significant. Nonetheless, there are several large companies with CSR agendas located in inner suburban municipalities such as Yarra, Boroondara and Stonington and large regional municipalities like Greater Geelong and Greater Bendigo where some of these trends seen in the City of Melbourne remain relevant.

6 The Klein Partnership, City of Melbourne 1200 Buildings, 2009.

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

Premium A Grade B Grade C Grade

%

Jan-10 Jul-10 Jan-11

Source: PCA OMR



61

Government Purchasing Policies

The Australian Government, States and Territories have drafted a green lease policy for their buildings which would (subject to approval) stipulate a 4.5 star NABERS Base Building Energy rating for office buildings mirroring similar initiatives by the Victorian Government.

According to CLUE data, 61.5% of the total GFA of the office market in the City of Melbourne is occupied by tenants that fall under the broad ANZSIC category of ‘Public Administration and Safety’, which includes public administration, defence, and public order safety and regulatory services. Although data is not available for all suburban municipalities, CLUE figures for Darebin City Council indicate only 3% of its total office market (in terms of GFA) is comprised of offices with their use classified as Public Administration and Safety. There is also a lack of data available for ownership of regional offices, however, in the regional shire of Mount Alexander (in the North Central region shown in Figure 28) for instance, council employees estimate that government offices occupy approximately 70% of the total office floor space in the shire.7 This indicates the high percentage of government offices present in the CBD and some regional office markets and how a green lease policy for government (Including local government) offices could act as a strong driver for owners in the sector.

Mandatory Commercial Building Disclosure (CBD program) The CBD program, implemented in 2010, requires disclosure of energy efficiency performance for office buildings rateable under NABERS (in the form of a NABERS Rating) upon sale or lease of the whole building, tenancy or sublease space with a net lettable area (NLA) greater than 2,000m2 (disclosure only applies to buildings owned by constitutional corporations, governments – commonwealth, state and local). As of 1 November 2011, all prospective tenants or buyers of offices buildings greater than 2,000m² must be provided with a Building Energy Efficiency Certificate (BEEC) which is valid for 1 year and summarises the performance of the building with:

a NABERS Energy rating – excluding green power a lighting efficiency assessment suggestions on how to improve the energy efficiency of the building.

Although price is an important driver for tenants of low grade buildings, by improving transparency to the market about a buildings performance and star rating, it is anticipated that the scheme will increase demand side pressure on building owners to improve their building’s performance.

Financial Gains

It is widely agreed in the industry that energy efficient buildings have lower operating costs and improved yields. In its research on the industry’s response to the City of Melbourne’s 1200 Buildings program, the Klein Partnership found that the key to promoting this energy efficiency program in the eyes of its participants was to emphasise tangible financial returns. Environmental efficiency by itself did not motivate as many participants.8These financial gains could come from a number of areas such as productivity gains due to a better working environment, which have been measured in various reports such as the Green Building Council’s ‘Dollars

and Sense of Green Buildings’ report.,

Rising Cost of Utilities

Australian electricity prices, until recently, have experienced growth closely associated with CPI, but have accelerated rapidly in the last four years. Managing this rise in utility costs has become a driver in landlord/tenant negotiations. Whether a tenant is paying a net or gross lease will also affect the impact of this driver as the group that is paying the utility bills will have a greater incentive to adopt energy efficient practices in the building.

For some businesses, utility costs can be a fraction of their overall operating expenses, as investment continues in carbon mitigation technologies, these costs will continue to be passed onto consumers and business customers. Addressing ‘split incentive’ issues between tenants and landlords, and providing comprehensive management tools and training to manage energy costs within a long term strategic approach to energy efficiency will be crucial to assisting with seemingly inevitable year on year energy cost rises.

Impact of Carbon Tax

From July 1, 2012 Australia’s top 500 emitters will pay a $23 per tonne carbon tax. This policy is aimed at driving investment in low emission technology manufacturing and innovation. The Victorian office market will be impacted

7 O’Toole, W, Mount Alexander Shire Council, 2011. 8 The Klein Partnership, City of Melbourne 1200 Buildings, 2009.



62

by the tax through increased energy costs passed on by brown coal producing service providers, and rising material costs such as glass, cement and steel which are energy intensive to produce. In August 2011 Davis Langdon produced a report on the impact of a carbon tax on the construction industry. Including compensation for carbon tax affected companies, the cost impact was calculated at 0.5% on individual materials.

Industry professionals believe that a price on carbon will also help strengthen the business case towards sustainable upgrade projects on low grade buildings. AMP comments that, ‘when I do an investment analysis of an upgrade project around sustainability and put a price on electricity and work out a pay-back period, if there is an extra tax on top of the energy cost, I can then do a far more attractive business case to put something into a building that will improve its sustainability credentials’.9 Although it appears that the rising cost of utilities resulting from the carbon price will most likely have an impact on the sector, the extent to which it does will have to be assessed when the program begins on July 1 2012.

Industry Leadership

The leadership taken by several Australian companies in undertaking energy efficient retrofits and achieving high NABERS rated buildings has caused a pull from the progressive end of the market. In August 2011, the NABERS rating scale was extended from five to six stars to reflect the shift in what is now considered market leading for energy efficient buildings. As Lisa Corbyn, the chief executive of the Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) comments, ‘when the NABERS scheme was first launched in 1999 2.5 stars was set as the average building performance and 5 stars was an aspirational target that no building had yet achieved and now a decade on, efficiency has improved with five per cent of buildings achieving five stars, with a number performing significantly better.’10 The companies which have led the way in energy efficiency have lifted industry standards to such levels that owners of underperforming buildings are feeling the pressure to upgrade or risk obsolescence. Although, this driver is more prominent in inner city locations, once this level of leadership filters down to regional office buildings one would expect a similar outcome to occur. Government’s should identify, and work closely with industry leaders in sustainable building practices to learn from their successes, and failures, and widely disseminate what has been learned to assist other building owners and managers to improve their portfolios.

Healthy Workplaces

Companies may undertake an energy efficiency upgrade as part of a wider agenda to create a better working environment. This has the potential to improve their standing with prospective and current staff. The Colliers International 2010 Office Tenant Survey results showed that staff members are becoming more environmentally aware and the importance of good indoor air quality and thermal comfort has risen since 2008 as a factor in attracting and retaining staff.11 Although, it is indicated that participants in this survey were predominantly CBD based these findings could also be reflected to some extent in the suburban and regional office market.

Corporate Social Responsibility

In recent years there has been a growing expectation for companies to manage their business processes and strive towards making a positive impact on society. Major property owners and tenants who promote themselves as sustainable businesses imply an obligation to improve the sustainability of their buildings. Nonetheless, anecdotal evidence would suggest that CSR is not generally on the agenda of owners or tenants in lower PCA grade buildings. However, the Building Better Returns report (refer section 5.3) indicates a link between enhanced value associated with ‘green’ premiums from buildings with higher NABERS ratings.

Conclusion

Drivers to improve the performance of B,C and D grade building stock will require a mix of government incentives, regulations and procurement practices that encourage retrofits. Communicating the benefits of retrofits to the wider market such as improved workplace productivity, lower overall energy costs and improved building performance will also need to be expanded in future. The bridge between these factors includes greater education for building managers and owners. A variety of industry generated tools and case studies already exist such as the Property Council’s Existing Buildings Survival Strategies guides, which provides planning and strategy assistance to those looking to take more substantive steps in upgrading their building.

9 Gettler, L. Carbon price will make sustainable property a winner with capital market, The Fifth Estate, June 2011, http://www.thefifthestate.com.au/archives/25381 10 Blundell, L, NABERS goes to 6 stars as (most of) the industry moves on, The Fifth Estate, accessed on 19 August 2011 from < http://www.thefifthestate.com.au/archives/26713> 11 Colliers International, 2010 Office Tenant Survey, 2010. http://www.colliers.com.au/General/2010_Office_Tenant_Survey.aspx



63

3.2 Barriers

Financial Risks

The Green Building Council of Australia notes (from the Citigroup Global Markets study) that ‘hard financials (net income, passing rent & valuation) for Australian offices so far shows only tenuous correlation with green attributes.’12 The Building Better Returns report (discussed further in section 5.3), which is based on office buildings in Sydney and Canberra reports a link between enhanced green premiums in value with the higher rated NABERS energy rated buildings. However, until there is further evidence based on the Melbourne office market, particularly of the operational gains and added value to the property, it will remain difficult to quantify the direct financial benefits and convince building owners of the value of energy efficiency upgrades. For a similar reason, Deloitte pointed out in its review of the potential economic benefits of the 1200 Buildings program that some energy efficiency projects have difficulty obtaining finance.13 Jacqueline McArthur in the Australian Financial

Review comments that ‘sustainability alone cannot justify renovation, the river of funds needed to ‘re-life’ building stocks is yet to flow and now it’s just a case of “you go first”; as landlords wait for the early adopters to convince fund providers to make major work with decades long payback times.’14 The typical payback period for retrofitting a building to achieve ‘high levels’ of energy efficiency is in excess of fifteen years15, so the issue of capital expenditure versus operating expenditure continues to be a challenge for buildings owners. The lack of access these building owners have to competitive long term finance continues to be one of the largest barriers facing building owners considering conducting energy efficient retrofits – however, proposed schemes such as VBEEPS and the VEET could help counteract some of these financial risks.

Disruption to Tenants

Retrofitting office buildings can often cause varying levels of disruption to the everyday operation of the businesses that occupy the building. In 2007 a survey was conducted with tenants of a Melbourne CBD office building that was undergoing a sustainable refurbishment in order to gain an insight into the tenant perspective during a retrofit. The report comments that ‘the refurbishment process was described as never-ending, with some (tenants) noting that if the installation of sustainable initiatives always took as long and was as disruptive they would have to seriously think about the cost-benefit balance.’16 Obviously the ideal situation would be to have no tenants in a building during a retrofit, but sometimes the only time this may only occur is in between tenures. As building owners may not want to forfeit the potential rental income if a building is vacant during a retrofit this could act as a strong barrier to building owner.

Lack of Tenant Demand

One of the significant barriers the low grade office building market faces in regard to encouraging sustainable building practices is the lack of demand from tenants located in these types of buildings. According to Savills, an overwhelming majority of Premium and A Grade tenants have a green agenda while only a small minority of B and C Grade tenants have a green agenda’17 Without a strong green agenda it is highly unlikely that tenants in low grade buildings would be prepared to pay a premium rental price to be located in a building with sustainable attributes – which is one of the main barriers to providing a business case for owners to upgrade their buildings.

Industry Risks

Owners and investors in the office sector do not necessarily have access to enough information to easily convince them to ‘go green’. The type of building owner also plays a big part in whether energy efficiency initiatives are embraced. The Klein Partnership noted that the dominance of net leases in the office sector meant that ‘owners didn’t directly realise the benefits of reducing the costs of outgoings. This is because a net lease means that a lessee pays rent plus a set allocation into an operating budget, whereas a gross lease (where the landlord pays all operating expenses) would enable a more notable direct saving to the owner. However, the report also notes that owners would be ‘indirectly motivated by a need to keep outgoings competitive.’18

12 Green Building Council of Australia, ASX-Listed Office Trusts: Does "Green" Pay’, 2010. 13 Deloitte Australia, 1200 Buildings: Analysis of Potential Economic Benefits, 2009. 14 McCarthur, J, CBD Revamp? Show me the money, Australian Financial Review, 2 August 2011. 15 Davis Langdon, Deep Emissions Cuts: Opportunities for Existing Buildings, 2008. 16 Miller, E. & Buys. L, Retrofitting commercial office buildings for sustainability: tenants perspectives, Journal of Property Investment and Finance, Vol, 26, No. 6, 2008. 17‘170 Phillip Street, Sydney: Sustainability and the impact on the market, The Fifth Estate, 2010, http://www.thefifthestate.com.au/archives/16660 18The Klein Partnership, City of Melbourne 1200 Buildings, 2009.



64

A lack of awareness still prevails among some building professionals about all the options available for improving energy efficiency. Deloitte also notes that ‘Smaller enterprises in the building industry may lack sufficient training and knowledge to incorporate best practice using the latest technologies into building refurbishments.’19. Nonetheless, industry experts have commented that even in large corporations there is still a degree of desegregation within the organisation when it comes to the energy efficiency of their office stock, which is another significant barrier the industry faces.

Conclusions

In 2009 the Victorian Government undertook an inquiry to gauge the impact of environmental regulations on business operations in Victoria20. Some of the findings of this report, conducted by the Victorian Competition and Efficiency Commission (VCEC), found that there was little guidance or tools available for businesses unfamiliar with regulatory requirements and their implementation. Additionally, the report also found that little data was being successfully mined by government authorities from which they could learn more about the space they were attempting to regulate.

As explored in this report, significant sections of Victoria, external to Melbourne CBD, have little or no information on the various cohorts of buildings in their municipality or regions. Future government regulations should, as a minimum requirement, collect building user data, to provide ongoing insights into the built environment, its performance and tailoring appropriate policies in future.

Barriers such as accessibility to finance in a globally uncertain environment will continue to provide a broader, macroeconomic barrier. Government initiatives to keep channels of capital investment open, and attract new private equity investment to the state will be crucial in supporting sustainable retrofits in coming months, if not years ahead.

19Deloitte Australia, 1200 Buildings: Analysis of Potential Economic Benefits, 2009. 20 Victorian Competition and Efficiency Commission, A Sustainable Future for Victoria: Getting Environmental Regulation Right, March 2009.



65

3.3 Retrofit Decision Making Process

The decision making process for undertaking an energy efficient retrofit on office buildings can be influenced by ownership type, the physical attributes of a property and the economic capacity for investment in the region.

3.3.1 Ownership Type

In Arup’s 1200 Buildings Segmentation Study for the City of Melbourne, various ownership groups were identified in the Melbourne CBD along with factors that influence their retrofit decision making is influenced. Out of the sample, they identified the following nine owner groups21;

Governments – government departments, for e.g. local councils, state government departments, consulates and embassies.

Out of Government – departments of organisations that have come out of or are held accountable to state or federal governments, for e.g services boards and corporations, commissions, national foundations and trusts.

Corporate – large corporations and companies, for e.g. publicly listed and multinational companies

Businesses – medium-sized to smaller companies and businesses, for e.g. investment firms, hotels, real estate management firms

Individual and Family Owned / Small Businesses and Investors – individual investments, for e.g. small property investments, family-owned businesses, trusts, holdings, nominees.

Owners Corporation – a group that manages the property investment of the owner on their behalf

Not for Profit – for e.g. community groups, religious groups, charities and support services

Professional Associations – associations that represent professionals

Other – other significant groups, for e.g. hospitals, universities, sporting associations and private clubs,

Of these nine, the majority of NLA in the CoM belongs to three ownership groups: Corporate (41.6%), Individual and Family Owned / Small Businesses and Investors (24.4%) and Owners Corporations (22.9%). Due to the nature of large corporations and their traditional preference for offices in a CBD location, it could be assumed that the proportion of buildings under corporate ownership would decrease significantly in suburban and regional areas with Individual and Family Owned / Small Businesses and Investors expected to be more prominent. Figure 39 Total Number of C & D Grade Office Buildings Adapted 1998 to 2008 by Owner Type

Source: Wilkinson 2009

Market research consultants, The Klein Partnership conducted interviews with various building owners and owners corporation managers about the 1200 Buildings Program to provide a greater understanding of their

21 Arup, 1200 Buildings Program- Segmentation Study, 2009.

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

Institutional owner Private owner Government or public owner

Source: Wilkinson



66

decision making processes. They divided respondents into two broad categories, Corporates and Non-Corporates which are shown in Figure 40. Figure 40 Building Ownership Types

Source: The Klein Partnership 2009

From the interviews conducted, they found that the Corporates were often more engaged in sustainability and energy efficiency issues, whereas the Non-corporates were more driven by timing, including capital costs, asset management and reducing pay back periods,22 which is discussed further in section 3.1. Corporates and Non Corporates also share a common interest in payback periods for new plant equipment. A Citigroup Global Markets report found that a ‘key argument for green office buildings is to future-proof the portfolio,’23 however as the Klein Partnership pointed out, Corporates were more likely to ‘see the linkage between the sustainability of the building and future income, while Non-corporates were ‘less likely to sacrifice income for future cash flow.’

Several Non-corporate participants in the Klein Partnership study described the process for obtaining government grants as too onerous and said they ‘didn’t have the time’ to do it.24 These considerations are important to the lower grade building office market – particularly in the suburban regional areas of Victoria where anecdotal evidence would suggest owners are predominately Non-corporate. Non-corporate building owners in the Victorian office market could also be deterred by taxation or government incentives that do not cater to certain owner types – such as trusts.

22 The Klein Partnership, City of Melbourne 1200 Buildings, 2009. 23

Citi Report on Green Buildings: the Financial Story, The Fifth Estate, 2010. 24 The Klein Partnership, City of Melbourne 1200 Buildings, 2009.

Corporates

Private OwnersPrivate Asset Managers

Individual & Family Owned/Small

Businesses & Investor Portfolios

Owners Corporations

Non- Corporates



67

3.3.2 Tenant Type / Structure

The nature of an office building’s tenant or tenants can also have a major impact on the retrofitting decision making process. In a study conducted by Sara Wilkinson from Deakin University on C and D Grade buildings that had undergone a retrofit (not necessarily an ESD upgrade) from 1998 to 2008 in the Melbourne CBD it was found that buildings with sole tenancies were more like to have been retrofitted (See Figure 41).25 Figure 41 Number of C and D Grade office buildings adapted in Melbourne CBD 1998 to 2008

*Note: Study did not include B Grade buildings Source: Wilkinson et al 2009

Although information on tenure length is currently not available (CoM began collecting this information in their 2010 survey), anecdotal evidence suggests that many tenants in lower grade buildings are either relatively longstanding (in lease terms not tenure) and there is inertia in the status quo and few imperatives for change. CLUE data for the CoM provides information on the number of different tenant types in each office building. Figure 42 shows the distribution of the number of tenants across the different PCA grades. Figure 42 Tenant Structure by PCA Grade – City of Melbourne


According to CLUE data, by number of buildings sole tenancies are the most common tenant structure in the City of Melbourne and most of these are in D Grade buildings. The data indicates that the higher the PCA grade buildings are less likely to have sole tenants. Combined, B and C Grade buildings represent a high proportion of office stock with a high number of tenants. These two grades represent 71% of buildings with and greater than

25 Wilkinson et al, ‘Delivering sustainability through the adaptive reuse of commercial buildings: the Melbourne CBD challenge, 2009.

0100200300400500600700800900

1,000

Sole Multiple Vacant

No. of Retrofits

Number of Tenants

Number of C & D Grade office buildings adapted in Melbourne CBD 1998 to 2008

0

50

100

150

200

250

Sole 2 to 4 5 to 10 11 to 20 Greater than 20

No. ofbuildings

Number of Tenants




68

twenty tenants. As shown in Table 14, buildings that are unable to be graded or not applicable represent the highest number of sole tenancies and those with 2 to 4 tenants. Table 14 Tenant Structure by PCA Grade and Number of Buildings – City of Melbourne

Number of

tenants A Grade B Grade C Grade D Grade Premium

Not

Applicable

Sole 14 45 115 224 1 708

2 to 4 13 40 71 97 3 143

5 to 10 15 46 54 21 2 18

11 to 20 18 28 32 9 6 10

Greater than 20 12 26 18 2 1 3

Total 72 185 290 353 13 882


In regard to the most common tenant structure by NLA, sole tenant buildings continue to represent the largest floor area (26%) followed closely by those with greater than twenty tenants (22%). As shown in Figure 42, Premium Grade buildings represent the largest area of buildings with greater than twenty tenants compared to the small portion of C and D Grade office space. Figure 43 Tenant Structure by PCA Grade and NLA– City of Melbourne


Table 15 Tenant Structure by PCA Grade and NLA– City of Melbourne

Number of

tenants A Grade B Grade C Grade D Grade Premium

Not

Applicable

Sole 238,480 241,450 176,149 143,049 33,654 447,132

2 to 4 249,493 175,639 145,938 79,928 63,489 141,970

5 to 10 342,268 257,075 135,478 35,294 43,724 44,356

11 to 20 472,305 209,073 109,102 11,250 61,670 49,923

Greater than 20 342,339 265,587 70,911 9,859 396,043 16,318

Total 1,644,885 1,148,823 637,578 279,379 598,579 699,699

*Note: Grand total does not equate to total NLA due to rounding of figures Source: Davis Langdon Research, City of Melbourne CLUE 2008

050,000

100,000150,000200,000250,000300,000350,000400,000450,000500,000

Sole 2 to 4 5 to 10 11 to 20 Greater than 20

NLA(m²)

Number of Tenants




69

The number of tenants in a building can have a significant impact on the retrofit decision making process because ‘in existing multi-tenant commercial buildings, any sustainability retrofit or technology upgrade requires the cooperation and participation of a wide range of stakeholders (ie. owners, managers, occupants and contractors) who often must reside in the building during the potentially disruptive retrofitting process.’26 A higher number of occupants will only add to the number of stakeholders and increase the risk of dispute. This means that the retrofit process can take additional time while all stakeholders are consulted.

3.3.3 Property Attributes

The physical attributes of a property also influence the decision to adapt or retrofit a building. Wilkinson has conducted research on 978 retrofits in 197 C and D Grade buildings (indicating many retrofits occur across several floors in high rise buildings) in the Melbourne CBD from 1998 to 2008 to ascertain the typical characteristics of this stock. Figure 44 shows the property attributes that appear more often in building retrofits. These all point to some of the barriers, drivers and retrofitting opportunities associated with low grade buildings.

As shown in Figure 44, 72% of retrofits undertaken during the study period were on buildings with brick facades and envelopes, which is not surprising as Wilkinson points out that there is great potential to overclad brick facades and envelopes to improve thermal performance. However, she also comments that given the typically good condition of external envelopes, owners will need encouragement to undertake such works.27 Figure 44 Attributes Present in C and D Grade Melbourne CBD Office Building Retrofits (1998-2008)

*Note: Study did not include B Grade buildings Source: Wilkinson et al 2009

The presence of heritage listings or overlay issues also appears to have a major impact on the likelihood of whether a building owner decides to undertake a retrofit. Only 32% of C and D Grade buildings with these attributes undertook a retrofit during the study period (as seen in Figure 44). Heritage Overlays are in place to protect places of heritage significance to a locality. They are contained within local council planning schemes and assist in protecting the heritage of a municipality. Heritage Overlays include places of local significance as well as places included in the Victorian Heritage Register.

26 Miller, E. & Buys. L, ‘Retrofitting commercial office buildings for sustainability: tenants perspectives’, Journal of Property Investment and Finance, Vol,26, No. 6, 2008. 27 Apex Property Consulting, What is the sustainable retrofit potential of C and D office stock in the Melbourne CBD?, 2011 accessed on http://www.apexproperty.com.au/info/index.php?q=node/167

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

Detached

Attached on two sides

Aged between 26 and 50 years

Irregular plan shapes

Multiple service core locations

In private ownership

Office land only

Without heritage listing or overlay issues

Brick facades and envelopes

Source: Wlkinson, 2009



70

Due to the large percentage of buildings aged between 26 and 50 years undertaking a retrofit, the attributes of these buildings are also important. As shown in Figure 45 the most common attributes of buildings aged between 26 and 50 during this period is the absence of a heritage listing (80%), the building having multiple service core locations (76%) and having office as its sole use (60%).

Figure 45 Attributes Present in C and D Grade Melbourne CBD Office Building Retrofits aged between 26 and 50 Years (1998-2008)

Source: Wilkinson et al 2009

As seen in Figure 32, regional office markets in particular have an older office building stock when compared to the CBD which means that although many of them may fall into the 26 to 50 year age group (at the time of renovation), they are also more likely to have heritage listings or overlay issues which could limit the retrofitting options for the building.

0 20 40 60 80 100

Services Location Off Set To SideAttached On Three Sides

Stone EnvelopeNarrow Plan Wide Narrow Frontage

Semi DetachedCentral Services Core Location

Hertiage ListedDeep Plan Shape

TerracedBrick Envelope

Office And Retail Detached

Institutional TenantIrregular Plan Shape

Concrete Cladding Private Tenant

Office Only Multiple Service Core Locations

No Heritage Listing

Percentage of Retrofits (%)



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Figure 46 Heritage Overlays (coloured pink) in central Geelong (left) and Ballarat (right)

Source: DPCD 2011

The maps shown in Figure 46 illustrate the prominence of these Heritage Overlay planning controls in the Regional Centres. Of these five Centres, a considerable proportion of the CBD in Bendigo, Ballarat and Geelong is subject to a Heritage Overlay (denoted by the pink shading on the maps in Figure 46), with Latrobe and Shepparton affected to a smaller extent (Refer to Appendix E for the planning maps for these five regional municipalities) . Since these five regional municipalities account for approximately 53% of the total GFA of the regional office market, these planning controls alone could be having an effect on building owners decision making processes because they have a major impact on the retrofitting options available.

Some of these issues were highlighted during an attempt to refurbish an art deco heritage building at 99 Macquarie Street in Sydney with a more efficient and sustainable lighting system. Even though the refurbishment was ultimately successful, those involved commented that ‘retrofitting a heritage listed building such as this one can be complicated and detailed’ and ‘the project required a large amount of careful strategic integration with all services, the heritage architect and the heritage office.’28 Limitations in areas such as façade design, passive design, potential to alter walls and add insulation are other common impediments faced when attempting a retrofit on a heritage building. These obstacles constitute a significant deterrent to building owners contemplating a heritage building retrofit.

It should be noted that the retrofits conducted in Wilkinson’s study were not necessarily sustainable upgrades but since 73% were classified as extensive retrofits29 it shows the potential for policy makers to influence building owners to adapt more sustainable practices when undertaking major retrofits on commercial office buildings.

Building size will also have a major impact on the potential for energy efficient retrofits. The lower grade commercial office market is made up of a range of different sized buildings so it is important to understand some of the factors that may influence the decision making process. In the 1200 Buildings Segmentation Study, Arup identified three major design attributes that are considered to have a significant impact on potential emissions reductions and retrofit options:

Building Services – the building services are influenced by the size of a building as it will have an impact on the type of HVAC systems in place, which in turn impacts on the potential improvements that retrofit may have.

Building height – the larger the building the more floors it is likely to have so building height is an indicator of magnitude of lift energy. It also gives an indication on the influence of ground and ceiling

28‘Retrofitted lighting system retains ambience of heritage building’, The Fifth Estate, March 2011 accessed on 1 September 2011 from http://www.thefifthestate.com.au/archives/21716 29 Apex Property Consulting, What is the sustainable retrofit potential of C and D office stock in the Melbourne CBD?, 2011 accessed on 1 November 2011 from http://www.apexproperty.com.au/info/index.php?q=node/167



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heat loads so roof insulation will have a much greater proportional energy reduction for smaller low-rise developments then high rise buildings.

Lighting – In smaller buildings lighting and small power energy use make up a much greater portion of energy use. Furthermore, in smaller buildings there is less likely to be common area lighting.30

These results from the 1200 Buildings Segmentation Study are reinforced in a study conducted in Melbourne in 2010 of thirty office buildings that had recently undergone a ‘green refurbishment’31. The purpose of the study was to:

Investigate and display the range and type of ESD refurbishment techniques.

Report the energy efficiency results these refurbishments are achieving.

Identify if different refurbishment techniques are used for different climatic conditions.

Determine whether a ‘standard’ or ‘normal’ green refurbishment may be emerging.

Figure 47 Areas of Improvements for Sustainable Upgrades in Melbourne CBD

Source: Heywood et al 2010

Figure 47 shows the percentage of buildings from this sample that adopted particular upgrade techniques. Considering the potential for high emissions savings, it is not surprising that new HVAC systems were the most common area of improvement. Efficient lighting was another popular upgrade technique with 50% of the sample buildings choosing to adopt this.

The different building and property attributes identified in the 1200 Buildings Segmentation Study all influence the retrofit decision making process and if the decision is made to perform an energy efficient upgrade they can have a considerable impact on the types of upgrades an owner will choose in order to reduce energy emissions.

30 Arup, City of Melbourne 1200 Buildings Segmentation Study, 2009. 31 Heywood et al, Normal Sustainability Upgrades to Office Buildings: A Survey Across Australian Climatic Zones, conference paper at Pacific Rim Real Estate Society Conference 2011, accessed on 1 November 2011 from http://www.prres.net/papers/Heywood_Normal_sustainability_upgrades_to_office_buildings.pdf

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

BiomassHeat Recovery

Air Quality/ VentilationFaçade Upgrade

Daylight UsePassive CoolingSolar Electricity

RecyclingSolar Thermal

Building Material EcologyRain Water Collection

Other Power GenerationTransport Initiatives

Water MetersWater Efficient Fititings

Electicity MeteringEfficient Lighting

Building AutomationHVAC Efficient Cooling/Heating



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3.3.4 Economic Capacity for Investment

The economic capacity for investment in a region will have a major effect on the retrofit decision making process. Financial barriers can be an issue for building owners all over Victoria but it is worthwhile investigating whether this issue may be more prevalent in certain geographical regions.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) collects data on Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) as part of their Census on Population and Housing which gives each Local Government Area (LGA) a score and rank by State. In this data a lower score indicates that an area is relatively disadvantaged compared to an area with a higher score. Each LGA is then given a rank and that with the lowest score is given a rank of 1, the area with the second lowest score is given a rank of 2 and so on, so the lower the rank the more disadvantaged a LGA is relative to the other areas.

By comparing regional, metropolitan and inner city LGAs, and their access to financial resources to support retrofits, the impact of reduced financial resources can be linked to lower performing buildings in lower socio economic LGAs.

Figure 48 Relative Socio-economic Disadvantage Index Score and Rank by Metropolitan Region (not incl COM)

Source: Davis Langdon Research, ABS cat no. 2033

Figure 48 shows the relative socio-economic disadvantage index score and rank in the metropolitan regions defined in Table 5 of this report. On average, the North and West region has the lowest ranked LGAs of all the metropolitan regions in Victoria, containing the municipalities of Brimbank and Maribyrnong the two lowest metropolitan municipalities with a rank of 3 and 7 respectively in Victoria. Boroondara (Inner East), Nillumbik (Outer East) and Bayside (South East) represent the top three rankings in Victoria, which shows the spread of economic capacity throughout the metropolitan regions.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

940

960

980

1,000

1,020

1,040

1,060

1,080

North and West South East Inner East Outer East City Fringe

RankScore

Mean Score

Mean Rank in VIC (RHS)



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Figure 49 Relative Socio-economic Disadvantage Index Score and Rank by Regional City (not including Regional Centres)


The socio-economic disadvantage index for regional areas is shown in Figure 49. Surf Coast (Corangamite) and Macedon Ranges (Port Phillip and Western Port) are the rural municipalities (not including the Regional Centres) with the highest scores on the ABS SEIFA figures. North Central is the region with the lowest score with three of the bottom ten ranked LGAs (Central Goldfields, Loddon and Northern Grampians) in the North Central region. Figure 50 Relative Socio-economic Disadvantage Index Score and Rank by Regional Centre


Figure 50 shows the distribution of rankings and scores between the large regional cities with an office market GFA over 50,000m². Greater Geelong has the highest ranking in the state of these municipalities with score of 38 – but this is still considerably lower than the highest ranked LGA, Boroondara, with a ranking of 80. For a list of all the municipalities in Victoria, their score and rank refer to Appendix F.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

920

940

960

980

1,000

1,020

1,040RankScore

Mean Score


0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

920

930

940

950

960

970

980

990

1,000

Latrobe Greater Shepparton

Ballarat Greater BendigoGreater Geelong

RankScore

Mean Score




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3.4 Retrofitting Cycles

Retrofitting cycles in low grade commercial office buildings can be influenced by a large range of factors. These factors can act as triggers for when property owners decide to undertake retrofits. In order to encourage sustainable building upgrades and retrofits it is important to target building owners who may already be considering a retrofit because of a building element reaching the end of its life cycle, economic factors (trying to minimise vacancies) and legislative requirements.

3.4.1 Building Elements

Different elements of a building each have their own life span and will require upgrades at different points of time. Some of these elements and their typical life cycle are shown in Table 16. These will also depend on other factors such as lease terms and operational life cycle management. Table 16 Building Elements and Typical Life Cycle

Building Element Typical Life Cycle

Interior fit out (tenancy dependent) 5-10 years

Building services 20 years

Building envelope or skin 60 years

Structure 80-100 years

Source: Wilkinson et al 2009

3.4.2 Economic and Vacancy Rate Cycles

Economic conditions can also influence retrofitting cycles and owners’ attempts to ensure low vacancy rates in their buildings. Obviously, the most important thing for building owners is that they have tenants in their building paying rent so lease terms can also impact on retrofitting cycles. Traditionally, the higher grade a building is the longer the typical lease term will be. Research by Savills indicates that Premium and A Grade office buildings in Melbourne’s CBD have a typical lease term of between seven and ten years, whereas leases in B Grade are usually between four and seven years32. In the regional office market these lease terms appear to get shorter as most offices listed by real estate agencies advertise leases between two and five years. The end of a lease is a significant trigger which may influence a building owner to consider a retrofit as works can be done without interrupting a tenant and an upgrade may attract tenants, who may have not considered leasing the office space in its prior condition.

3.4.3 Legislative

The National Construction Codes BCA Volume One sets out the technical provisions required for the design and construction of office buildings. In particular, energy efficiency provisions are set out in Section J of the code and are updated yearly and address aspects like glazing, lighting and air conditioning requirements. This legislation can also act as a trigger for an owner to conduct a retrofit in order to ensure that a building adheres to these codes. Another example of legislation acting as a driver for building owners to undertake energy efficient retrofits is the phasing out of the refrigerant, hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC). Australia will essentially phase out consumption of HCFC by 2016, four years ahead of the schedule required after the parties of the Montreal Protocol in 2007 agreed to phase out HCFC globally33. The phase out primarily affects R22 (most commonly in small and packaged air conditioning equipment) and R123 (predominantly found in older centrifugal chillers) – both of which can be found in commercial office buildings. As a result building owners have to adapt to alternative HVAC equipment that does not contain these artificial refrigerants.

32 Savills, Melbourne CBD Office, May 2011. 33 Fordred, C, AIRAH, February 2010 http://www.airah.org.au/HVACandR_Nation/AM/ContentManagerNet/ContentDisplay.aspx?Section=HVACandR_Nation&ContentID=5529



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3.4.4 City of Melbourne Retrofitting Cycles – Lower Grades

Figure 51 shows the historical distribution of the number of C and D Grade stock refurbished in the City of Melbourne. Although these refurbishments were not necessarily green refurbishments they give an indication of the refurbishment cycles for lower grade buildings.

Figure 51 Number of C and D Grade Office Stock Refurbished- City of Melbourne

Source: Willkinson 2011,

1 4 10

172

256

24 23

71

11

70

34 3422

97

3545

101

64 71

020406080

100120140160180200



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3.5 Retrofitting Market Regulations and Incentives

There are several planned and current regulations, resources and programs that affect the commercial building sector by driving change towards more sustainable construction and operational performance of buildings. Several of the more notable programs and regulations are reviewed below and have been divided into three categories: finance mechanisms, requirements and incentives. Those listed under requirements are mandatory regulations bound by legislation whereas incentives include rating tools and funding schemes. Within these categories are those available on a local, state-wide, nationwide and global scale.

3.5.1 Finance Mechanisms

Some of the current and proposed financing schemes available to Victorian property owners are listed in Table 17. As the low grade building market in Victoria contains buildings in all parts of the state and of a wide range of sizes, not all of these programs will be suitable for the entire market.

Low Carbon Australia

Low Carbon Australia is an independent company established by the Australian Government. With over $100 million in initial funding its purpose is to provide funding and advice to promote the use of energy efficient technologies and practices to Australian business. Low Carbon Australia provides finance and advice to businesses and the wider community under programs to catalyse investment, take-up and use of energy efficient technologies and practices for cost effective carbon reductions. Low Carbon Australia will support projects developed and implemented by established companies or organisations with a strong financial and operational track record Low Carbon Australia is also the only organisation that is able to provide formal certification of carbon neutral business operation and products against the National Carbon Offset Standard (NCOS). Once certified, companies are able to use the NCOS Carbon Neutral Certified logo for promotional and marketing purposes so they are recognised as a ‘green’ business.

Tax Breaks for Green Buildings

The Australian Government is developing the Tax Breaks for Green Buildings program, which will provide tax incentives to encourage energy efficient retrofits of commercial buildings. It is expected to provide a boost of around $1 billion over the life of the scheme to help 'green up' existing buildings across Australia. The program was originally part of the 2010 Federal Government election commitment and was intended to commence from 1 July 2011. However, in April 2011 it was announced that further consultation is required and the program is currently expected to start from 1 July 2012. To apply for a tax break under this program an building must be rateable under NABERS.

Victorian Energy Efficiency Target (VEET)

The VEET is a Victorian Government initiative promoted as the Energy Saver Incentive (ESI). Currently, if a consumer purchases new and improved energy efficiency equipment you will be given a certificate upfront. The scheme operates by placing a liability on large energy retailers in Victoria to surrender a specified number of energy efficiency certificates every year. Each certificate represents in tonne of greenhouse gas abated and is known as a Victorian energy efficiency certificate (VEEC). Revenue generated through the sale of VEECs enables accredited entities to offer consumers special offers that reduce the cost of undertaking these energy efficiency improvements34.The ESI was introduced in 2009 for the residential sector and is currently being expanded to SME’s. However, the PCA has recently made a submission to the Department of Primary Industries recommending the inclusion of the commercial property sector.

34 Essential Services Commission, Victorian Energy Efficiency Target (VEET) Scheme, http://www.esc.vic.gov.au/public/VEET/



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City of Melbourne 1200 Buildings Scheme

The City of Melbourne 1200 Buildings Scheme is aimed at reducing energy emissions and water use from commercial buildings. Due to an amendment in Victorian Legislation, financial institutions will be able to advance funds to commercial building owners for environmental retrofitting works in order to combat the issue of obtaining finance for environmental upgrades. Some of the aspects of the 1200 Buildings Scheme may make it difficult for lower grade building to apply. Firstly, as the 1200 Building program is only eligible for buildings located within the boundaries of the City of Melbourne, a large portion of the low grade building market in Victoria will not be eligible. The unintentional impact of legislation, which currently precludes building owners from securing debt in cross collateralised portfolios is a disincentive for building owners of low grade buildings who often experience capital constraints. Also, the 1200 Buildings Program is not eligible for buildings that are owned by trusts which limits the number of buildings eligible for funding. Although there is no information available regarding the number of low grade buildings owned by trusts, since they comprise of a large percentage of the total office market it is recommended that more detailed information should be captured about ownership types across Victoria.



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Table 17 Current Financing Schemes available to Victorian Property Owners

Scheme Administrator / Source Type of Program Geographic

Coverage

Existing / Future

program

Size Criteria

Low Carbon

Australia

Commonwealth/ Independent Company

Investment Loan Australia Existing $100m fund, with five streams covering Loans, Operating Leases, Finance Leases, On bill financing, EUAs

Depending on the product, buildings owners and tenants can access these programs. The investments made by LCA are co-investments which require a co-contribution from clients.

Tax Breaks for

Green

Buildings

Commonwealth/DCCEE Tax Deduction Australia Future $180m over three years; 50% of eligible capital expenditure of retrofit

Building owners apply for a one of tax deduction after raising the star rating of their building to a minimum of 4 star NABERS rating.

Victorian

Energy

Efficiency

Target

(VEET)

Victorian Government / Essential Services Commission

Certificate pegged to pre determined energy use reduction target

Victoria Existing (residential only)

No direct financial incentives, energy efficient products offered by energy retailer

Liability with energy retailers, incentives provided only to residential sector to assist with achieving energy reductions

1200 Buildings City of Melbourne Energy efficiency retrofit program with access to finance via sustainable Melbourne Fund

Municipality of Melbourne

Existing Sustainable Melbourne Fund has $7m in capital commitments

Melbourne municipality buildings only, become a signatory of the 1200 buildings program and be a commercial building including – office, hotel, public buildings, institutional, recreational, cultural buildings.

City Switch Nation scheme, operated in collaboration between local governments across Australia

Marketing and promotion, tenancy management advice, NABERS assessment and reporting.

Australia Existing No direct financial assistance

Office focused for owners and tenants, who have a NABERS rating, with an agreement to commit to improving it



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Table 18 Proposed Financing Schemes available to Victorian Property Owners

Proposed

Scheme Administrator / Source Type of Program

Geographic

Coverage

Existing / Future

Program Size Criteria

Victorian

Building

Energy and

Environment

Partnership

Scheme

(VBEEPS)

Victorian Government / Property Council of Australia

Matched funding for building retrofits initiatives which improve energy efficiency

Victoria Future (PCA Proposed)

Estimated $20.4m (50/50 split between govt funding and private sector funding)

Commercial office buildings only; Matched dollar for dollar funding to a max government contribution of $100,000



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3.5.2 Requirements

National Construction Codes BCA Volume One

The Building Code of Australia (BCA) is produced and maintained by the Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) on behalf of the Australian Government and State and Territory Governments. The BCA has been given the status of building regulations by all States and Territories. The BCA covers technical provisions for the design and construction of buildings and other structures including energy efficiency measures. Requirements for glazing elements, thermal resistance, insulation and air conditioning are in place to aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with buildings.

National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Scheme (NGERS)

The NGERs program requires constitutional corporations, that emit more than 25,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent or are consuming more than 25,000 megawatts of electricity, to disclose their energy use and production and greenhouse gas emissions annually. The objectives of this scheme are to support future emissions trading mechanisms, assist Australia with meeting its international reporting obligations and avoid duplication of similar reporting programs at a state level.NGERs has been given additional funding to continue until 2017. Large property portfolio holders are captured under this scheme, which calculates emissions on a gross basis across the business.

Commercial Building Disclosure Program

In 2009, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) agreed that a national scheme for reporting energy efficiency in the commercial office market was required. The Building Efficiency Disclosure Act 2010 activated the disclosure obligations for reporting energy efficiency in the commercial office market. The Commercial Building Disclosure (CBD) program commenced on the 1st November 2010 and a transitional period was put in place for the first 12 months during which building owners must provide a NABERS base building energy rating upon sale or lease of the whole building, tenancy or sublease space of greater than 2,000m². Since 1st November 2011, all prospective tenants or buyers must be provided with a Building Energy Efficiency Certificate (BEEC) which is valid for 1 year and summarises the performance of the building with:

a NABERS Energy rating,

a lighting efficiency assessment,

suggestions on how to improve the energy efficiency of the building

As discussed in section 3.1 the program has created greater transparency in the marketplace by ensuring that energy efficiency information is accessible to the public when a building is to be sold or leased. Due to this requirement to disclose a NABERS energy rating, building owners are feeling the need to conduct energy efficient upgrades or risk high vacancy rates.

Carbon Price Mechanism

The Federal Government has proposed a Carbon Price Mechanism (CPM) to commence 1 July 2012. Although the carbon price is expected to be paid directly by less than 1,000 companies, property owners will be affected by the increased cost of electricity and carbon intensive goods and services. As the commercial property industry is responsible for approximately 10% of Australia’s carbon greenhouse gas emissions35, it is expected that the CPM will act as a strong driver for commercial building owners to begin to future proof their properties by adopting energy efficient technologies as with the introduction of a carbon price, investment decisions should take into account more than just capital costs. The cost of running, maintaining, replacing and disposing of plant and materials can have a huge financial effect on the decision to choose one system over another. It is important to consider the impact of not only the carbon price but also the available incentives that exist during the installation, operation and disposal/re-lifing stages. Forward projections of ‘whole-of-life’ costs will need to consider the annual changes during the transition phase of the carbon price (up to 2015) and sensitivities associated with a fluctuating carbon price when the system moves to a market based mechanism.

35 Colonial First State, Carbon and Property, 2011, http://www.cfsgam.com.au/uploadedFiles/CFSGAM/PdfResearch/110607_%20Carbon_and_Property_FINAL.pdf



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Energy Efficiency Opportunities Program

The Energy Efficiency Opportunities program was created to encourage large energy-using businesses to improve their energy efficiency. The program's requirements are set out in the Energy Efficiency Opportunities legislation, which came into effect on 1 July 2006 and in mid 2011 it was announced that funding for the program will be extended to June 2017. Participation in Energy Efficiency Opportunities is mandatory for corporations that use more than 0.5 petajoules (PJ) of energy per year as set out in the Energy Efficiency Opportunities Legislation. Those who exceed the level of energy use are required to identify, evaluate and report publicly on cost effective energy savings opportunities. The EEO scheme captures some large commercial property owners and developers, who need to incorporate the performance of their property portfolios into the report. Given high levels of energy consumption required to qualify for the scheme, properties effected tend to be in the premium, A and B grade categories.

Local and State Planning Requirements

Many Local and State Governments have introduced their own energy and environmental performance requirements on new buildings through local planning regulations to promote and encourage sustainable development in their regions. These can vary considerably in scope and stringency and can affect the cost of buildings from one region to another.

3.5.3 Incentives

Green Leases

Green Leases are likely to become more prevalent as building owners drive further commitment from their tenants in ensuring the environmental performance set by the building’s sustainable attributes. The term ‘Green Lease’ refers to the agreement of a lease between a landlord and tenant which provides both parties with the opportunity to set standards and achieve their environmental goals and aspirations. It governs the management and operation of a building or tenancy to encourage environmentally sustainable operation of the building/tenancy, through control of the usage of energy and water, and management of waste. From the landlord’s point of view, a Green Lease ensures that any tenant occupying their building uses the building the way it has been set up. From the perspective of the tenant, it ensures that the building is run with environmental efficiency and indoor health. By addressing the different drivers which both the landlord and tenant have in owning or occupying a sustainable building, Green Leases encourage both parties to work together to enhance their collective sustainability and therefore reduce their impact.

National Australian Built Environment Rating System

National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS) is a national initiative managed by the NSW OEH. It is a performance based rating tool for existing buildings which measures the operational performance of a base buildingor tenancy’s energy and water use. The level of uptake of NABERS in the office accommodation market is reported as having reached 50% of all Australian CBD office buildings floor space or 10.5 million square metres over more than 1,000 buildings36 NABERS has been adapted for the Commercial Building Disclosure (CBD) program for offices, to enable an energy efficiency rating to be disclosed. In addition to office, NABERS also rates residential, hotels/leisure, schools, hospitals and transport of various sizes and locations.

36 Perinotto, T, NABERS readies for a tune up, 2010, http://www.thefifthestate.com.au/archives/10243



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Green Star Rating Tool

Green Star is a comprehensive, national, voluntary environmental rating system that evaluates the environmental design and construction of buildings. The Green Star rating tool was developed by the Green Building Council of Australia for the property industry in order to:

Establish a common language;

Set a standard of measurement for green buildings;

Promote integrated, whole-building design;

Recognise environmental leadership;

Identify building life-cycle impacts; and

Raise awareness of green building benefits

Green Star covers a number of categories that assess the environmental impact that is a direct consequence of a projects site selection, design, construction and maintenance. There are currently 12 Green Star rating tools (including the 3 pilot versions) and 4 are relevant to office buildings. Office projects account for 306 of the total 347 Green Star certified projects listed by the GBCA, which reflects the positive take up of the tool in the sector.

CitySwitch

CitySwitch Green Office is a growing national tenancy program between businesses and local government acting as environmental leaders. The delivery of the national CitySwitch program is led through the Council of Capital City Lord Mayors. The program works with office tenants committed to improving energy efficiency to make a positive impact on climate change. The CitySwitch Green Office vision is:

To significantly contribute to a reduction of the greenhouse gas emissions produced by tenants in Australia

To substantially decrease overall electricity demand from tenancies in each participating council business district

To positively influence a widespread market transformation within the tenancy sector with a focus on office energy efficiency

As of July 2011, 362 tenancies covering over 1,608,259m2 of office space have committed to CitySwitch. Requirements of signatories include; developing and implementing an Energy Action Plan to achieve and maintain a 4 star or higher accredited NABERS Energy, promoting energy efficiency to staff and other stakeholders, sharing energy efficiency knowledge with CitySwitch signatories and appointing an energy manager to monitor performance The aim of the program is develop cooperative, sustainability focused programs that improve the performance of the building. The ideal outcome is a mutual agreement between landlord and tenant to aspire for a higher energy performance rating and then devise a program to work together on achieving it.

NSW Environmental Upgrade Agreement

In February 2011 the Local Government Amendment Act 2010 commenced in order to facilitate environmental upgrades of non-residential or multi residential buildings. Under the Act, a council can enter into an agreement with building owners and finance providers as a way of funding works which improve the water or energy efficiency of a building. This is done by the council agreeing to levy a charge on the land which is used to repay the funds to the finance provider after the owner has carried out the upgrade works.

Smart Energy Savings Program

The Queensland Government's Smart Energy Savings Program (SESP) is a legislative initiative introduced through the Clean Energy Act 2008 to drive energy saving improvements in Queensland businesses upgrade works. The program targets businesses that fall below the threshold for the Commonwealth Energy Efficiency Opportunities Program and requires participants to undertake an energy audit, develop an Energy Savings Plan and publish their actions for each relevant site, on a five-yearly cycle.

http://www.gbca.org.au/green-star/what-is-green-star/green-star-rating-tool-categories/2141.htm

http://www.lordmayors.org/

http://www.lordmayors.org/



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Global Reporting Initiative

Since 2006, the Australian Government Institute of Company Directors has encouraged companies to become engaged in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices relevant to their operations and to communicate with shareholders and stakeholders about their contributions to improved sustainability performance. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is a network-based organisation behind the world’s most commonly used sustainability reporting framework. The network draws participants globally from business, civil society, labour and professional institutions. The GRI Reporting Framework includes principles and indicators to measure and report on economic, environmental and social performance. Using the framework ensures the highest degree of technical quality, credibility, and relevance. It further gives the opportunity to benchmark organisational performance, demonstrate commitment to sustainable development and compare performance over time. The bases of the framework are the sustainability reporting guidelines. Other components include the sector supplements with industry sector specific indicators and the national annexes with country specific information.

Low Carbon Communities

The Low Carbon Communities Program which is to be managed by the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency is currently at draft stage. The public consultation paper which was released in August 2011 indicates that the scheme will operate on a matched funding basis, with the applicants needing to fund at least half of costs. The federal government is said to be providing up to $5 million in funding to local government and community projects in order to support them in increasing the energy efficiency of council and community use building, facilities and lighting and encourage the adopting of improves energy management practices within councils, organisations and communities.

Conclusion

Looking ahead, government initiatives targeting B, C and D grade buildings will need to work in concert with an already large group of existing initiatives. Programs such as NGERS and EEO have duplications and share similarities with mandatory disclosure which could be rationalised into a single reporting framework. Locally, the state government and local councils need to play an enabling role by providing financial and technical support. The 1200 Buildings Program has been positive in establishing Melbourne as a national leader in the building retrofit space. Programs addressing tenant engagement to overcome the ‘split incentives’ issue as well as technical support tools for building managers and portfolio managers will also be crucial in realising the policy goals of existing programs.

ESD Planning and Upgrades

Chapter Four



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4.0 ESD Planning and Upgrades

4.1 Overview

The improvement of the environmental performance of an existing office building, in particular lower grade buildings which generally are single building owners and possibly self managed, requires an understanding of the cycle or process. This ensures that an economical and environmentally sound improvement of the building can be achieved.

The term ‘cycle’ is referenced as an existing commercial office building will constantly evolve and its stakeholders will seek to improve the environmental performance of the building throughout its operational life.

This process, as shown in Figure 52, starts with education, planning and budget.

Once the plan and budget are established an understanding of the building’s current performance is necessary. This is achieved by gathering real time environmental data such as energy, water and waste. The collated data will aid the setting of environmental benchmarks.

Once the environmental benchmarks are set (including aspirational targets) Ecological Sustainable Design (ESD) initiatives can be evaluated to determine the optimum solution for your asset. At the completion of the upgrade works it is important that the performance of any upgrade is regularly monitored and the predicted environmental improvement in a building is validated against actual real time data.

This final phase will close the loop on the cycle of improving the environmental performance of an existing building, and will allow the building stakeholders to begin the process to seek further improvements of the building based on the knowledge gained through the experience of the first cycle.

Figure 52 Environmental Building Performance Improvement Process

Education, Planning and

Budget

Baseline Data

Benchmarks

ESD Initiatives

Implement ESD

Initiatives

Monitoring & Validation



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4.2 Education, Planning and Budget

Improving knowledge around passive building improvement techniques, identifying key stakeholders, clean technologies and an awareness of local climatic conditions will assist in creating a well structured implementation plan. Components of this plan may include:

further information about the benefits of the ESD initiatives proposed.

sourcing specialists/generalists required to assist in developing the environmental building performance plan and budget.

sourcing specialists required to design, document and construct the recommendations

compliance of the recommended upgrades to the facility with the current National Construction Code requirements.

consideration of the length of the current tenant agreement and whether there is an opportunity to undertake upgrade works that would normally impact the occupant.

a timeline of milestone decisions in the environmental improvement strategy.

the availability of spare parts to local services technicians if innovative clean technologies are implemented.

how the implementation of planned ESD initiatives might impact on a rating for the building and which rating tools would be applicable.

State government departments and agencies such as Sustainability Victoria and industry bodies including Australian Institute of Architects (AIA), Property Council of Australia (PCA), Australian Institute of Refrigeration, Air Conditioning and Heating (AIRAH), Facilities Managers Association of Australia (FMA) and The Property Funds Association of Australia (PFA) are able to offer assistance and direction in answering these questions.

4.3 Baseline Data

It is important to conduct an investigation of the existing services infrastructure to understand the level of data that is currently available. Is there an existing building management system, does it have the capability to trend log the buildings energy and water consumption? Examples of data already available include: energy bills, sub-metering and water bills.

Baseline energy, water and waste data will create a reference point from which the performance of the existing building can be measured as environmental upgrades are completed.

Where real time data cannot be easily gathered energy and water audits are the most accurate form of understanding how well an existing building is performing. Audits will also provide a benchmark against similar types of facilities. It is recommended that an experienced consultant is engaged to assist with collating and interpreting this information.



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4.4 Environmental Benchmarks

To achieve sustainability objectives, appropriate benchmarks need to be developed and qualified. The higher the benchmark is set, the greater the level of commitment that is required from key stakeholders. This is shown in Figure 53. Figure 53 The Relationship between Project Commitment and Sustainability Outcomes

An existing commercial office building will constantly evolve and the stakeholders will seek to improve the environmental and financial performance of the building throughout its operational life. Sustainability benchmarks must be set and a roadmap will need to be defined to progress over time towards an aspirational benchmark. Setting benchmarks and a roadmap for each environmental category will determine what is required to achieve its respective aspiration.

Industry standard rating tools, as listed below, are available to assist with benchmarking the sustainability vision for an existing commercial office building with similar building types. Available rating tools include:

The Green Star suite of tools administered by the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA). The Green Star rating tools are a holistic approach to sustainable building design and cover environmental categories of Management, Indoor Environment Quality, Energy, Transport, Water, Materials, Land Use & Ecology and Emissions. In seeking formal certification under Green Star, projects can target a Design rating which is based on tender documentation, or an As Built rating based on as-built documentation. To address the operational environmental performance of buildings the GBCA currently has under development a pilot tool known as Green Star - Performance. It is proposed that the Green Star - Performance tool will assess all three phase of the building retrofit, these being design, as-built and operation.

The Green Star rating system certifies buildings based on a star rating scheme starting with a 4 star rating that signifies “Best Practice”. Star ratings incrementally increase by whole stars through to a 5 star rating which signifies “Australian Excellence” and a 6 star rating which signifies “World Leadership”.

ESD initiatives presented in this report are grouped under the above mentioned categories and are located in section 4.7.

National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS) as administered by the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage is a measurement of the operational performance of the building over a consecutive 12 month period. The suite of available NABERS rating tools include NABERS Energy, NABERS Water, NABERS Waste and NABERS Indoor Environment. Buildings are certified based on a star rating scheme starting with a zero rating which incrementally increase by a half star rating. Zero star signifies a “Very Poor” rating, 2.5 stars signifies “Market Average”, 4.0 stars signifies “Market Average”, 5.0 stars signifies “Excellent”, 6.0 Star signifies “Market Leading”.

Level of commitment from building stakeholders

Minimum Building Regulation compliance

Environmental Benchmark

Aspiration

Sustainability benchmark



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Energy

Water

Minimal net water usage

Minimal requirement for town mains potable

water. Rainwater harvesting plus on site or precinct grey/black water

recycling required.

NABERS Water

>5 Stars

Potable water only required for hand

basins and showers. All other water needs

provided by rainwater harvesting system

NABERS Water

<4.5 Stars

Inefficient building fabric and services

design.

NABERS Energy

<2.5 Stars

Low Carbon Building

Minimal greenhouse gas emissions. Requires extensive onsite and

offsite renewable energy generation and greening

of the grid.

NABERS Energy

>5 Stars

Business as usual Benchmark Aspiration

Reliant primarily on town mains potable

water for all site water requirements

NABERS Water

<2.5 Stars

Business as usual Benchmark Aspiration

High performing building envelope and

efficiency building services design

NABERS Energy

<4.5 Stars



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4.5 Ecological Sustainable Design

By approaching a building’s design in a sustainable manner, low emission designs with enhanced occupant amenity and reduced operating costs can be achieved. From a built environment perspective, ESD is about providing good design and incorporating efficient solutions that cater for environmental needs and human comfort; both now and in the future.

4.5.1 Climatic Conditions

Appropriate sustainable design solutions vary according to different climate zones. What works in a temperate climate such as Warrnambool, may not work in harsher conditions such as Swan Hill.

Figure 54 shows the mean monthly temperature (°C) difference and Figure 55shows the mean monthly rainfall from major Victorian towns. These show that coastal towns have a lower diurnal temperature range when compared to inland towns such as Horsham or Swan Hill. Whilst also indicating coastal towns have a high rainfall, however a seaside town such as Geelong indicates less annual rainfall when compared to the central business district of Melbourne.

When assessing ESD initiatives such as night cooling, natural ventilation strategies or rain water harvesting the predicted improvement in the environmental performance in one particular location may not be as beneficial for a similar type of building located in a different region of Victoria. Hence gathering local weather data must form part of the process of evaluating each ESD initiative proposed for a building.

Section 4.7– Ecological Sustainable Development Initiatives, presents ESD initiatives that are tailored to the needs of interested parties focusing on improving the environmental performance of existing lower grade commercial office buildings that are either located within the central business district of Melbourne, the suburbs of Melbourne or regional Victoria.

Appendix G provides a tabulated format of the ESD initiatives proposed in this paper and highlights where a proposed initiative may benefit lower grade commercial office buildings based on their location.

Figure 54 Mean Monthly Temperature (°C) Difference – Key Victoria Towns


4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20


ºC




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Figure 55 Mean Monthly Rainfall – Key Victoria Towns


4.5.2 Passive Design

Passive design is the name given to any design technique that requires no active (energy using) intervention. Passive design is a key ESD strategy when aiming to achieve a low-energy building, and should be the primary focus area over more engineered solutions. This is because passive design elements remain throughout the life of the building, which is usually considerably longer than the design life of the systems within it.

102030405060708090

100110


mm




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4.5.2.1 Energy

Energy efficiency remains one of the key environmental initiatives in building retrofits and is the area in which life cycle cost considerations are likely to be most favorable.

The hierarchy for achieving energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions is:

Minimise the need for energy consumption through implementation of passive design initiatives

Provide technological solutions which deliver/convert energy efficiently

Use low carbon and/or renewable energy where technically and economically feasible

Figure 56 Energy Hierarchy

The energy hierarchy illustrates that the focus should be directed around passive design initiatives (considering the site, building form, and the building envelope) before considering active systems such as efficient building services as a means of reducing the building’s energy consumption. Once energy consumption has been minimised through passive and active means, remaining energy requirements can be met, or partly met, through the use of energy generated from renewable, low-polluting sources on site.



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4.5.2.2 Water

The same passive principles for energy consumption apply to any water saving strategy. Figure 57, the water hierarchy illustrates that the water sustainability focus should be directed around demand reduction initiatives before considering replacing potable water with non-potable water sources.

Figure 57 Water Hierarchy

4.6 Monitoring and Validation

Monitoring the performance of any upgrade and validating predicted environmental improvement in a building against actual real time data closes the loop on the cycle of improving performance of a building. Without regularly monitoring any upgrade the stakeholders are unaware of circumstances that may result in substandard performance. Without validation stakeholders cannot learn from the process they have undertaken, starting with the planning process.

To achieve operational outcomes with respect to energy and water targets requires commitment and the involvement of stakeholders from design through construction through commissioning through tuning to operation. Influences including tenant behaviour, maintenance, facilities management techniques, and the climate will impact the performance of the facility.

Regular (monthly) monitoring, site inspections and professional guidance in the tuning of the facility will ensure that the original objectives of the project are appropriately tracked to achieve the desired outcome for the building.



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4.7 Assessing ESD Initiatives

Guidance is readily available for building owners interested in improving the environmental performance of an existing commercial office building37. This section of the report draws on this literature and examines how these initiatives would be suitable for existing lower grade commercial office buildings within the central business district of Melbourne, the suburbs of Melbourne or regional Victoria.

4.7.1 Assessment Methodology

4.7.1.1 ESD Selection Criteria

An evaluation process has been conducted to determine the benefit that a potential ESD initiative may have on improving the performance of an existing commercial office building asset. To assist this process a selection criterion which canvasses key influential factors has been created.

Each component of the selection criteria is rated out of five (one being least beneficial). A weighting of the rating for each criterion is also nominated. The purpose of providing a weighting to each criterion ensures that influential factors are measured against their true value when compared against all elements of the criteria.

The nominated selection criterion and their weightings are as follows;

Environmental Rank - The environmental ranking is associated with the environmental improvement an ESD initiative can have on the performance of an existing building. A qualitative assessment has been made to provide further guidance to the potential benefit a nominated initiative may have within the nominated category of that initiative. For example the environmental benefit of installing high efficiency water fixtures/fittings is only evaluated against other water saving ESD initiatives nominated within the water category.

Rating is out of five and has a weighting of 10.

Suitability - Each ESD initiative is measured against their suitability and the ease with which the initiative can to be integrated into an existing lower grade commercial office building. The suitability is assessed against: impact on tenant, potential modifications to existing infrastructure, local support services (in particular with new clean technologies), and building location (i.e. regional Victoria).

Rating is out of five and has a weighting of 10.

Key Stakeholder, Building Owner –The building owner is influential in the decision to proceed with implementing an upgrade to an existing asset as they provide the capital investment and retain the responsibility to ensure any upgrades operate as proposed.

The rating is out of five and has a weighting of 6. A score of five would be considered as in the interests of the building owner and environmentally beneficial to the asset.

Key Stakeholder, Tenant – The tenant is influential in any proposed improvement to an existing asset. Any initiative that will improve the occupant’s well being and/or brand name will be deemed as favourable by the tenant and there will be more likelihood of collaboration with upgrades that may impact tenants’ day to day operations.

The rating is out of five and has a weighting of 8. A score of five would be considered as in the interests of the tenant and environmentally beneficial.

Key Stakeholder, Facility Manager – The facility manager ensures that the function of the building performs at its optimum and assists with the building services needs of the occupants. The facility manager is an important stakeholder of any future improvement to an existing asset. The facility manager is the most appropriate person to understand the constraints and potential opportunities to improve the performance of the facility.

The rating is out of five and has a weighting of 6. A score of five would be considered as supporting the role of the facilities manager and environmentally beneficial to the asset.

37 Property Council of Australia, Davis Langdon and Arup, Existing Buildings // Survival Strategies, June 2009.



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Key Stakeholder, Maintenance/Services Contractor – Maintenance requirements, skilled services personnel and readily available access to replacement equipment must be considered when weighing up the benefits of any initiative. An investment in time and capital, and potentially causing disruption to existing occupants will be sub-optimal if a new system or product does not have the right service support or supplementary equipment. It is important that a whole of life assessment is considered when assessing the benefit of any ESD initiative.

The rating is out of five and has a weighting of 4. A score of five would be considered as a service friendly initiative and environmentally beneficial to the asset.

Table 19 Summary Table of ESD Selection Criteria

Criteria Score (out of 5) Weighting Weighted Score

No disruption to tenant

Environmental Rank 5 10 50

Suitability 5 10 50

Owner 5 6 30

Tenant 5 8 40

Facility Manager 5 6 30

Maintenance 5 4 20

Total Weighted Score 220

Table 19 summarises the breakdown of scores among the criteria and the total weighted score available to each ESD initiative.

The criteria score and weighting category have been selected to encourage an holistic approach to sustainability. However, if a project has a specific sustainability driver, such as a Green Star or NABERS rating, the weightings are likely to change to reflect the altered desired project outcome.

A colour coded indicator system provides a method to quickly identify the overall environmental benefit each ESD initiative is capable of offering. Table 20 lists the three nominated colour schemes, their weighted score range and appropriate recommendation.

ESD initiatives coded with the colour Green are considered as offering the greatest benefit to improve the environmental performance of an existing lower grade commercial office building asset

The colour coded Orange represents ESD initiatives that will provide an environmental improvement to the existing asset however stakeholder engagement, consultancy advice and an economic model form part of the process to establish the true potential this initiative may offer

The colour coded Blue represents ESD initiatives that may or may not provide the full environmental benefits to lower grade commercial office buildings. As with ESD initiatives coded ‘orange’, site conditions, suitability, stakeholder engagement, consultancy advice and an economic model form part of the process to establish the true potential this type of initiative may offer



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Table 20 ESD Initiative Colour Indicator and Scores

Overall Score Range Recommendation Colour Indicator

150 and above Highly Recommended: Provides greatest benefit to improve the environmental performance of the existing building asset.

100 – 149

Recommended: Will improve the environmental performance of the existing building asset. A detailed scoping study is recommended

0 – 99 Consider: Worth considering however a whole of life analysis is recommended.

4.7.1.2 Sectors

To assist the reader in quickly assessing if a proposed opportunity can be immediately implemented or to establish whether existing occupants may potentially be disrupted during the implementation of an ESD initiative the following sectors have been created and are displayed within the tables of each ESD category:

ESD initiatives that have no impact on existing tenants

ESD initiatives that during the installation process will cause minor disruption to existing tenants, and

ESD initiatives that will cause a major disruption to the building’s occupants during the upgrade works.

4.7.1.3 Sustainability Initiative Example

Below is an example that demonstrates the process that has led to determining how an ESD initiative’s weighted score is achieved. In this case, an energy audit is evaluated against the selection criteria, then calculated against the criteria’s nominated weightings. The final weighted score, as shown in the example below in Table 21 provides a greater understanding of the overall benefit an initiative can have on the environmental performance of an existing lower grade commercial office building.

Step 1: Each ESD criteria is assessed and a score between1 and 5 is determined based on the value the proposed ESD initiative will have on each influential factor. The higher the score the greater the benefit is for that particular factor. For the energy audit initiative each ESD influential factor was assessed as follows:

Environmental Rank – a rating of 4 out of 5 was determined because an energy audit helps understand the current performance of the existing building. The environmental benefits are indirectly associated with the audit, however, without knowledge of the building’s current performance it is difficult to benchmark against similar facilities or to clearly identify areas to improve the performance of the facility.

Suitability – a rating of 5 out of 5 was determined because the process associated with an energy audit is adaptable to all forms of existing commercial office building types

Owner – a rating of 5 out of 5 was determined because the building owner is made aware of the current energy performance of their building and this enables them to begin the process of improving the environmental performance of the building.

Tenant – a rating of 5 out of 5 was determined because the tenant is made aware of the current energy performance of the building. The tenant is also able to take ownership for their impact on the overall energy efficiency of their tenancy.

Facility Manager – a rating of 5 out of 5 was determined because an energy audit provides the base line data that will enable ESD initiatives to be identified, and once implemented, their performance can be measured.

Maintenance – a rating of 5 out of 5 was determined because an energy audit will assist with identifying equipment or systems that are either underperforming or require maintenance.



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Step 2: The total weighted score for the nominated ESD initiative is calculated.

Step 3: The ESD initiative is assessed against the three sectors which determine the impact an initiative may have on the building occupants during the upgrade works.

Step 4: The assessed ESD initiative is collated under the nominated sector and positioned in hierarchy from maximum to minimum weighted score.

Step 5: ESD initiatives are colour coded to assist the reader in quickly identifying the overall benefit and associated with the proposed ESD initiative.

Step 6: ESD initiatives are grouped under the sector that best represents the impact an upgrade may have on the building occupants. The three sectors nominated are; “no disruption to tenant”, “minor disruption to tenant” and “major disruption to tenant”. Table 21 ESD Initiative Energy Audit – Weighted Score Example

Criteria Score out of 5 Weighting Weighted Score

Environmental Rank 4 10 40

Suitability 5 10 50

Owner 5 6 30

Tenant 5 8 40

Facility Manager 5 6 30

Maintenance 5 4 20

Total Weighted Score 210

Table 22 is an example from the Energy category where the ESD initiative is nominated under the level of disruption the initiative may have on the occupant, a rating score for each key influential factor is listed, as well as the colour coding indicator that provides a quick reference tool to the reader of the potential overall environmental improvement the nominated initiative may have for an existing lower grade commercial office building asset.

Table 22 Energy Category Example

Energy

Sustainability

Initiative

Environmental

Rank Suitability

Stakeholder Score

Owner Tenant FM

Benefit Maintenance

Energy audit 4 5 5 5 5 5 245

Occupant sensor controlled HVAC (CO2)

3 3 4 0 0 0 112

Tri Generation Plant

3 1 4 1 0 1 83

The above mentioned assessment methodology is now presented in Section . This section provides preliminary information towards identifying ESD initiatives that are best suited to particular existing commercial office buildings. It is suggested that initiatives colour coded green (highly recommended) form part of a building upgrade planning process. The planning process would include a site feasibility study which would determine whether the tabulated recommendations in this report are appropriate for the nominated building, and building owners, depending on associated drivers and barriers.



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4.7.1.4 ESD Initiative Categories

Each ESD initiative is grouped under commonly used ESD categories these being; Management, Energy, Indoor Environment, Water, Emissions, Materials, Transport, Renewable Energy and Social Sustainability.

The following pages provide a tabulated list of ESD categories and initiatives, including the rating of that initiative in terms of environmental benefit, suitability to lower grade commercial office buildings and stakeholder impacts.

Each ESD initiative has been arranged under the sector that best represents the impact an upgrade may have on the building occupants and colour coded to allow quick identification which initiatives are best suited to lower grade commercial office buildings.

The chart that follows provides a summary snapshot of the top ESD initiatives recommended for stakeholder benefit, including a BMS installation or upgrade, energy and controls audits, removal of any asbestos and having a building management team on site. When these initiatives are further weighted based on environmental benefits and suitability, the audits and recommission of existing plant score highly. Others such as installing external window shading rank highly but would involve more disruption to the tenant.



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Figure 58 ESD Initiatives Ranked by Stakeholder Benefit

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4.7.1.5 Management

Table 23 ESD Initiative Scores- Management

Management

Sustainability Initiative

En

vir

on

men

tal

Ran

k

Su

itab

ilit

y

Stakeholders

Sco

re

Ow

ne

r

Te

nan

t

FM

Ben

efi

t

Ma

inte

na

nce

No disruption to tenant Employ building management and operation team onsite A dedicated building manager will assist in understanding the constraints and opportunities associated with implementing any proposed ESD initiatives. The building manager can also monitor and respond immediately to equipment or systems that are impact on the environmental performance of the facility.

3 5 5 5 5 5 200

Water/Energy/Waste targets

Develop consumption targets for water, energy (electricity & gas) and waste for the building. This will assist with measuring the performance of the measured data against a performance based target.

4 5 4 4 4 5 190

Building management system A building management system (BMS) provides the building facility manager with a software package that has the capability to monitor and measure actual energy, water and waste generation. The BMS will provide the analytical data to benchmark the environmental performance of the building.

4 4 5 2 5 5 176

Comprehensive preventative maintenance program Provide a preventative maintenance program that enables facility managers to ensure equipment is running as efficiently as possible. A preventative maintenance program can also assist in extending the plant life.

2 5 5 3 5 5 174

Update/create building user's guide A building user guide ensures occupants understand their building, the limitation of the systems and can react appropriately to any issues that may arise.

2 4 5 5 4 1 158

Building Sustainability Committee Where an existing building has multiple tenants. Creating a sustainability committee creates landlord/tenant engagement and discussion around sustainability issues.

3 3 4 4 4 2 148

Update Operating &Maintenance manuals and As-built drawings Ensure O&M manuals and As-built drawings reflect any modifications that have occurred through the life of the building. This will assist in system problem solving and developing initiatives that will lead to existing plant operating at their optimal condition.

2 5 4 0 5 5 144



101

Management


En

vir

on

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tal

Ran

k

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y

Stakeholders

Sco

re

Ow

ne

r

Te

nan

t

FM

Ben

efi

t

Ma

inte

na

nce

No disruption to tenant Daytime cleaning service Reschedule cleaners working hours to align with natural daylight hours. This will save on after hours artificial lighting and possible operation of the air conditioning system. If it is not possible to conduct the cleaning services during daylight hours ensure that the air conditioning system is not programmed to the building’s full occupied hours (inclusive of cleaning team).

3 5 4 0 1 0 110

Minor disruption to tenant Electric, water and gas monitoring and sub metering Install sub metering on main electrical, water and gas consumers and sub meter each tenant. Measured data can provide feedback to the tenant on their environmental performance. A sub meter also assists in collating hourly data of each service which can identify poorly performing systems. Metered hourly data will enable actual environmental benchmark’s to be set that lead to evaluating the performance of the building.

2 5 4 4 5 4 172



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4.7.1.6 Indoor Environment

Table 24 ESD Initiative Scores – Indoor Environment

Indoor Environment


En

vir

on

men

tal

Ran

k

Su

itab

ilit

y

Stakeholders

Sco

re

Ow

ne

r

Te

nan

t

FM

Ben

efi

t

Ma

inte

na

nce

Minor disruption to tenant Adaptive Thermal Comfort Control Space temperature control is monitored and measured against local ambient conditions. Where occupants are dressed to reflect the ambient conditions of the day, adjust the internal temperature set point by 1-2°C to match the ambient conditions of the day. By interlinking the space temperature with the ambient temperature there is an opportunity to potentially improve occupant comfort. A wider space temperature band will improve the energy consumption of the buildings as the air conditioning system requires less energy to condition the space. Assess the existing building management systems capability to measure in advance local weather patterns. Both hardware (weather station) and software may be required.

5 3 5 5 3 1 172

Increased outdoor air To improve the indoor air quality, investigate whether the existing air handling system has the capability to increase the outside air supplied to the occupied spaces. This initiative may result in an increase in energy consumption hence consultation with an experienced engineering services consultant is recommended.

5 2 3 5 1 3 146

Blinds Blinds provide the occupant with greater visual comfort control. Internal shading will also assist in reducing solar gains to the space resulting in a reduction in energy consumption associated with air conditioning the space.

2 5 3 5 2 1 144

Clean ductwork Majority of existing ductwork remains uncleaned from the time of installation. During non-operational periods dust build up occurs within the ductwork and over time contaminated particulars are released into the air stream. To improve occupant well being commission ductwork cleaning specialists to clean the air handling unit, ductwork systems, grilles and replace the filters. As a result of cleaning the existing equipment the system is able to deliver a higher quality of clean air to the space.

1 5 3 5 3 2 144



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Indoor Environment


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Minor disruption to tenant Internal plants Distribute indoor plants such as Zanzibar (Zamioculcas), Peace Lilies (Spathiphyllum), Mother-in-law's Tongue (Sansevieria) or Parlour Palm (Rhapis) through the common areas of the building and within tenanted areas. Plants such as these assist in reducing air borne concentrations of volatile organic compounds.

4 5 1 5 0 0 136

Major disruption to tenant

Asbestos survey/removal An asbestos survey should be undertaken in order to safeguard occupants from the harmful effects of asbestos.

5 4 5 5 5 5 210

High frequency ballasts Occupant discomfort occurs where inappropriate lighting is installed that generates a flicker. High frequency ballasts mitigate flicker by controlling the flow of current through a lighting circuit.

4 5 5 5 4 4 200

Low VOC products Interior finishes to have a low or zero Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) content. VOCs can be found in formaldehyde paints, carpets, adhesives and wood products.

4 5 4 5 0 2 162

External Shading External shading provides the occupant with a greater level of visual comfort. External shading will also assist in reducing solar gains to the space, reduced radiant heat penetration resulting in an improved thermal comfort level and reduce energy consumption associated with air conditioning the space.

5 3 2 5 3 1 154

Solar film installation Solar film can reduce UV transmissions in the occupied space resulting in an improved level of thermal comfort. Solar film technology will also assist in a reduction in solar gain which in effect impacts on the performance of the air conditioning system.

2 5 3 5 1 1 138

Dedicated printer exhaust Provide a dedicated exhaust system to extract fumes expelled from large office printers. 2 3 2 4 0 0 94

Skylights Skylights allow natural light to penetrate into buildings with a deep floor plate. Combined with an intelligent or well managed lighting system, artificial lighting can be turned off during high quality visible daylight hour.

2 1 1 5 0 1 80



104

Indoor Environment


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Stakeholders

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Ow

ne

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Te

nan

t

FM

Ben

efi

t

Ma

inte

na

nce

Major disruption to tenant Upgrade acoustics (wall/duct etc.) Assess the acoustic performance of inter office walls. Increase acoustics insulation to areas that are impacting on the well being of the occupants.

1 3 1 5 0 0 86



105

4.7.1.7 Energy

Table 25 ESD Initiative Scores – Energy Category

Energy


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Stakeholders

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Ow

ne

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Te

nan

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FM

Ben

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Ma

inte

na

nce

No disruption to tenant Energy audit Engage an experienced consultant to undertake a level 2 energy audit in accordance with AS/NZ 3598:2000. An energy audit will identify large energy consumers and will determine energy saving strategies.

4 5 5 5 5 5 210

Controls audit Engage an experienced contractor to conduct a controls audit. A controls audit will identify non-functioning equipment, systems or sensor that are operating or measuring incorrectly or require recalibrating. Incorrectly set or functioning controls can significantly increase energy consumption and reduce thermal comfort for occupants.

4 5 5 5 5 5 210

Recommission existing plant Recommissioning all plant ensures that existing systems are running as efficiently as possible and within the desired design conditions set for the facility.

4 5 5 5 5 5 210

Programme lighting control system A programmable lighting control (PLC) system mitigates the risk of human failure to turning lights off when no longer required. A PLC system can extend beyond a timed control of light because the PLC enables motion and daylight sensor controls to interface with the existing light circuit.

3 5 5 3 5 5 184

Replace belt drives with direct drives in motors Direct drive motors will increase efficiency of existing plant and assist in the preventative maintenance program due to the increased reliability of direct drive motors.

3 4 4 0 3 5 142

Chilled water temperature reset Reduce chilled water energy consumption by resetting chilled water temperature higher when ambient conditions are favourable. By increasing the chilled water temperature during mild conditions the electrical demand of the chiller plant is decreased leading to an overall reduction in energy consumption. This initiative would need to be automated through the building management system.

3 4 4 0 1 1 114



106

Energy


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Stakeholders

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Te

nan

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FM

Ben

efi

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Ma

inte

na

nce

No disruption to tenant Insulation audit Engage an experienced contractor to conduct an insulation audit. Ageing pipework and ductwork as well as multiple tenancy fit outs over time results in any original insulation becoming damaged. As a result potential heat losses/gains will force the main plant to consume more energy to offset these losses or gains.

4 3 4 0 0 0 104

Night cooling When ambient conditions are favourable (outside temperature is lower than inside temperature) utilise the cool fresh outside air during the night to cool the building.

3 2 4 0 0 0 74

Temperature server rooms Increase space temperature in server rooms to within the equipment manufacturer’s nominated temperature allowance.

2 1 3 0 0 3 60

Minor disruption to tenant

Building Management System installation/upgrade A building management system can monitor and record real time energy/water data and automate the control of systems such as air conditioning equipment, air/water flow rates, compressors, pumps, fans, valve etc. A building management system will ensure accurate and efficient use of these systems.

4 3 5 5 5 5 190

Building Air Tightness Engage a specialist to conduct an air leakage test of the building. An air leakage test will identify areas of the building that allow unconditioned air to infiltrate the building. Unconditioned infiltration has a significant impact on the air conditioning system where the plant works to offset the thermal load created by the unconditioned air. A leaky facade will also impact on the thermal comfort of the building occupants .

5 4 5 5 3 2 186

Economy cycle Utilise free cooling when outside conditions permit by upgrading the air conditioning system to enable an air economy cycle to function. An air economy cycle is where ambient air conditions are suitable to replace artificial cooling. This is done by supplying up to 100% outside air to the air conditioning system.

5 3 5 5 1 3 168



107

Energy


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Stakeholders

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nan

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FM

Ben

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Ma

inte

na

nce

Minor disruption to tenant Widen temperature set points Widen temperature set points to decrease heating and cooling demand on the building. A 1°C change in temperature set point can have a significant impact in reducing the energy consumption of a building.

5 5 5 4 0 1 166

Demand Ventilation Control Demand control ventilation involves monitoring the amount of carbon dioxide in the air, and varying the ventilation rates proportionally. This means the outside air rates are based on actual occupancy densities and levels rather than fixed occupancy times.

4 3 3 5 4 2 160

Variable speed drives on pumps and fans Replace fixed speed fans/pumps with variable speed drives to give better control so the equipment is not required to operate at full load.

4 4 5 0 4 5 154

Time switches Ensure major equipment is running off time switches and set to reflect when occupants are in the building.

4 4 5 0 5 3 152

Improve light switch labelling Clear light switch labelling is an effective way to reduce energy consumption, by ensuring that employees know which switches control which lighting zones. This is especially relevant for out of hours and weekend office use, and will reduce operating costs.

2 5 3 5 4 0 152

Lighting occupancy sensors Where spaces such as meeting rooms are infrequently occupied install occupancy sensor to activate and deactivate the lighting during occupied/unoccupied periods.

5 3 5 3 0 3 146

Individual light switches for individual areas Enclosed spaces can be provided with individual lighting switches to ensure they are only lit on an as needed basis. This can be used in conjunction with occupancy sensors.

3 3 4 5 0 0 124

Power factor correction A power factor correction unit will increase electrical consumption efficiency by stabilising the frequency of the building load to 0.95 and approaching 1. Where ageing air conditioning plant is installed existing power distribution to a building may be as low as 0.80.

3 5 5 0 0 2 118



108

Energy


En

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itab

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Stakeholders

Sco

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Ow

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Te

nan

t

FM

Ben

efi

t

Ma

inte

na

nce

Minor disruption to tenant Paint roof with light/reflective colours Reflects solar radiation reducing cooling loads. More beneficial in single to three storey buildings.

2 5 3 0 2 0 100

Major disruption to tenant External window shading External shading provides the occupant with a greater level of visual comfort. External shading will also assist in reducing solar gains to the space, reduced radiant heat penetration resulting in an improved thermal comfort level and reduce energy consumption associated with air conditioning the space.

5 5 5 5 3 3 200

Gas over electric central hot water heaters and boilers The GHG emissions factor for gas in Victorian is six times less than the electrical GHG emission factor. Therefore converting existing central electric hot water systems over to an alternative fuel source such gas may have a significant impact on improving environmental performance of the building.

5 5 5 2 5 5 196

Lighting upgrade Significant operating cost savings can be made by replacing old T8 light fittings with T5 fluorescents. A T5 light fitting is approximately 15-20% more energy efficient.

5 5 3 5 2 5 190

HVAC zone control Greater zone control (maximum of100m2 zones) of the air conditioning system will provide a benefit to the overall HVAC system performance as there is less fluctuation in space temperature drift.

5 3 4 5 4 2 176

Natural ventilation over mechanical Utilise energy efficient natural ventilation over mechanical ventilation where possible. Areas such as perimeter lunch rooms are appropriate spaces to benefit from natural ventilation/conditioned spaces.

5 1 5 5 3 2 156

Chiller replacement Investigate replacing existing chillers with higher efficiency chillers in particular where the existing plant is greater than 20 years old.

4 3 4 2 4 5 154

Temperature sensor locations Ensure temperature sensors are located in appropriate locations for efficient temperature control. Perimeter zone ductwork systems should be interconnected with a localised sensor mounted on the internal face of the façade. Check that temperature sensors are not located in direct sunlight or directly above printers.

3 5 2 5 2 2 152



109

Energy


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itab

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Stakeholders

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nan

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FM

Ben

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Ma

inte

na

nce

Major disruption to tenant Upgrade roof insulation In particular single to three storey buildings upgrading roof insulation can significantly reduce conduction through the roof, thereby decreasing demand on the air conditioning system to offset any heat losses/gains.

5 1 5 5 1 0 136

Air Conditioning redesign (chilled beams) Upgrade air conditioning system design to efficient modern design concepts such as low temperature variable air volume system or active chilled beams.

4 1 2 4 3 4 128

Mixed mode ventilation Utilises both mechanical and natural ventilation. Mixed mode ventilation involves using natural ventilation when ambient conditions are suitable, with air conditioning operated only during peak conditions, thereby reducing energy consumption

4 1 4 4 0 2 114

Heat recovery on HVAC A heat recovery system transfers waste energy from conditioned air exhausted from the building to unconditioned outside air introduced to the building via the air conditioning system. The heat recovery system is a means of providing “free” conditioning to the air conditioning system. As a result the energy required to condition the supply air to the occupied space is reduced.

4 2 5 0 0 5 120

Use HHW for zone reheat Replace any energy intensive electric reheat elements with more efficient heating water coils. Heating hot water coils are interconnected with a centralised gas fired hot water system.

4 2 4 0 3 3 114

Reduced office lighting zones A reduction in zone size of the office lighting system enables greater flexibility to switch lights off (manually or via sensor) in unoccupied areas.

3 2 4 3 0 0 98

Increase glazing performance - single to double glaze Decreases heating and cooling demand as well as increase thermal comfort (noise and radiation). 4 1 2 5 0 0 96



110

Energy


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Stakeholders

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Te

nan

t

FM

Ben

efi

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Ma

inte

na

nce

Major disruption to tenant Daylight Sensor Control Daylight sensors zoned within areas where high quality daylight penetrates into the space will enable the automated deactivation of the artificial lighting system for that zone.

2 3 3 3 0 0 92

Light shelves Light shelves reflect light onto space ceiling to increase natural lighting to space. The reflected light will have little solar heat content, and can reduce the need for indoor lighting.

2 2 3 4 0 0 90

Occupant master isolation switch An occupant controlled master isolation switch can be used to switch off appliances automatically after all occupants have left.

1 4 3 1 0 0 76

Co generation Plant Cogeneration or combined heat and power is where heating is provided as a by product of electricity produced onsite. A cogeneration system is environmentally and economically beneficial provided the plant selection is optimised to meet the electrical or thermal load profile of the facility.

3 1 4 1 0 1 76

Tri generation Plant Trigeneration is where heating and cooling is provided as a by product of electricity production. A trigeneration system is environmentally and economically beneficial provided the plant selection is optimised to meet the electrical or thermal load profile of the facility.

3 1 4 1 0 1 76

Green façade Install plantation on walls to provide shading and increased insulation. 3 1 2 3 0 0 76

Green roof Install plantations on the roof to provide shading and increased insulation. 3 1 2 0 0 0 42



111

4.7.1.8 Water

Table 26 ESD Initiative Scores – Water Category

Water


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ne

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nan

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FM

Ben

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Ma

inte

na

nce

No disruption to tenant Water audits Engage an experienced consultant to conduct a water audit. A water audit will identify large water consumers and will determine water saving strategies.

3 5 4 0 5 5 124


Low flow shower heads Installing low flow shower heads are an effective way to reduce water usage in showers.

5 5 5 5 2 4 198

Water efficient appliances Products chosen with reference to their Water Efficiency Labelling and Standards (WELS) scheme rating.

5 5 5 5 2 4 198

Water leak detection Install a water leak detection system to enable efficient resolution on any leaks and hence reduce any water loss from the system.

3 3 5 3 5 5 164

Fire hydrant test water tank Fire hydrants are tested monthly and discharge a vast amount of potable water. Installing a test tank allows the reuse of the test water to occur thereby reducing the potable water consumption of the building.

4 5 5 1 2 5 160

Drought resistant landscape design Provide landscaping that does not require supplemental irrigation.

5 3 5 0 5 5 160

Flow regulators Flow regulators throttle the amount of flow through pipes to ensure water is not used unnecessarily.

3 3 5 0 4 3 126


Cooling Towers with a minimum 6 cycles Cooling towers can consumer up to 50% of a building’s potable water demand. Where cooling towers are required ensure the plant operates at a minimum of 6 cycles. Cooling towers which have a lower number of concentration cycles use more water and chemicals to operate.

5 5 5 1 4 5 182



112

Water


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nan

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FM

Ben

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Ma

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nce


Low flow/dual flush toilets Dual flush toilets provide the option of a full or half flush, reducing water consumption. 5 4 5 0 3 4 154

Rainwater capture Rainwater captured from the roof and treated reduces a building’s reliance on potable water. Harvested rain water can be used in toilet flushing, landscape irrigation and make-up water for cooling towers.

5 4 5 0 0 5 140

Air cooled plant Air cooled plant has zero water consumption compared to cooling tower plant. 3 3 4 0 4 4 124

Urinal flush controls Urinal flush controls can be used to ensure that urinals flush only when used, rather than continuously. 3 4 5 1 0 3 120

Waterless urinals Install urinals that use a chemical flush instead of consuming potable water. 5 1 4 0 0 3 96

Grey water plant Grey water can be captured from showers, basins and dishwashing, then treated and reused for non-potable uses such as toilet flushing, landscape irrigation and make-up water for cooling towers. A grey water system is environmentally and economically beneficial provided the plant selection is optimised to meet the water load profile of the facility.

4 1 2 0 0 1 66

Blackwater plant Install a blackwater treatment plant to treat all water used in building for reuse in toilets such as toilet flushing, landscape irrigation and make-up water for cooling towers. These systems are environmentally and economically beneficial provided the plant selection is optimised to meet the water load profile of the facility.

4 1 2 0 0 1 66



113

4.7.1.9 Materials

Table 27 ESD Initiative Scores – Materials Category

Materials


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ne

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Te

nan

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FM

Ben

efi

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Ma

inte

na

nce

No disruption to tenant Waste separation and recycling facilities Provide separate waste facilities of different classes of waste on each floor to ensure that waste is diverted from landfill.

5 5 5 5 5 2 208

Waste management plan Create a waste management plan each time building/retrofitting works are carried out on the building. A waste management plan details the expected levels of waste, and plans strategies to minimise the waste sent to landfill.

3 5 5 5 5 4 196

Minor disruption to tenant Centralised waste Centralised waste handling facilities can improve the effectiveness of collecting waste and can help to increase the lettable area of the building.

2 2 5 2 5 5 136

Low maintenance, durable materials Durable materials have a longer life, use less consumable materials and take less time to maintain hence they do not need replacing as often (less material consumption).

2 1 5 3 5 5 134

Minimise PVC PVC production can produce harmful chemicals such as dioxins. In addition, it is difficult to dispose of, and much PVC is either left in situ or sent to waste landfill at the end of its life.

2 4 2 5 2 3 122

Recycled concrete Recycled concrete can be used as an environmentally friendly substitute for new concrete. The reclaimed concrete is crushed and used as a substitute for crushed virgin rock.

4 0 0 0 0 0 40

Sustainable timber Sustainable timber refers to timber that is either reused, post-consumer recycled timber or certified timber. 4 0 0 0 0 0 40



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4.7.1.10 Emissions

Table 28 ESD Initiative Scores – Emissions Category

Emissions


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itab

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Stakeholders

Sco

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Ow

ne

r

Te

nan

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FM

Ben

efi

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Ma

inte

na

nce


Filters on stormwater Stormwater treated with silt and oil separators to reduce pollutants entering natural water courses. 4 2 4 0 3 3 114


Replace HFC and HC refrigerants with Zero ODP refrigerants Any refrigerant used within the building to have zero ozone depleting potential. Conduct an audit of existing plant to determine whether equipment is currently operating with HFC or HC refrigerants.

5 1 5 5 0 5 150

Refrigerant leak detection Refrigerant leak detection as part of the BMS ensures that harmful refrigerant leaks are detected quickly. This reduces the risk of safety and environmental hazards, as well as saving money.

2 3 4 0 5 5 124

Automatic refrigerant pump down Provision of automatic refrigerant pump down means that refrigeration is captured and stored during maintenance of refrigeration systems.

2 1 4 0 5 4 100

Stormwater detention Storage facility to enable stormwater to be stored and released slowly into the natural water courses. 4 1 3 0 3 3 98



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4.7.1.11 Transport

Table 29 ESD Initiative Scores – Transport Category

Transport


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Stakeholders

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nan

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FM

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Ma

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nce

No disruption to tenant Dedicated park for carpooling Provide dedicated priority parking for carpooling. Encouraging car pooling reduces the number of cars on the road, as well as improving employee relations.

3 5 0 4 0 0 112

Real time public transport information Provide real time public transport information to encourage building occupants to use this mode of transport. 3 3 1 5 1 0 112


Bicycle storage and shower facilities Encourage occupants to ride to work by providing bicycle storage and shower facilities for building users. 4 3 2 5 0 0 122



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4.7.1.12 Renewable Energy

Table 30 ESD Initiative Scores – Renewable Energy Category

Renewable Energy


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Stakeholders

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Ow

ne

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Te

nan

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FM

Ben

efi

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Ma

inte

na

nce


Solar boosted domestic hot water Solar energy can be used to reduce fossil fuel energy consumption in domestic hot water generation. 4 4 5 0 0 5 130

Photovoltaic PV solar panels can be installed on the roof or incorporated into the façade or shading elements of a building to generate onsite electricity.

4 3 4 0 0 5 114

Wind power Wind turbines can be integrated as part of the building form. This form of renewable energy source is beneficial where climatic conditions are suitable and the existing building is not located near any tall obstructions.

2 3 3 0 0 5 88



117

4.7.1.13 Social Sustainability

Table 31 ESD Initiative Scores – Social Sustainability Category

Social Sustainability


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y

Stakeholders

Sco

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Ow

ne

r

Te

nan

t

FM

Ben

efi

t

Ma

inte

na

nce

No disruption to tenant External lights on movement sensors Linking external lights to movement sensors will improve the security of occupants outside the building at night and reduces energy consumption.

3 5 5 5 5 2 188

Acoustic attenuation for neighbours Acoustic attenuation or screening of roof top plant minimises noise pollution into the surrounding areas. 3 5 5 1 1 1 128

Communication with community Increased communication will improve the relationship between the building owner and tenants and the local community.

1 5 3 2 1 0 100



118


Improving Value in the Victorian Office Market

Chapter Five



120

5.0 Improving Value in the Victorian Office Market

5.1 City of Melbourne

The typical value for office space in the City of Melbourne (according to Colliers) is shown in Figure 5. The rental rates (per m²) are also shown for Premium, A Grade and B Grade buildings (in Table 32), but there is no information readily available on the rental rates for lower grade buildings in Victoria. Figure 59 Average Value (per m²) of Office Buildings – City of Melbourne

Source: Colliers, 2011

The Colliers data suggests that there is a strong correlation between building grade, value and rental rates. According to the figures, Premium grade buildings are valued between 50% and 60% higher than B Grade buildings (per m²). In rental rates an additional $100–300 (per m²) is attracted by Premium grade buildings compared to B grade. Table 32 Typical Office Rents – City of Melbourne

Grade Mean Rent (per m²)

Low High

Premium $413 $633

A Grade $389 $460

B Grade $311 $343

Source: Colliers 2011

$0

$1,000

$2,000

$3,000

$4,000

$5,000

$6,000

$7,000

$8,000

Premium A Grade B Grade

Low High



121

5.2 Metropolitan Market

Figure 60 shows the average value (per m²) of metropolitan office buildings by region. According to VGV data, the value of office buildings decreases considerably when located outside the CBD. Even offices found on the city fringe are much lower in average value per m² compared to the CBD values shown in Figure 59. Figure 60 Average Value (per m²) of Office Buildings – Metropolitan Market


Knight Frank provides figures on the mean rental rates (per m²) for the suburban office market. They use similar regions to those used in this report and show that A Grade building tenants typically pay a rent of between $55 and $95 higher than a B Grade property. This is particularly prevalent in the south east region where rents are on average 66% higher for A Grade buildings compared to B Grade. Table 33 Typical Office Rents – Metropolitan Market

Metropolitan Region Mean Rent (per m²)

A Grade B Grade

City Fringe $320 $255

Inner East $315 $260

North and West $270 $180

Outer East $275 $225

South East $280 $185

Source: Knight Frank 2011

$0$500

$1,000$1,500$2,000$2,500$3,000$3,500$4,000$4,500$5,000

Outer East North and West South East City Fringe Inner East

Average Value($/m²)



122

5.3 Regional Market

VGV data was used to derive the average value of buildings in the regional office market. The Regional Centres (with a GFA over 50,000m²) were also analysed separately due to their size and unique nature. The Corangamite region has the highest average value of office buildings in regional Victoria, followed closely by West and East Gippsland and the Port Phillip and Westernport regions. Figure 61 Average Value of Regional Office Buildings (excluding Regional Centres)


The average values of office buildings in these Regional Centres are shown in Figure 62. Clearly the large office markets in these municipalities have resulted in the greater values of their office buildings when compared to the regions shown in Figure 61. Figure 62 Average Value of Office Buildings – Regional Centres

Source: Davis Langdon Research, Valuer General Victoria 2010,

Due to the small office markets in some of the regions accurate rental rates are difficult to obtain. An audit of advertised rental properties (conducted in August 2011) in these regions was used to determine an average rental value for office buildings in the region. Figures for the Wimmera and Mallee regions were unable to be determined as the small number of office buildings advertised did not account for an appropriately sized sample group. The average rental figures obtained from this audit of advertised office space are shown in the tables.

$0 $50,000

$100,000 $150,000 $200,000 $250,000 $300,000 $350,000 $400,000 $450,000

$0

$100,000

$200,000

$300,000

$400,000

$500,000

$600,000

$700,000

Latrobe Greater Shepparton

Ballarat Greater Geelong Greater Bendigo



123

Table 34 Typical Office Rents – Regions (excluding Regional Centres)

Region Rent (per m²)

Corangamite $235

East Gippsland $180

Glenelg Hopkins $177

Goulburn Broken $180

Mallee *

North Central $170

North East $190

Port Phillip and Westernport $204

West Gippsland $179

Wimmera *

*Not enough rental data available Source: RealCommercial.com, Davis Langdon Research

As shown in Table 34, the Corangamite region has the highest rental rate of all the regions with an average rate of $235m². This is supported by the position of Corangamite as the region with the highest average value for office buildings as shown in Figure 61. Table 35 Average Rent of Office Buildings – Regional Centres

Municipality Rent (per m²)

Low High

Ballarat $166 $203

Bendigo $143 $184

Greater Geelong $167 $248

Greater Shepparton $130 $160

Latrobe $112 $166

Source: Real Commercial.com, Davis Langdon Research



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5.4 Effect of ESD Upgrades on Office Yields and Values

The effect of improved sustainability on rental yield and building valuations is an issue that has been widely discussed and debated. In September 2011, a report commissioned by the Australian Property Institute titled ‘Building Better Returns’ was released which assessed the added value of green office buildings in their financial performance. This report was the first major study on this issue conducted in Australia and the findings of the study suggest there are green premiums evident in the office sector. The study was based on office buildings in Sydney and Canberra only, but these findings indicate that there could be a similar result in the Melbourne market. The report shows a clear link between enhanced green premiums in value with the higher rated NABERS energy rating categories - with five star NABERS Energy rated buildings delivering a 9% green premium in value and the 3-4.5 star NABERS energy ratings delivering a 2-3% green premium in value.38There was a similar result when comparing the premiums and discounts of buildings with a Green Star rating compared to those without as shown in Figure 63. The chart clearly shows that the categories that are influenced the most from having a Green Star rating are the value and rental rates. Figure 63 Green Star Premiums and Discounts by Category

Source: Building Better Returns – API 2011

This concept is supported by a research paper written by IPD Australia in 2011 which reports that ‘landlords focused on the environmental performance of their office building enjoy stronger capital growth and higher rental returns.’39 The study, which only applied to Melbourne CBD office buildings, found that ‘buildings with a 4 star NABERS rating or above were showing returns up 3.2 percentage points above low rated assets.’40 Also, in the ‘Low Energy High Rise Building Research Study’ conducted by the Warren Centre in 2009 they comment that, ‘the failure in Australia to take up energy efficient technologies and practices in the sector results in various missed opportunities such as enhancing the value of buildings and rental returns,’41 indicating that there is a belief that energy efficient buildings can command high rents and greater valuations.

More extensive research has also been conducted on a sample of approximately 10,000 office buildings in the United States to explore whether there is a connection between sustainability and rental rates and valuation which suggest that there is also strong effect on these values. The study found that buildings with a ‘green rating’ command rental rates that are roughly 3% higher per square foot that otherwise identical buildings, premiums in effective rents (that is, rents adjusted for building occupancy levels) are even higher - above 7% and selling prices of green buildings are higher by about 16%.42

38 API, ‘Building Better Returns: A Study of the Financial Performance of Green Office Buildings in Australia, 2011. http://www.api.org.au/assets/media_library/000/000/219/original.pdf?1315793106 39 Elliot, S. NABERS rating is fillip for buildings, Australian Financial Review, 7 September, 2011. 40 Ibid. 41 The Warren Centre, Low Energy High Rise Building Research Study, 2009. 42 Eichholtz, P. Kok, N. and Quigley, J.M., ’Doing Well by Doing Good? Green Office Buildings’, Berkeley Program on Housing and Urban Policy,. April 2008.

-2%

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

14%

Gross Rent Incentives Outgoings Vacancy Yield Value

Premium/Discount

(%)



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Table 36 Summary of Previous US Green Office Building Results

Report Rental Premium Sale Price Premium Occupancy Rate Premium

Miller et al (2008) 9% No premium 2-4%

Eicholtz et al (2010a) Energy Star: 3.3% LEED: No premium

Energy Star: 19% LEED: No Premium

NA

Eicholtz et al (2010b) Energy Star: 2.1% LEED: 5.8%

Energy Star: 13% LEED: 11.1%

NA

Pivo and Fisher (2010) 2.7% 8.5% NA

Wiley et al (2010) Energy Star: 7-9% LEED: 15-17%

NA Energy Star: 10-11% LEED: 16-18%

Fuerst and McAllister 4-5% 25-26% Energy Star: 1-3% LEED: No premium

Source: API, Building Better Returns Report, 2011

Table 36 shows a summary of some of the research that has been conducted in the US to determine whether there is a premium on green buildings. As the table shows, the results of all these studies vary considerably in outcomes (which could be due to differing methodologies, markets and time periods) but nonetheless the results do indicate there is a premium for green office buildings in the US.

Without more extensive assessment of the Victorian office market, with particular focus on the relationship between the different grades on buildings and the inclusion of suburban and regional office markets, it is difficult to assert whether these reported increase in premiums would result from energy efficient retrofits in the lower grade buildings market. Anecdotal evidence, from discussions held with the stakeholders involved in the collation of this report, would suggest that it is unlikely that the effect (if any) would be as strong in suburban and regional areas as the primary concern of the tenants in these areas would most likely be cost as there are fewer companies concerned with CSR initiatives.



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5.5 Successful Office Upgrades

5.5.1 Green Building Fund Projects

The national Green Building Fund (GBF) was a Government incentive-based program which aimed to reduce the impact of the built environment from commercial office buildings. All rounds of the program are now closed, but several of the upgrade projects in Victoria represent typical upgrade options for low grade buildings. For details of all Victorian projects that received funding from the GBF refer to Appendix H.

Figure 64 shows the proportion of funds allocated to Victorian projects for each of the GBF rounds. Figure 64 Green Building Fund Allocated Value per Round.

Source: AusIndustry

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127

5.5.2 Case Studies

There is a limited number of documented case studies of energy efficient retrofits occurring in low grade buildings. Although several of the retrofits occurring from the Green Building Fund were done on buildings that would fall into the low grade category, most of the works conducted were primarily to the HVAC and lighting systems. In terms of exemplar upgrade projects relevant to this report several buildings from the 1200 Buildings Program and from office buildings interstate offer a more extensive scope of works conducted during the retrofit.

60 L: 60 Leicester Street, Carlton

Building Details

Built: late 1800s

Size: 3375m² lettable floor space

Key retrofit features

- Materials efficiency, through maximising the use of existing materials and conducting environmental assessments on all new materials

- Energy efficiency, through effective demand management, natural ventilation and natural lighting

- Water efficiency, through rainwater use, efficient appliances and recycling of treated waste water

- Green management, through green leases, environmental management systems, user involvement in operation, creation of a building community and monitoring of post occupancy environmental performance

- Solar panels used to supplement mains energy supply. Green power is sourced as mains supply.

Energy saving

- Electrical energy for lighting are reduced by over 80%, for equipment by two thirds and for heating and cooling by about 60%. Long term savings are between 65 – over 70% per year compared with a conventional office building.

- Use of electricity derived from non -fossil fuel sources ('green power') enable savings approaching 100 in annual carbon dioxide emissions.

Water saving

- Target saving 900 L of water / day from 1600 L / day.

- The building incorporates full black and grey water recycling, together with water efficient fixtures and flow control devices

- Water demand has been reduced by up to 90% over conventional designs

Project costs

$416,012 plus $1.4 million additional floor

Annual saving

- Energy consumption reduced by 358,000 Kwh per annum (this equates to

annual savings of approximately $50,000).

- The production of approximately 350 tonnes of greenhouse gases per annum has been avoided and the building also purchases green power from verifiable sources.

Figure 65 60 Leicester Street, Carlton



128

182 Capel Street, West Melbourne (1200 Buildings Program)

Building Details

Built: 1984

Size: 1600m² NLA (3 floors and basement)


- Automated opening windows, connected to economy cycle and control system

- Automated external blinds

- Gas-fired VRF gas heat pump air conditioning

- LED and fluorescent lamps connected to intelligent control system

- Rainwater collected in (Stage II) tanks located in basement for WC flush and irrigation

- Green wall (vegetated façade)

- Bokashi buckets for waste disposal, green façade nutrient

- Intelligent component control systems

- Additional building sealing and insulation

- Ceiling fans

- Fitout and construction with recyclable materials.

Energy saving

- Electricity saving 159 kWh/day per floor from 309 kWh/day per floor

- Gas usage 258 MJ/day per floor.

Water saving

- Target saving 900 L of water / day from 1600 L / day.

Greenhouse saving: Saving 81 tonnes CO2 / floor from 190 tonnes – 109 tonnes/pa

Project costs

$416,012 plus $1.4 million additional floor

Annual saving

$22,206

Figure 66 182 Capel Street, West Melbourne



129

131 Queen Street, Melbourne (1200 Buildings Program)

Building Details

Built: 1900s – new floors and façade built in

1930 - 1950s over two stages.

Size: 5830m² NLA


- Sealed roof membrane

- High efficiency chiller

- Variable speed drive (VSD), air handling unit (AHU)

- Economy cycle

- Digital Building management system (BMS)

- Award winning rooftop garden

Energy saving: Not yet known

Water saving: Not yet known

Greenhouse saving: Not yet known

Project costs: $1.5 million

Annual saving: Estimated $50,000

170 Phillip Street, Sydney

Building Details

Built: 1970

Size: 4,600m² (14 occupied levels)


- New T5 lighting throughout all tenancy areas

- New digitally controlled mechanical services

- New high efficiency Powerpax chillers and VSD pumps

- Additional metering

- Low volume water fixtures in bathrooms and shows

- Cyclist amenities

- Materials selection (GECA certified workstations, low VOC carpets and paints)

- Building tuning and commissioning

Energy, Water and Greenhouse Savings: Information not currently available

Figure 67 131 Queen Street, Melbourne

Figure 68 170 Phillip Street, Sydney



130

265 Castlereagh Street, Sydney

Building Details

Built: circa 1980

Size: 5,600m² (12 floors of commercial office space)

Key Retrofit Features

- Facade upgrade works

- New security and BMS System

- Full mechanical, electrical hydraulic and fire services upgrade

- Re-lamping with T8 lamps

Project Value: $6 million

Energy Saving, Water and Annual Savings: not documented

76 Berry Street, North Sydney

Building Details

Built: 1986

Key Retrofit Features

- Installation of e1 lighting technology, which is expected to reduce lighting energy by approximately 66%

- New Shaw Method Air Conditioning (SMAC)

- Installation of Bennett Clayton tri-generation engine technology to provide onsite, low emission electricity, heating and cooling

Figure 70 76 Berry Street, North Sydney

Figure 69 265 Castlereagh Street, Sydney

Recommendations

Chapter Six



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6.0 Recommendations

6.1 Market Data Insights

Several common attributes in the Victorian lower grade office market emerged from the market data analysed in sections 1.2,1.3 and 1.4. This section identifies some of these common characteristics so that any future schemes or programs focusing on these types of buildings can be tailored appropriately for target markets and therefore achieve maximum return on resources or applied funding.

6.1.1 Construction Year

A clear trend emerging from the data was the large proportion of the lower grade office market constructed between 1960 and 1999. As shown in Figure 71, 70% of the total B, C and D Grade office NLA in the City of Melbourne was constructed during this period and 43% of the total number of buildings. Figure 71 Distribution of Low Grade (not including Premium and A Grade) Office Buildings by Construction Year – City of Melbourne

Note: All buildings listed as Premium, A Grade, not graded or missing a construction date are not included. These represent 824 buildings with a combined NLA of 3,073,754m².

*104 buildings (118,105m² NLA) built in this period have not been given a PCA grade and 22 buildings (654,735m² NLA) are classified as A grade which explains the seemingly small number of in this period in the chart.


A similar trend in building age is evident in the metropolitan and regional office markets shown in Figure 72. In terms of office market GFA, 66% of metropolitan stock was constructed between 1960 and 1999 and 54% of regional office stock.

0

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133

Figure 72 Distribution of Office Market by Construction Year – Metropolitan and Regional

*Not including CoM. Note: Buildings with no construction date listed are not included. Source: Davis Langdon Research, Valuer General Victoria 2010

This data points to an opportunity to focus future retrofit schemes on these buildings constructed during 1960 and 1999. Also, since major retrofits are generally only required every 20 to 30 years (due predominately to the life cycle of services), these buildings represent an excellent opportunity to encourage the uptake of sustainable initiatives as part of their other required retrofits in the near future.

As shown in Figure 71 and Figure 72, buildings constructed before 1960 represent a much smaller target group. Table 37 shows some of the attributes and examples of buildings constructed in the City of Melbourne during different time periods. Buildings constructed from the year 2000 onwards typically have higher standards in design of plant and equipment and the life expectancy of these components is yet to expire – therefore retrofits replacing this equipment would not be considered optimal. Table 37 City of Melbourne Built Environment Evolution Summary

Age of

Building Attributes Examples

<1890 - Designed for natural ventilation - Thick, solid, masonry walls - Higher thermal mass - Higher infiltration - Lower rise - Lower glass area - More cellular in internal layout - Lower occupancy density - Retrofitted with refrigerant based or water based conditioning and

heating system (fan coil units). - 40m height restriction introduced in the mid 1920s

Parliament House, Treasury, Melbourne Town Hall and GPO

1890-1920 State Library, QV Hospital and Flinders Street Station

1920-1930 Capitol House. Myer, AMP House and Manchester Unity building

1930-1955 RMIT Buildings 5, 6, and 7, Russell St Police Headquarters, Century Building, FAI Insurance Building, 412 Collins Street

1955-1980 - Standardised aluminium curtain walling begins to appear - Abolition of 40m height limit and the introduction of plot ratios - Commercial buildings were sealed and the reliance on artificial

climate and comfort control began - Constant volume AC systems

Royal Insurance, BP House, ICI House, 369 Collins Place and BHP House

1980-2000 - Improvements in glass performance and insulation - Automatic controls - VAV systems

Rialto Towers, Melbourne Central Tower, Bourke Place and 101, 530 and 120 Collins Street

2000- - BCA Section J - ABGR - Green Star - Climate Change

CH2, BHP Headquarters, Southern Cross Station

Source: Arup, 1200 Buildings Segmentation Study, 2009

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,500

0200,000400,000600,000800,000

1,000,0001,200,0001,400,0001,600,000

No. of buildings

GFA(m²)

Construction Year

GFA (m²) - RuralGFA (m²) - Metropolitan*Number of Buildings - Metropolitan*Number of Buildings - Rural

Target Market



134

6.1.2 Building Size

The market data gathered shows that schemes targeting a minimum building size would cover a greater concentration of floor space. This is evident in the CoM lower grade building area highlighted as the ‘Target Market’ in Figure 73. In theory, such a scheme would also be simpler to administrate as it would involve fewer building owners.

As shown in Figure 73, in the B, C and D Grade building office market in the City of Melbourne, 82% of the total GFA is in buildings greater than 2,000m² NLA. Therefore it is recommended that in the City of Melbourne, these buildings are targeted first, and hopefully create a flow on effect to the smaller buildings, by creating increased awareness through exemplar projects. Figure 73 Distribution of CoM Lower Grade Office Buildings by NLA Range

*Note: Buildings listed as Premium, A Grade and not graded are not included.


The metropolitan (not including the City of Melbourne) and regional office markets do not have as many buildings over 2,000m² in GFA. In order to adapt to these smaller office markets it is recommended that office buildings in metropolitan and regional areas that are larger than 500m² GFA form another target market for future government initiatives. As shown in Figure 74, in the metropolitan office market (not including the City of Melbourne), 60% of the total GFA and 10% of buildings have a GFA greater than 500m².

020406080100120140160

0100,000200,000300,000400,000500,000600,000700,000800,000

No. ofBuildings

NLA(m²)

NLA Size Range (m²)

B Grade NLAC Grade NLAD Grade NLATotal Low Grade Buildings (RHS)

Target Market



135

Figure 74 Distribution of Metropolitan (not including CoM) Office Buildings by GFA Range

* Buildings that do not have a designated floor area in the Valuer General Victoria database are included within the 0-99m2 range. There are 75 buildings with no GFA specified.

Source: Davis Langdon Research, Valuer General Victoria 2010 The regional office market in Victoria is much more diverse in terms of building size than the CoM and Metropolitan markets. However, as shown in Figure 75, if all buildings with a GFA over 500m² were targeted they would represent 39% of the total regional office market GFA. The 100-199m² GFA buildings would also constitute a sizable proportion of the regional market’s GFA (22%). Figure 75 Distribution of Regional Office Buildings by GFA Range

* Buildings that do not have a designated floor area in the Valuer General Victoria database are included within the 0-99m2 range. Therefore this figure should be used with caution or excluded from decision making processes.


0

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Target Market

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6.1.3 Regional Centres

The concentration of the Victorian regional office market into the top five Regional Centres is a significant finding in this report and should also be a focus for any initiative encouraging the upgrade of lower grade buildings. 60% of the regional office market GFA is located in the Regional Centres of Greater Geelong, Greater Bendigo, Greater Shepparton, Ballarat and Latrobe, which all have an office market over 50,000m² GFA. Figure 76 Regional Office Market, including Municipalities with a GFA over 50,000m²


The dominance of these Regional Centres is represented in Figure 76, where these individual municipalities are represented separately. Although some of these other Victorian regions are comprised of up to eight different municipalities, these Regional Centre individual municipalities still exceed the size of any other region. Therefore, in an initiative aimed at upgrading lower grade buildings in regional Victoria, it is recommended that several (if not all) of these Regional Centres should be targeted. This should lead to a better return on investment from a more concentrated geographical area.

0100200300400500600700800

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No. ofbuildings

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Total GFA

No. of Buildings (RHS)

Top Regional CentresRural Regions minusTop Regional Centres



137

6.1.4 Heritage Buildings

Heritage buildings pose several challenges in building upgrades due to restrictions on implementing certain office building upgrades. As shown in Figure 44, of all the C and D Grade buildings that underwent an extensive retrofit between 1998 and 2008 in the Melbourne CBD, only 32% of them were in buildings with heritage listings or overlay issues43. Heritage buildings face limitations in areas such as façade design, passive design, potential to alter walls and add insulation.

Although it is difficult to estimate the total GFA of office buildings subject to heritage overlays, the planning map of the Melbourne CBD in Figure 77 indicates that there are a considerable number of areas subject to this overlay. As shown in Figure 46, there is also a high concentration of heritage overlays in Greater Geelong, Greater Bendigo and Ballarat. It is recommended that future schemes targeting these Regional Centres be sensitive to the heritage restrictions building owners may encounter in lower grade building retrofits. Figure 77 Heritage Overlays (coloured pink) in the Melbourne CBD

Source: DPCD 2011

- 43 Wilkinson et al, ‘Delivering sustainability through the adaptive reuse of commercial buildings: the Melbourne CBD challenge, 2009



138

6.2 Opportunities for Emissions and Water Savings

Typical annual energy emissions and water usage were calculated for each of the regions discussed in this report. The summary chart below provides a snapshot of the opportunities for emissions savings across Victoria’s office market, based on these typical energy use estimates.

These theoretical estimates point to a similar opportunity for emissions savings in the remainder of the Metropolitan office market when compared to the City of Melbourne. As Figure 78 demonstrates, at 1.09 billion kgCO2 of base building emissions per year in the Metropolitan market, there is comparable scope for emissions savings as in the City of Melbourne where there is the potential for 1.13 billion kgCO2 savings.

There is also a similar potential (104,000 KL/m²) for water savings across the Metropolitan suburbs as in the City of Melbourne, as seen in Table 11.

The combined office markets of the five Regional Centres would also present emissions savings on par with the North West and South East suburban markets – in the vicinity of 120 million kgCO2 of base building emissions per year. There is also more potential for savings in these Regional Centres than in the rest of the regional office markets combined can be seen in the chart below.

These estimates would suggest that retrofitting schemes targeting the Metropolitan area have just as much potential to reduce emissions than in the CBD. They also show the concentrated potential present in the Regional Centres for emissions savings. Of course, these findings are based on a theoretical understanding of the Victorian office market emissions – so an additional recommendation would be to gather more actual performance data in this area. Figure 78 Typical Victorian Office Market Emissions


Note: These are typical estimates of emissions for base building use only. Tenancy related emissions are not included here.

City of Melbourne1,127

Metropolitan1,094

Regional Centres126Other Regional

90

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Greater Potentialfor EmissionsSavings



139

6.3 Typical Building Types and Retrofit Opportunities

There are several typical building types that have emerged from analysis of the low grade office building market in Victoria. In order to demonstrate which ESD initiatives would be appropriate for certain types of buildings, two sample buildings from each of the geographical regions have been selected and opportunities identified. For a full list of the types of ESD initiatives suitable for these buildings refer to Appendix J.

These typical building scenarios aim to inform owner and government group strategies on retrofitting across the Victorian office market. Figure 79 Typical Building Types

An integrated approach is recommended in this report which considers the other factors covered in this report – such as stakeholder and climate impacts. Based on the scoring process outlined in this report, the top ESD initiatives recommended for stakeholder benefit include a BMS installation or upgrade, energy and controls audits, removal of any asbestos and having a building management team on site. When these initiatives are further weighted based on environmental benefits and suitability, the audits and recommission of existing plant score highly. Others such as installing external window shading rank highly but would involve more disruption to the tenant.

6.4 Implementation Initiatives

6.4.1 Education

This report confirms the view that there is a lack of information available for building owners and managers that explains the benefits and process of retrofitting lower grade office buildings. It is recommended that there is an increased emphasis from government and industry bodies on providing this information in a manner that is readily available, easy to use and relevant to a wide range of buildings.

One current example of this is the Total Environment Centre (TEC) project in New South Wales, funded by the Office of the Environment and Heritage (Environmental Trust). It is developing an education package for building owners of C and D Grade property. This education package targeting lower grade buildings will include case studies of improved star ratings, outlining particular initiatives, motivations and outcomes. These case studies will be profiled at industry educational forums to be held early in 2012 in the Sydney City and Parramatta Council areas.

An interactive tool should also be considered as a way to further educate the lower building sector. The City of Melbourne is currently developing a tenant engagement tool to help implement the 1200 Buildings Program. This interactive tool is expected to create greater transparency for tenants about the benefits of environmental upgrades which could be undertaken by the building owner and how the financial benefits will be shared.

Davis Langdon, in association with Arup and the PCA have also created a web-based tool, updating the Existing

Buildings//Survival Strategies handbook which addresses issues facing building owners and occupiers. It sets out a five step process for developing a strategy to turn a tired asset into one that benefits users, communities, the environment, business and the balance sheet.

These current tools are mainly focused on upgrading office buildings in the CBD areas. It is recommended that a new tool targeting the lower grade building sector in Victoria should also include tailored strategies for upgrading office buildings in metropolitan and regional locations – where a large proportion of Victoria’s lower grade buildings are located.

City of Melbourne

Building Type A

• Constructed between 1960 and 1989• B Grade Building • 21-30 f loors

Building Type B

• Constructed between 1980 and 1999• B and C Grade Building• 11-20 f loors

Building Type E

• Constructed between 1930 and 1939• Located Bendigo, or Ballarat• Less than 500m²GFA• Heritage Overlay

Building Type F

• Constructed between 1970 and 1989• Located in Latrobe• More than 500m² GFA

Building Type C

• Constructed between 1960 and 1989• Located in an inner east suburb• Multi Level Building

Building Type D

• Constructed 1980-1999• Located in an outer east suburb• Single Occupancy Building

Metropolitan Regional



140

6.4.2 Funding Schemes

As discussed in section 3.2, one of the main barriers for the energy efficient retrofit of lower grade buildings are the perceived financial risks that many owners of these types of buildings are not willing to take. In order to take the financial pressure off the owners of low grade buildings, a financing mechanism may be useful to ensure that property owners are not deterred because of the tighter capital constraints they often have.

The Property Council proposed Victorian Building Energy and Environmental Partnership Scheme (VBEEPS) provides a realistic option for low grade building owners considering more energy efficient practices in their building. The PCA suggests that all capital costs could be matched by the Victorian government on a dollar for dollar basis. The owner would also be given a full technical report detailing initiatives to improve the energy performance of their asset.

This would differ from other funding schemes by providing a forward looking asset management plan that can be incorporated into capital expenditure plans to enable costs to be spread over a certain time period. Also, unlike programs such as the 1200 Buildings Program, VBEEPS would not be limited to the City of Melbourne area, so it would apply to the large proportion of lower grade buildings outside of inner Melbourne.

The PCA has put together a discussion paper regarding the potential inclusion of commercial property into the Victorian Energy Efficiency Target (VEET) Energy Saver Incentive (ESI), which if expanded to include commercial properties could have a significant impact on low grade building owners due to the upfront incentive provided.

The nature of the VBEEPS and ESI funding mechanisms make them ideal for lower grade building owners so it is recommended that the inclusion of low grade buildings into these schemes is strongly considered as a way to encourage the adoption of energy efficient measures in this market.

Guidance for Further Study

References

Chapter SevenChapter Eight



142

7.0 Guidance for Further Study In order to gain a greater understanding of the Victorian office market as a whole, including the drivers and barriers in each sub-market, the following recommendations have been made to improve interaction and application of this data.

Creation of an interactive tool (internal or external) – web-based tool using information contained in this report (and any others of relevance), customised to allow for refinement based on particular geographical, climatic or market features.

Audit of building ownership – there is limited information on building ownership. An audit of the ownership types in each significant council area could be achieved through the rating valuations process. This would allow analysis of numbers, locations and types of buildings by ownership category across the state so decision makers may be targeted better.

Audit of construction types – rating valuations also provide information on construction type in the data gathered by councils. This information would allow more tailored retrofitting options for different construction types.

Further information on tenure length – City of Melbourne only began collecting information on tenure length in the 2010 CLUE data census which should be finalised in December 2011. Tenure length compared to PCA grade could provide some interesting insights and this information should be followed up when available.

PCA grades for suburban and regional office buildings – as there is limited information on PCA graded buildings outside the CoM this information could help provide a better snapshot of the Victorian office market.

Further analysis into larger regional municipalities with an office GFA over 50,000m² – as these five municipalities (Greater Geelong, Greater Bendigo, Ballarat, Latrobe and Greater Shepparton) combined represent the majority of the regional office market they should be assessed thoroughly and any unique factors that may influence owners’ retrofit decision making process should be explored.

Investigation into heritage building retrofit options – as discussed in section 2.3, buildings with heritage or overlay issues are considerably less likely to undertake a retrofit. As heritage buildings are quite common in office markets (particularly in large regional municipalities) the retrofitting options for these buildings should be investigated.

National audit of Australian office market – information similar to this report but for all states and territories. This would help gain a greater understanding of the office market in Australia and the different drivers and barriers that affect the retrofit decision making process. The information would be useful in order to guide policy on national energy efficient building issues.

Interview of property managers operating in the office sector – these individuals have valuable insights into the different classes of property, its ownership and the tenants

Workshop session with local sustainability groups and business owners – to help find what they see as the barriers and drivers within their local community and any localised themes that may be present. Some of the groups to consider include:

Bendigo Sustainability Group http://www.bendigosustainability.org.au/

Moreland Energy Foundation http://www.mefl.com.au/

Ballarat Sustainability Group – BREAZE http://www.breaze.org.au/

VECCI (Carbon Down) - http://www.carbondown.com.au/index.html

Geelong Sustainability Group - http://www.geelongsustainability.org.au/

Portland Sustainability Action Group - http://www.psg.org.au/index.asp

North East Regional Sustainability Alliance



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8.0 References - Apex Property Consulting, What is the sustainable retrofit potential of C and D office stock in the Melbourne

CBD, 2011 accessed on http://www.apexproperty.com.au/info/index.php?q=node/167

- API, Building Better Returns: A Study of the Financial Performance of Green Office Buildings in Australia,

2011 accessed on http://www.api.org.au/assets/media_library/000/000/219/original.pdf?1315793106

- Bureau of Meteorology: http://www.bom.gov.au/

- Arup, 1200 Buildings Program: Segmentation Study, 2009.

- Blundell, L, ‘NABERS goes to 6 stars as (most of) the industry moves on)’, The Fifth Estate, accessed on http://www.thefifthestate.com.au/archives/26713

- Citigroup Global Markets, ASX- Listed Office Trusts: Does ‘Green’ Pay?, 2010.

- City of Melbourne CLUE 2008.

- City of Darebin CLUE 2008.

- Colliers, Melbourne CBD Office, 2011.

- Colonial First State, Carbon and Property, 2011, accessed on http://www.cfsgam.com.au/uploadedFiles/CFSGAM/PdfResearch/110607_%20Carbon_and_Property_FINAL.pdf

- Davis Langdon, Arup, Colliers International, Property Council of Australia, Existing Buildings // Survival

Strategies, 2009.

- Davis Langdon, National Green Lease Policy Cost and Benefit Report, 2010.

- Davis Langdon, The Road to Green Property (eBook), 2011.

- Deloitte Australia, 1200 Buildings: Analysis of Potential Economic Benefits, 2009.

- Department of Primary Industries, Victoria.

- Eichholtz, P. Kok, N. and Quigley, J.M., ’Doing Well by Doing Good? Green Office Buildings’, Berkeley Program on Housing and Urban Policy, April 2008.

- Elliot, S. ‘NABERS rating is fillip for buildings’, Australian Financial Review, 7 September, 2011.

- Essential Services Commission, Victorian Energy Effciency Target (VEET) Scheme, http://www.esc.vic.gov.au/public/VEET/

- Fordred, C, AIRAH, February 2010, accessed on http://www.airah.org.au/HVACandR_Nation/AM/ContentManagerNet/ContentDisplay.aspx?Section=HVACandR_Nation&ContentID=5529

- Gilchrist, G, ‘Tenants and investors likely to search for greener pastures’, Australian Financial Review, 14 July 2011.

- Heywood et al, ‘Normal Sustainability Upgrades to Office Buildings: A Survey Across Australian Climatic Zones’, conference paper at Pacific Rim Real Estate Society Conference 2011, accessed on 1 November 2011 from http://www.prres.net/papers/Heywood_Normal_sustainability_upgrades_to_office_buildings.pdf

- Keystone Business Park, Inner-city Offices Second Rate and in Short Supply, 2011, http://www.keystonebusiness.com.au/_blog/Blog/post/Inner-city_offices_second_rate_and_in_short_supply/



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- Knight Frank, Melbourne Suburban Office Market Overview, June 2011.

- McCarthur, J, ‘CBD Revamp? Show me the money’, Australian Financial Review, 2 August 2011.

- Miller, E. & Buys. L, ‘Retrofitting commercial office buildings for sustainability: tenants perspectives’, Journal

of Property Investment and Finance, Vol, 26, No. 6, 2008.

- Municipal Association of Victoria.

- NABERS www.nabers.com.au

- Perinotto, T, ‘NABERS readies for a tune up’, 2010, The Fifth Estate, accessed on http://www.thefifthestate.com.au/archives/10243

- Property Council of Australia, Office Market Report (Nat.), July 2010.

- Property Council of Australia, Davis Langdon and Arup, Existing Buildings // Survival Strategies, June 2009.

- Savills, Melbourne CBD Office, May 2011.

- Sustainability Victoria http://www.sustainability.vic.gov.au/www/html/2418-about-the-sustainability-fund.asp

- The Klein Partnership Market Research Consultants, 1200 Buildings: Analysis of Potential Economic

Benefits, 2009.

- The Warren Centre, Low Energy High Rise Building Research Study, 2009.

- ‘Retrofitted lighting system retains ambience of heritage building’, The Fifth Estate, March 2011 accessed on http://www.thefifthestate.com.au/archives/21716

- Wilkinson et al, ‘Delivering sustainability through the adaptive reuse of commercial buildings: the Melbourne

CBD challenge, 2009.

- Wilkinson, S, Sustainable Retrofit Potential in Lower Quality Office Stock in the Central Business District, 2011.

- Valuer General Victoria, 2010.

- Victorian Competition and Efficiency Commission, A Sustainable Future for Victoria: Getting Environmental

Regulation Right, March 2009.

Appendices



146

Appendix A

City of Melbourne Office Market Data



147

Table 38 NLA and Number of Buildings by Construction Year and PCA Grade – City of Melbourn

*Note: Grand total does not equate to total NLA due to rounding of figures

Year A Grade B Grade C Grade D Grade Premium N/A TOTAL

No. NLA No. NLA No. NLA No. NLA No. NLA No. NLA No. NLA

1840-1849 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 4,268 8 4,268

1850-1859 0 0 0 0 2 383 7 3,489 0 0 17 41,550 26 45,423

1860-1869 0 0 1 4,070 2 6,131 6 4,202 0 0 9 2,395 18 16,798

1870-1879 0 0 0 0 1 651 8 6,028 0 0 26 6,244 35 12,923

1880-1889 0 0 4 15,300 5 4,901 11 5,667 0 0 26 5,829 46 31,697

1890-1899 0 0 4 15,608 19 28,476 51 24,806 0 0 59 14,786 133 83,676

1900-1909 1 10,803 2 1,821 10 23,920 31 13,393 0 0 59 25,672 103 75,609

1910-1919 0 0 2 12,621 13 23,349 13 13,344 0 0 22 15,441 50 64,756

1920-1929 1 45,406 8 47,356 26 66,546 26 11,812 0 0 58 37,667 119 208,788

1930-1939 1 43,046 5 23,698 21 31,501 17 18,050 0 0 22 11,303 66 127,598

1940-1949 0 0 8 13,932 30 34,122 28 17,374 0 0 60 33,564 126 98,993

1950-1959 0 0 4 15,510 16 33,093 13 10,819 0 0 29 15,459 62 74,881

1960-1969 2 55,542 18 134,468 36 105,158 13 27,306 0 0 40 48,764 109 371,238

1970-1979 7 264,068 28 277,806 29 104,301 14 21,063 0 0 69 45,402 147 712,641

1980-1989 18 340,307 48 343,693 36 79,166 20 24,005 2 109,459 49 59,313 173 955,942

1990-1999 15 329,901 34 186,083 16 43,688 22 16,928 10 488,168 88 92,828 185 1,157,597

2000-2009 22 553,698 10 36,278 1 602 4 3,164 0 0 104 118,105 141 711,847

No Date Listed 5 2,114 9 21,075 28 50,582 68 58,934 1 952 137 121,108

248 254,765

Grand Total 72 1,644,885

185 1,149,319

291 636,570 352 280,384 13 598,579 882 699,698 1,795 5,009,440*



148

Appendix B

ANZSIC Division and Subdivision Codes and Titles



149



150



151

Appendix C

NLA by ANZSIC – City of Melbourne



152

Table 39 NLA (m²) by ANZSIC – City of Melbourne

Premium A Grade B Grade C Grade D Grade N/A Grand Total

Professional, Scientific and Technical Services 350,317 297,871 177,269 76,481 180,955 78,990 1,161,884

Financial and Insurance Services 456,224 195,859 104,809 17,724 181,538 12,087 968,241

Public Administration and Safety 355,364 203,818 41,818 10,881 53,630 90,755 756,265

Information Media and Telecommunications 199,343 61,940 24,093 13,044 90,419 53,651 442,490

Administrative and Support Services 40,933 84,466 50,678 15,335 17,170 32,592 241,175

Other Services 14,442 44,324 70,091 48,838 4,390 55,253 237,339

Manufacturing 29,948 26,629 28,494 4,691 14,212 86,358 190,331

Transport, Postal and Warehousing 50,457 34,961 5,143 15,034 10,713 46,686 162,994

Education and Training 8,886 28,781 44,450 21,859 1,040 22,825 127,841

Wholesale Trade 10,171 10,818 11,886 7,794 1,331 60,886 102,886

Electricity, Gas, Water and Waste Services 21,798 28,976 22,796 2,273 17,421 1,862 95,125

Rental, Hiring and Real Estate Services 13,107 29,199 10,668 7,321 11,215 21,340 92,850

Arts and Recreation Services 7,599 11,334 6,698 16,341 1,170 46,317 89,460

Construction 21,857 19,068 15,545 6,225 5,505 18,285 86,484

Health Care and Social Assistance 1,980 26,519 10,240 9,649 320 20,672 69,381

Retail Trade 5,491 25,019 5,938 3,176 0 29,574 69,199

Mining 47,203 8,149 3,605 1,079 6,487 1,210 67,734

Accommodation and Food Services 7,366 1,253 2,913 1,490 1,063 17,747 31,833

Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing 2,398 4,994 443 0 0 223 8,057

Residential 0 4,847 0 142 0 2,387 7,375

Not Applicable 0 0 0 0 0 496 496

Grand Total 1,644,885 1,148,823 637,578 279,379 598,579 700,195 5,009,439 Source: Davis Langdon Research, City of Melbourne CLUE 2008



153

Appendix D

Rural Office Market by Municipality



154

Municipality Total Area (m²) Total Value

($) No. of Buildings

Corangamite

Colac Otway 19,575 21,999,975 50

Corangamite 5,838 3,499,988 25

Golden Plains 547 1,899,997 7

Greater Geelong 195,029 432,799,629 742

Queenscliffe 997 3,399,997 6

Surf Coast 11,976 25,599,976 48

TOTAL 233,961 489,199,561 878

East Gippsland

East Gippsland 26,739 44,599,939 122

TOTAL 26,739 44,599,939 122

Glenelg Hopkins

Ararat 6,581 6,599,981 38

Ballarat 105,940 184,799,840 320

Glenelg 13,961 18,799,961 78

Moyne 2,043 3,299,993 15

Pyrenees 1,097 1,199,997 6

Southern Grampians

17,520 19,899,970 61

Warrnambool 28,337 82,999,937 126

TOTAL 175,478 317,599,678 644

Goulburn Broken

Benalla 8,781 11,199,981 38

Greater Shepparton

81,552 158,799,852 296

Mansfield 2,789 5,399,989 22

Mitchell 6,127 11,299,977 47

Moira 13,718 16,299,968 65

Murrindindi 1,494 2,399,994 12

Strathbogie 1,695 1,999,995 10

TOTAL 116,155 207,399,755 490

Mallee

Buloke 2,892 1,799,992 16 Mildura 46,701 68,799,901 198 Swan Hill 4,112 24,099,962 77 TOTAL 53,705 94,699,855 291

North Central Campaspe 21,709 48,099,959 83 Central Goldfields 6,086 5,399,986 28 Gannawarra 4,486 4,299,986 29 Greater Bendigo 110,804 254,399,804 392 Hepburn 1,444 3,699,994 13 Loddon 548 499,998 5 Mount Alexander 6,283 10,999,983 34 Northern

Grampians 7,583 6,599,983 34

TOTAL 158,942 333,999,691 618



155

Municipality Total Area (m²) Total Value

($) No. of Buildings

North East Alpine 3,940 5,299,990 21 Indigo 2,444 4,099,994 13 Towong 2,093 1,399,993 14 Wangaratta 6,534 50,599,934 132 Wodonga 36,426 74,399,926 148 TOTAL 51,436 135,799,836 328

Port Phillip and Westernport Bass Coast 11,007 24,299,957 87 Macedon Ranges 8,566 26,199,966 68 Moorabool 5,837 10,699,987 27 TOTAL 25,409 61,199,909 182

West Gippsland Baw Baw 18,358 40,799,958 84 Latrobe 96,865 143,799,865 270 South Gippsland 11,319 18,899,969 63 Wellington 24,502 31,299,952 97 TOTAL 151,043 234,799,743 514

Wimmera Hindmarsh 947 699,997 7 Horsham 16,361 26,399,961 78 West Wimmera 498 399,998 4 Yarriambiack 1,544 1,299,994 13 TOTAL 19,349 28,799,949 102




156

Appendix E

Heritage Overlays in Regional Centres



157

Ballarat



158

Bendigo



159

Geelong



160

Latrobe



161

Shepparton



162

Appendix F

SEIFA Economic Index – Victoria



163

ABS Index of Relative Socio-economic Advantage and Disadvantage, 2006

Table 40 ABS Index of Relative Socio-economic Advantage and Disadvantage Score and Rank by LGA

2006 Local Government Area Name

(LGA)

Ranking within

Victoria

Ranking within Australia

Score Rank Rank

Greater Dandenong (C) 894 1 95

Central Goldfields (S) 907 2 110

Brimbank (C) 930 3 148

Loddon (S) 942 4 188

Pyrenees (S) 944 5 198

Northern Grampians (S) 946 6 207

Maribyrnong (C) 949 7 215

Latrobe (C) 951 8 225

Yarriambiack (S) 953 9 233

Hindmarsh (S) 955 10 240

Ararat (RC) 956 11 247

Mildura (RC) 958 12 257

Swan Hill (RC) 959 13 261

Glenelg (S) 962 14 272

East Gippsland (S) 963 15 279

Hume (C) 965 16 290

Benalla (RC) 967 17 297

Colac-Otway (S) 967 18 299

Greater Shepparton (C) 968 19 302

Strathbogie (S) 968 20 303

Buloke (S) 971 21 310

Moira (S) 971 22 311

Gannawarra (S) 971 23 314

Darebin (C) 972 24 317

Campaspe (S) 974 25 332

Wellington (S) 978 26 348

Whittlesea (C) 978 27 351

Bass Coast (S) 979 28 356

Hepburn (S) 980 29 359

Mount Alexander (S) 981 30 364

West Wimmera (S) 981 31 366

Ballarat (C) 983 32 376

Greater Bendigo (C) 984 33 385

Moreland (C) 987 34 399

Wangaratta (RC) 987 35 401

Alpine (S) 989 36 409

Corangamite (S) 990 37 410

Greater Geelong (C) 993 38 433

Wodonga (RC) 993 39 437

Horsham (RC) 993 40 440

Warrnambool (C) 993 41 442

Southern Grampians (S) 996 42 450



164

2006 Local Government Area Name

(LGA)

Ranking within

Victoria

Ranking within Australia

Score Rank Rank

Frankston (C) 997 43 453

Hobsons Bay (C) 998 44 459

Towong (S) 1000 45 464

Mitchell (S) 1000 46 466

Baw Baw (S) 1001 47 475

South Gippsland (S) 1001 48 477

Murrindindi (S) 1006 49 495

Mansfield (S) 1008 50 502

Melton (S) 1010 51 507

Moorabool (S) 1012 52 515

Casey (C) 1012 53 517

Moyne (S) 1013 54 518

Moonee Valley (C) 1016 55 527

Indigo (S) 1016 56 529

Yarra (C) 1019 57 540

Wyndham (C) 1022 58 545

Unincorporated Vic 1022 59 546

Golden Plains (S) 1025 60 556

Mornington Peninsula (S) 1026 61 558

Cardinia (S) 1027 62 563

Kingston (C) 1030 63 573

Yarra Ranges (S) 1039 64 588

Maroondah (C) 1046 65 596

Banyule (C) 1047 66 597

Queenscliffe (B) 1049 67 601

Melbourne (C) 1049 68 604

Knox (C) 1050 69 605

Monash (C) 1053 70 611

Macedon Ranges (S) 1054 71 612

Whitehorse (C) 1055 72 616

Port Phillip (C) 1065 73 626

Surf Coast (S) 1065 74 627

Glen Eira (C) 1071 75 631

Manningham (C) 1081 76 638

Stonnington (C) 1088 77 647

Bayside (C) 1096 78 650

Nillumbik (S) 1104 79 654

Boroondara (C) 1104 80 655



165

Appendix G

ESD Initiatives



166

Management

Sustainability Option Melbourne

CBD Melbourne Suburban

Ballarat Bendigo Geelong Horsham Mildura Portland Sale Shepparton Swan Hill

Warrnambool Wodonga

Water/Energy/Emission targets - monitoring and metering

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Environmental management system

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Electric, water and gas monitoring and sub metering

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Update O&M manuals and As-built drawings

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Update/create building user's guide 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Building Sustainability Committee 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Building user training program 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Supply chain management 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Daytime cleaning service 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Sustainability brief for tenants 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Recommended for region Further investigation required Not recommended for region



167

Indoor Environment




Warrnambool Wodonga

Asbestos survey/removal 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

Adaptive Thermal Comfort Control 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Low irritant or non chemical cleaning products 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Low VOC products 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Increased outdoor air 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Clean ductwork 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Add solar control film to existing glazing 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Internal plants 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Individual thermal control 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Printer exhaust 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Skylights 1 1 1 2 1 2 1 1 1 2 2 1 2

Upgrade acoustics (wall/duct etc.) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Accessible open space I 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1




168

Energy




Warrnambool Wodonga

Controls audit 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Lighting upgrade 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Widen temperature set points 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Economy cycle 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 BMS installation/upgrade 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Building Air Tightness 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Regular boiler maintenance 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Double Glazing 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Energy efficient appliances 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Comprehensive preventative maintenance program 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

VSD's on pumps and fans 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 HVAC zone control 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Time switches 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Lighting occupancy sensors 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Boiler Staging 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Chiller Staging 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Natural ventilation over mechanical 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

External window shading 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Power factor correction 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Upgrade roof and wall insulation 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

AHU upgrade 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Chiller replacement 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1



169

Energy




Warrnambool Wodonga

Replace belt drives with direct drives in motors 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Individual light switches for individual areas 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Upgrade to high efficiency motors 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

HVAC redesign (chilled beams, underfloor) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Temperature sensor locations 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 LCD Computer Screens 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 CHW Temp reset 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Improve light switch labelling 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Mixed mode ventilation 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 3 3 1 2 3 1 Internal blinds 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Test and increase building sealing 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Heat recovery on HVAC 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Use HHW for zone reheat 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Insulation audit 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Light dimming 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Occupant sensor controlled HVAC (CO2) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Occupant master isolation switch 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Light shelves 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Reduced office lighting zones 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Exposed thermal mass 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 2 1 Night cooling 2 2 1 1 2 2 1 1 2 1 Co generation 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2



170

Energy




Warrnambool Wodonga

Tri gen 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 Green façade 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 Temperature server rooms 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Ground source heat pump/cooling 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

Create atrium to improve daylight 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

Paint roof with light/reflective colours

2 2 2 1 2 1 1 2 2 1 1 2 1

Green roof 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 2 2 1 2 Programme light control system 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 2 2 1 2 Recalibrate Controls 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 2 2 1 2 Recommision Exisitng Plant 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 2 2 1 2 Repair ductwork leaks 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 2 2 1 2 Demand Control Ventilation 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 2 2 1 2

Gas over electric central hot water heaters and boilers

1 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 2 2 1 2




171

Water




Warrnambool Wodonga

Low flow shower heads 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Low flow taps 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Water leak detection 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Drought resistant landscape design 1 1 2 1 2 1 1 2 2 1 1 2 1

Water audits 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Low flow/dual flush toilets 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Rainwater capture 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 2 1 Flow regulators 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Air cooled plant 2 2 1 1 2 1 1 2 2 1 1 2 1 Urinal flush controls 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Water efficient appliances 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Waterless urinals 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 2 2 3 2 Grey water plant 2 2 2 2 2 3 2 3 3 2 3 2 2 Black water plant 2 2 2 2 2 3 2 3 3 2 3 2 2 Fire hydrant test water tank 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Cooling Towers with a minimum 6 cycles

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1




172

Materials



Ballarat Bendigo Geelong Horsham Mildura Portland Sale Shepparto

n Swan Hill

Warrnambool Wodonga

Waste separation and recycling facilities 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Waste management plan 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Centralised waste 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Low maintenance, durable materials 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Minimise PVC 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Environmentally friendly suppliers 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Recycled concrete 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Steel Procured from responsible steel maker 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Sustainable timber 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1




173

Emissions

Sustainability Initiative Melbourne


Ballarat Bendigo Geelong Horsham Mildura Portland Sale Shepparto

n Swan Hill

Warrnambool Wodonga

Zero ODP refrigerants 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Refrigerant leak detection 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Filters on stormwater 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Automatic refrigerant pump down 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Stormwater detention 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Recommended for region Further investigation required Not recommended for region

Transport




Warrnambool Wodonga

Sustainable travel plan for employees 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Bicycle storage and shower facilities 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Real time public transport information 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

Dedicated park for carpooling 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 Recommended for region Further investigation required Not recommended for region



174

Renewable Energy




Warrnambool Wodonga

Solar boosted domestic hot water 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Photovoltaic 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

Wind power 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2






Warrnambool Wodonga

External lights on movement sensors 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Acoustic attenuation for neighbours 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Communication with community 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1




175

Appendix H

Green Building Fund - Victorian Projects



176

Table 41 Green Building Fund Project Recipients - Victoria

Building Address Applicant Project Description Grant Value

580 St Kilda Road, Melbourne

Nikos Property Group Pty Ltd as trustee for The Nikos Property Trust

The project will reduce the building's energy consumption by replacing the dated central chiller, cooling tower and boiler plant, and upgrading the building automation system.

$550,000.00

360 Collins Street, Melbourne

DEXUS Wholesale Property Limited as responsible entity for DEXUS Wholesale Property Fund

Replacement of the central chilled water plant (including pumps and mechanical switchboards) with higher efficiency chillers and upgrade of the chiller controls strategy.

$550,000.00

1230 Nepean Highway, Cheltenham

ING Management Ltd as responsible entity for ING Office Fund

The project involves the installation of an EDGE Intelligent metering system, as well as an upgrade to the building's lighting controls.

$69,279.10

530 Little Collins Street, Melbourne

BCSP 428030 F Existing chillers will be replaced with turbo chillers with variable speed drives giving an improvement in efficiency. A building energy management control system will be implemented and energy efficient lighting will be installed.

$550,000.00

26-28 Prospect Street, Box Hill

26-28 Prospect St Pty Ltd

This project involves the installation and commissioning of a new building automation control system and new chiller to replace the existing Direct Expansion plant. Air Handling Units and Variable Speed Drives will be replaced on the pumps and cooling tower and solar hot water heating, lighting controls and sub-metering will be installed. Ongoing energy efficiencies will be monitored via integrated web-based controls and an energy monitoring system.

$550,000.00

620 Church Street, Richmond

620 Church Street Pty Ltd

This project involves car-park ventilation CO control, a partial upgrade of air conditioning controls, toilet exhaust fan control, CO2 control of outside air, smart cool controls for air-conditioning packaged units, a new web-based building and lighting controls system and sub-metering. Ongoing energy efficiencies will be monitored via integrated web-based controls and an energy monitoring system.

$125,741.00

651 Victoria Street, Abbotsford

651 Victoria Street Pty Ltd

This project involves a partial upgrade of air conditioning controls, toilet exhaust fan control, smart cool controls for AC packaged units, a new web-based building and lighting controls system and sub-metering. Ongoing energy efficiencies will be monitored via integrated web-based controls and an EMS.

$176,495.00



177


541 Blackburn Road, Mount Waverley

541 Blackburn Road Pty Ltd

This project involves replacement of the existing chiller with a high efficiency chiller and replacement of air handling units. It will also include a partial upgrade of air-conditioning controls, installation of variable speed drives on pumps and cooling tower fan, car-park and toilet exhaust fan controls, new web-based building controls, lighting controls and sub-metering systems. Ongoing energy efficiencies will be monitored via integrated web-based controls and an energy monitoring system.

$550,000.00

899 Whitehorse Road, Box Hill

899 Whitehorse Rd Pty Ltd as trustee for 899 Whitehorse Road Unit Trust

This project involves replacement of the existing chiller with a high efficiency chiller, modifications to existing air handling unit to chilled water units, installation of variable speed drives on air handling unit and upgrade of filters. It also includes installation of new web-based building controls, lighting controls and sub-metering systems. Ongoing energy efficiencies will be monitored via integrated web-based controls and an energy monitoring system.

$387,200.00

697 Burke Road, Camberwell

697 Burke Road Pty Ltd as trustee for 697 Burke Road Unit Trust

This project involves replacement of the existing chiller with a high efficiency gas fired absorption chiller and modifications to air handling units. It will also include a partial upgrade of air-conditioning controls, installation of variable speed drives on pumps and cooling tower fan, car-park and toilet exhaust fan controls, new web-based building controls, lighting controls, and sub-metering systems. Ongoing energy efficiencies will be monitored via integrated web-based controls and an energy monitoring system.

$550,000.00


991 Whitehorse Road Pty Ltd as trustee for 991 Whitehorse Road Trust

This project involves installation of smart cool compressor controls for existing air-conditioning plant, partial upgrade of air-conditioning controls and toilet exhaust fan controls. It also includes new web-based building controls, lighting controls and sub-metering systems. Ongoing energy efficiencies will be monitored via integrated web-based controls and an energy monitoring system.

$103,455.00



178


689 Burke Road, Camberwell

689 Burke Road Pty Ltd as trustee for 689 Burke Road Unit Trust

This project involves replacement of the existing chiller with a high efficiency gas fired absorption chiller, replacement of air handling unit coil and direct digital controls upgrade. It will also include installation of variable speed drives on pumps and cooling tower fan, toilet exhaust fan controls, new web-based building controls, lighting controls and sub-metering systems. Ongoing energy efficiencies will be monitored via integrated web-based controls and an energy monitoring system.

$550,000.00

390 St Kilda Road, South Melbourne, VIC

Mirvac PFA Limited as trustee for Mirvac PFA Diversified Property Trust

The project seeks to improve the building's energy efficiency and extend its useful life by replacing the original chillers and cooling towers, and installing high efficiency motors and a Building Management System.

$550,000.00

222 Exhibition Street, Melbourne, VIC

AMP Capital Investors Limited as trustee for AMP Wholesale Office Fund

The project involves installation of three new high efficiency chillers, and the upgrade the building's cooling towers, air handling unit, lighting systems and controls, hot water unit, metering and building management system.

$550,000.00

50 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne, VIC

ISPT Pty Ltd as trustee for ISPT 50 Lonsdale Street Property Trust

This is a retro-commissioning project involving the re-engineering and fine tuning of the mechanical and building automation system, and optimising performance to achieve a substantial recurring energy reduction.

$100,391.50

10-16 Dorcas Street, South Melbourne, VIC

Tabard Pty Ltd as trustee for Dorcas Street Trust

The project includes the installation of chillers, upgrades to the ventilation systems, as well as the installation of new building control systems.

$441,787.50

500 Bourke Street, Melbourne, VIC

ISPT Pty Ltd as trustee for The Industry Superannuation Property Trust No.2

The project involves the replacement of existing chillers with a chilled water plant which has enhanced metering capability, and the development of a customised chiller control strategy.

$550,000.00

200-216 Victoria Parade, East Melbourne, VIC

National Australia Bank Limited

This project plans to improve the efficiency of equipment by implementing an Energy Management Control System and upgrading the lighting system. This aims to improve the control, optimisation, monitoring and reporting capabilities throughout the building.

$550,000.00

440 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne, VIC

Selected Growth Properties Pty Ltd as trustee for Selected Growth Properties Trust

The project involves the implementation of an Energy Management Control System (EMCS), lift and lighting control systems and improved monitoring and reporting capabilities.

$220,515.90



179


77 Southbank Boulevard, Southbank, VIC

Foster's Group Limited

The project involves a retrofit and voltage reduction system and aims to replace lamps and standard ballasts to reduce GHG emissions at the Fosters Administration Building.

$102,401.20

6-20 Gladstone Street, Moonee Ponds, VIC

Macquarie Office Management Limited as responsible entity for Macquarie Office Trust

The project involves upgrading the building services including the BMS and chiller, as well as installation of smart metering and variable speed drives to chilled and hot water systems.

$550,000.00

661 Bourke Street, Defence Plaza, Melbourne, VIC

Brookfield Multiplex Capital Management Limited as responsible entity for Multiplex Prime Property Fund

The project involves the installation of chillers and a building management control system, modifications to air handling systems, as well as base building lighting upgrades.

$550,000.00

101 Collins Street, Melbourne, VIC

101 Collins Street Pty Limited

The project involves the upgrade of the HVAC system, including replacement of the old chiller with a new chiller, modifying chiller sequencing, lowering condenser water temperature and improving metering. This upgrade will be undertaken in conjunction with upgrades to the lighting systems in the common areas and carparks.

$550,000.00

131 Queen Street, Melbourne, VIC

Body Corporate Strata Plan 31260 130 Queen Street Melbourne

This project aims to achieve energy savings through retro-fitting of the HVAC plant and equipment, upgrade of lighting in common areas and installation of plant control systems, including real time metering.

$550,000.00

570 Bourke Street Melbourne, VIC

Perron Investments Pty Ltd

The project involves updating the building management system controls and the replacement of system software, programming and graphics to facilitate optimum operation of the HVAC systems.

$550,000.00

360 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne, VIC

GPT RE Limited as responsible entity for GPT Group and its controlled entities

This project aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through base building lighting upgrades, installation of sub metering, cooling tower enhancements and installation of energy management software.

$458,150.00



180


10 Queens Road, Melbourne

Hendine Pty. Ltd. as trustee for Queens Road Unit Trust

The efficiency of the existing Heating, Ventilation & Air Conditioning system will be enhanced by replacing the main water cooled reciprocating chiller with a high efficiency screw machine; replacing pumps with more efficient units, including Variable Speed Drives (VSD's); upgrading the pneumatic control system to state of the art digital control Building Automation System (BAS); improvements to the condenser water supply; window tinting to the West façade; and provision of car-park exhaust control from carbon monoxide (CO) sensing.

$354,200.00


Investa Property Group Holdings Pty Limited

Various energy efficiency works including installation of lighting controls, and HVAC plant and equipment upgrades, delivering energy consumption savings resulting in a reduction in greenhouse emissions.

$305,643.80

140 Bourke Street, Melbourne

Drapac Management Ltd as trustee for Drapac Trust Number 2

The project involves the replacement of one of the building's chillers with a more efficient chiller, and re-commissioning of the entire building to address areas of excessive energy consumption.

$118,624.00

155 Bertie Street, Port Melbourne

Toyota Motor Corporation Australia Ltd

The project involves the installation of Tri-Gen plant, and the replacement of lighting, lighting controls, timer switches, occupancy sensors and building management system at Toyota Australia's corporate headquarters.

$540,815.00

182 Capel Street, North Melbourne

Bellatrix Holdings Pty Ltd

The project will involve installation of natural ventilation measures (ceiling vents, operable windows), external shading and replacement of the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning, and building management systems.

$315,675.80

2 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne

ISPT Pty Ltd as trustee for The Industry Superannuation Property Trust No.1

High efficiency chiller upgrade. Undertake replacement program of inefficient chillers with highly efficient PowerPax low load system and Carrier variable speed chiller. In addition, enhanced metering capability and the development of a customised chiller control strategy will provide a reduction in energy consumption per annum. The project also incorporates an upgrade and recommissioning of Alerton Building Automation System for re-engineering/recommissioning of 82 air handling control systems. The installation of supply air sensors on perimeter variable air volume boxes will optimise control of electric reheat elements, and a new static pressure control strategy will reduce fan energy.

$550,000.00



181


20 Davey Street, Frankston

R.A.M. Nominees Pty. Limited as trustee for Schachter Family Trust

Energy Efficiency Upgrade. The installation of 22 electronic blinds controlled by automatic sensor, the updating of the lift (car and motor) and the installation of a BMS to control lights/power and HVAC.

$159,448.30

321 Exhibition Street, Melbourne

Cromwell Property Securities Limited as trustee for Cromwell Property Trust

The project involves installing a 1562 kW (electrical output) co-generation system. The system comprises a gas engine driving a generator which feeds into the building's electricity distribution network. Waste heat is captured from the engine and is used for space heating and cooling via an absorption chiller. The project forms part of a refurbishment and building services upgrade to the Base Building.

$550,000.00

33 Lakeside Drive, East Burwood

APV Nominees Pty Ltd as trustee for Michael Childrens Trust

Installation of a new evaporative, adiabatic cooled air-cooled chiller using variable speed drives, magnetic bearing compressors and BMS upgrades as well as installation of high performance window film to significantly reduce energy consumption and cooling requirements.

$471,280.70


Commonwealth Managed Investments Limited as the responsible entity for Direct Property Investment Fund A

Sustainability upgrade of HVAC systems. The project is intended to improve the energy efficiency and increase the energy rating of the building by upgrading its HVAC systems. This includes the installation of new chillers, an upgrade of the HVAC controls and installation of sub-metering.

$550,000.00

383 Latrobe Street, Melbourne

ING Management Limited as responsible entity for ING Office Fund

Reducing energy consumption using EDGE intelligent sub-metering and monitoring. The installation of an electricity sub-metering and monitoring system to improve energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

$57,766.50


Commonwealth Managed Investments Limited as responsible entity for Commonwealth Property Office Fund

Wind Array Scheme. Installation of vertical axis wind turbines on the roof of the building to supply carbon free energy to the base building. The array will reduce base building CO2 emissions and improve the energy efficiency of the building.

$3,042,600.00


Acupuncture Distributors Australia & New Zealand Pty Ltd as trustee for Ribush Family Trust

The project involves the improvement of the existing air handling equipment through the installation of dampers, variable speed drives, heat pump units, and a building automation & monitoring system.

$550,000.00



182


452 Flinders Street, Melbourne

Stockland Trust Management Limited as responsible entity for Stockland Trust

The project will involve a range of energy saving technologies including upgraded light fittings, chillers and cooling tower fans. In addition, a better CO monitoring system will be implemented to manage car-park exhaust fans.

$176,520.30

490 Spencer Street, West Melbourne

Environment Partners Pty Ltd as trustee for Synergetics Trust

The project aims to achieve zero greenhouse gas emissions for operations by installing skylights, LED lighting, PV cells and a building management system.

$55,000.00


GPT Funds Management 2 Pty Limited as responsible entity for Growth Equities 530 Collins Street Trust

An innovative energy performance contract will be undertaken. The project will include installation of high performance chillers, an embedded energy and co-generation system, a highly integrated BMS and a high definition submetering system.

$550,000.00


AMP Capital Investors Limited as trustee for Bourke Place Unit Trust

AMP CI identified that the existing building BMCS system is over 18 years old and had limited energy management and trending functionality. The project will introduce a current technology BMCS system with an integrated energy management module, with the aim to improve the building NABERS rating from current 2 stars to a 3 star rating.

$550,000.00



Installation of movement sensors for lighting in the kitchens, lift lobbies and toilets and auto transformers in the car park and fire stairs. Variable speed drives (VSDs) will also be installed on condenser cold water pumps to lower energy usage in this area. The project aims to improve energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

$94,371.20



Reducing energy consumption using EDGE intelligent sub-metering and monitoring. Installation of an electricity sub-metering and monitoring system to improve energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

$59,922.50

1 Southbank Boulevarde, Southbank, VIC

Mirvac Funds Limited as responsible entity for Mirvac Property Trust

The project involves a Building Management System upgrade, installation of sub-metering, installation of variable speed drives to the cooling tower fan and air handling units, installation of car park CO2 sensors and lighting improvements.

$197,615.00



183


121 William St, Melbourne

Juilliard Corporation Pty Ltd

The project will involve the redesign and refurbishment of the existing building, including a 100% fresh air HVAC solution, renewed glazing and contemporary lighting.

$550,000.00

15-31 Pelham Street, Carlton, VIC

McMullin Investments Pty Ltd

The project involves an upgrade of the existing mechanical services base building plant and control system, including upgrades to the building management systems controls, the cooling plant and the heating plant.

$339,350.00

179 Queen Street, Melbourne

179 Queen Street Pty Ltd

The project involves the installation of a new chiller, a sub-metering system, and a new co-generation plant.

$385,000.00

4 Riverside Quay, Southbank, VIC


The project will involve a Building Management System upgrade; installation of base building sub metering; installation of variable speed drives to cooling tower fans and lobby, and common area toilets lighting improvements.

$192,902.60

550 Princes Highway, Noble Park North, VIC

RACV Limited The project involves replacement of an older technology chiller with a current technology chiller that is capable of working efficiently at part load, including variable speed drives to maximise efficiency and minimise power consumption.

$121,000.00

6 Riverside Quay, Southbank, VIC


The project will involve a Building Management System upgrade; installation of sub-metering; and lobby, common area toilet, and car park lighting improvements.

$197,285.00



184

Appendix I

Regional Summary Pages



185

Metropolitan Regions South East

Population

Table 42 Resident Population, South East Region – 2009

Municipality Population Municipality Population

Bayside (C) 96,389 Glen Eira (C) 136,439

Cardinia (S) 68,684 Greater Dandenong (C) 137,685

Casey (C) 247,511 Kingston (C) 147,306

Frankston (C) 128,656 Mornington Peninsula (S) 148,486

South East Region Total 1,111,156

Rate of Population Growth from 2005-2010: 17.9% Source: ABS

Climate

Figure 80 Mean Temperature by Month – Melbourne


Office Sector

Figure 81 Office Market by GFA and Number of Buildings – South East

Note: Buildings without a construction date listed do not appear in this chart.

Source: Valuer General Victoria, 2010, Davis Langdon Research

0

5

10

15

20

25

30


C

Mean maximum temp ( C) Mean minimum temp ( C)

1880-1889

1890-1899

1900-1909

1910-1919

1920-1929

1930-1939

1940-1949

1950-1959

1960-1969

1970-1979

1980-1989

1990-1999

2000-2010

GFA (LHS) 548 598 748 797 13,758 11,512 6,134 23,315 81,079 103,211 217,796 55,200 79,720 No. Buildings (RHS) 5 4 5 6 84 77 33 170 242 378 709 200 461

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

0

50,000

100,000

150,000

200,000

250,000

No. of buildingsm²



186

Inner East

Population

Table 43 Resident Population, Inner East Region – 2009


Banyule (C) 123,598 Stonnington (C) 99,171

Boroondara (C) 168,194 Yarra (C) 78,089

Darebin (C) 139,695

Inner East Region Total 608,747


Climate

Refer to Figure 80. (Mean temperatures in metropolitan Melbourne regions have minimal variance)

Office Sector

Figure 82 Office Market by GFA and Number of Buildings – Inner East



1860-1869

1870-1879

1880-1889

1890-1899

1900-1909

1910-1919

1920-1929

1930-1939

1940-1949

1950-1959

1960-1969

1970-1979

1980-1989

1990-1999

2000-2009

GFA (LHS) 894 2,349 3,941 95,063 47,544 7,630 35,323 31,903 44,874 44,619 103,521 156,038 323,119 249,000 381,442No. Buildings (RHS) 12 3 19 474 113 41 163 194 154 263 358 524 765 401 1,235

0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

0

50,000

100,000

150,000

200,000

250,000

300,000

350,000

400,000

450,000

No. of buildingsm²



187

Outer East

Population

Table 44 Resident Population, Outer East – 2009


Knox (C) 156,066 Nillumbik (S) 63,867

Manningham (C) 118,618 Whitehorse (C) 155,821

Maroondah (C) 106,291 Yarra Ranges (S) 149,004

Monash (C) 176,179

Outer East Region Total 925,846


Climate


Office Sector

Figure 83 Office Market by GFA and Number of Buildings – Outer East



1870-1879

1880-1889

1890-1899

1900-1909

1910-1919

1920-1929

1930-1939

1940-1949

1950-1959

1960-1969

1970-1979

1980-1989

1990-1999

2000-2009

GFA (LHS) 1,875 5,643 3,785 3,800 9,552 61,553 48,381 31,131 304,784 569,368 882,493 1,679,288 789,414 1,716,409No. Buildings (RHS) 1 3 2 2 5 32 25 16 156 290 447 846 396 856

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

0

200,000

400,000

600,000

800,000

1,000,000

1,200,000

1,400,000

1,600,000

1,800,000

2,000,000

No. of buildingsm²



188

North and West

Population

Table 45 Resident Population, North and West – 2009


Brimbank (C) 186,006 Moonee Valley (C) 111,337

Hobsons Bay (C) 87,540 Moreland (C) 149,215

Hume (C) 167,644 Whittlesea (C) 146,223

Maribyrnong (C) 71,568 Wyndham (C) 143,969

Melton (S) 100,062

North and West Region Total 1,163,564

Rate of Population Growth from 2005-2010: 29% Source: ABS

Climate


Office Sector

Figure 84 Office Market by GFA and Number of Buildings – North and West



1870-1879

1880-1889

1890-1899

1900-1909

1910-1919

1920-1929

1930-1939

1940-1949

1950-1959

1960-1969

1970-1979

1980-1989

1990-1999

2000-2010

GFA (LHS) 250 3,193 3,687 12,018 10,621 15,908 12,172 19,531 20,858 33,794 54,794 96,604 122,314 126,179No. Buildings (RHS) 1 14 26 65 59 85 56 39 84 212 212 392 172 643

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

0

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

100,000

120,000

140,000

No. of buildingsm²



189

Rural Regions Corangamite

Population

Table 46 Resident Population, Corangamite – 2009


Colac-Otway (S) 21,830 Greater Geelong (C) 216,465

Corangamite (S) 17,511 Queenscliffe (B) 3,320

Golden Plains (S) 18,184 Surf Coast (S) 25,474

Corangamite Region Total 302,784


Climate

Figure 85 Mean Temperatures by Month – Geelong


Office Sector

Figure 86 Office Market by GFA and Number of Buildings – Corangamite



0

5

10

15

20

25

30


C


1850-1859

1860-1869

1870-1879

1880-1889

1890-1899

1900-1909

1910-1919

1920-1929

1930-1939

1940-1949

1950-1959

1960-1969

1970-1979

1980-1989

1990-1999

2000-2009

GFA (LHS) 599 2,398 599 1,049 649 10,827 2,694 6,583 45,351 2,788 2,393 9,223 36,475 45,380 17,618 44,500No. Buildings (RHS) 2 4 2 3 3 47 12 34 199 24 14 55 151 141 65 101

0

50

100

150

200

250

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

40,000

45,000

50,000

No. of buildingsm²



190

East Gippsland

Population

Table 47 Resident Population, East Gippsland – 2009


East Gippsland 43,643

East Gippsland Region Total 43,643


Climate

Figure 87 Mean Temperatures by Month – Orbost


Office Sector

Figure 88 Office Market by GFA and Number of Buildings – East Gippsland



0

5

10

15

20

25

30


C


1880-1889

1900-1909

1910-1919

1920-1929

1930-1939

1940-1949

1950-1959

1960-1969

1970-1979

1980-1989

1990-1999

2000-2009

GFA (LHS) 399 2,495 250 2,396 1,895 1,446 1,594 798 2,146 4,037 5,343 3,445 No. Buildings (RHS) 2 10 1 8 10 9 12 4 9 27 15 11

-

5

10

15

20

25

30

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

No. of buildingsm²



191

Glenelg Hopkins

Population

Table 48 Resident Population, Glenelg Hopkins – 2009


Ararat (RC) 11,920 Pyrenees (S) 6,889

Ballarat (C) 94,147 Southern Grampians (S) 17,574

Glenelg (S) 21,159 Warrnambool (C) 33,395

Moyne (S) 16,695

Glenelg Hopkins Region Total 201,779


Climate

Figure 89 Mean Temperatures by Month – Ballarat


Office Sector

Figure 90 Office Market by GFA and Number of Buildings – Glenelg Hopkins



0

5

10

15

20

25

30


C


1840-1849

1850-1859

1860-1869

1870-1879

1880-1889

1890-1899

1900-1909

1910-1919

1920-1929

1930-1939

1940-1949

1950-1959

1960-1969

1970-1979

1980-1989

1990-1999

2000-2009

GFA (LHS) 99 3,747 6,642 2,945 9,583 3,594 16,420 1,746 6,983 6,487 6,584 8,729 10,918 11,731 19,403 25,825 28,962No. Buildings (RHS) 2 7 17 11 34 12 61 9 34 26 32 43 65 39 95 51 76

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

No. of buildingsm²



192

Goulburn Broken

Population

Table 49 Resident Population, Goulburn Broken – 2009


Benalla (RC) 14,217 Moira (S) 29,145

Greater Shepparton (C) 62,406 Murrindindi (S) 13,385

Mansfield (S) 7,886 Strathbogie (S) 9,980

Mitchell (S) 34,140

Goulburn Broken Region Total 171,159


Climate

Figure 91 Mean Temperatures by Month – Shepparton


Office Sector

Figure 92 Office Market by GFA and Number of Buildings – Goulburn Broken



0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35


C


1880-1889

1890-1899

1900-1909

1910-1919

1920-1929

1930-1939

1940-1949

1950-1959

1960-1969

1970-1979

1980-1989

1990-1999

2000-2009

GFA (LHS) 50 299 349 498 1,945 3,888 2,493 4,887 6,778 18,114 25,098 15,280 24,515No. Buildings (RHS) 1 2 3 4 11 24 14 26 44 73 105 40 71

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

No. of buildingsm²



193

Mallee

Population

Table 50 Resident Population, Mallee – 2009


Buloke (S) 7,082 Swan Hill (RC) 22,131

Mildura (RC) 53,910

Mallee Region Total 83,123

Rate of Population Growth from 2005-2010: 2% Source: ABS

Climate

Figure 93 Mean Temperatures by Month – Swan Hill


Office Sector

Figure 94 Office Market by GFA and Number of Buildings – Mallee



0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35


C


1900-1909 1910-1919 1920-1929 1930-1939 1940-1949 1950-1959 1970-1979 1980-1989 1990-1999 2000-2009GFA (LHS) 150 499 99 50 150 150 499 249 449 1,348No. Buildings (RHS) 1 2 2 1 1 1 2 3 3 5

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

1,600

No. of buildingsm²



194

North Central

Population

Table 51 Resident Population, North Central – 2009


Campaspe (S) 38,813 Hepburn (S) 14,812

Central Goldfields (S) 12,907 Loddon (S) 8,084

Gannawarra (S) 11,672 Mount Alexander (S) 18,305

Greater Bendigo (C) 102,438 Northern Grampians (S) 12,347

North Central Region Total 219,378


Climate

Figure 95 Mean Temperatures by Month – Bendigo


Office Sector

Figure 96 Office Market by GFA and Number of Buildings – North Central



0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35


C


1850-1859

1860-1869

1870-1879

1880-1889

1890-1899

1900-1909

1910-1919

1920-1929

1930-1939

1940-1949

1950-1959

1960-1969

1970-1979

1980-1989

1990-1999

2000-2010

GFA (LHS) 750 1,346 3,446 5,192 5,087 12,064 5,185 7,532 5,034 4,388 6,234 14,728 9,378 26,956 20,326 23,075No. Buildings (RHS) 1 9 9 16 26 72 30 38 33 24 33 45 44 88 49 50

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

No. of buildingsm²



195

North East

Population

Table 52 Resident Population, North East – 2009


Alpine (S) 12,803 Wangaratta (RC) 28,681

Indigo (S) 15,954 Wodonga (RC) 35,755

Towong (S) 6,344

North East Region Total 99,537


Climate

Figure 97 Mean Temperatures by Month – Wodonga


Office Sector

Figure 98 Office Market by GFA and Number of Buildings – North East



0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35


C


1870-1879

1890-1899

1900-1909

1920-1929

1930-1939

1940-1949

1950-1959

1960-1969

1970-1979

1980-1989

1990-1999

2000-2009

GFA (LHS) 199 299 448 1,396 1,746 6,540 4,139 5,190 2,592 8,486 6,684 7,136No. Buildings (RHS) 2 2 5 8 9 21 23 20 16 28 32 29

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

7,000

8,000

9,000

No. of buildingsm²



196

Port Phillip and Westernport

Population

Table 53 Resident Population, Port Phillip and Westernport – 2009


Bass Coast (S) 29,603 Moorabool (S) 27,913

Macedon Ranges (S) 42,041

Port Phillip and Western Port Region Total 99,557


Climate

Figure 99 Mean Temperatures by Month – Tooradin


Office Sector

Figure 100 Office Market by GFA and Number of Buildings – Port Phillip and Westernport



0

5

10

15

20

25

30


C


1890-1899

1900-1909

1910-1919

1920-1929

1930-1939

1940-1949

1950-1959

1960-1969

1970-1979

1980-1989

1990-1999

2000-2009

GFA (LHS) 449 1,098 150 1,593 2,595 150 1,248 2,043 4,281 4,483 4,036 2,394No. Buildings (RHS) 3 4 1 14 10 1 5 15 38 34 29 12

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

3,500

4,000

4,500

5,000

No. of buildingsm²



197

West Gippsland

Population

Table 54 Resident Population, West Gippsland – 2009


Baw Baw (S) 41,351 South Gippsland (S) 27,793

Latrobe (C) 75,306 Wellington (S) 43,225

West Gippsland Region Total 187,675


Climate

Figure 101 Mean Temperatures by Month – Sale


Office Sector

Figure 102 Office Market by GFA and Number of Buildings – West Gippsland



0

5

10

15

20

25

30


C


1880-1889

1890-1899

1900-1909

1910-1919

1920-1929

1930-1939

1940-1949

1950-1959

1960-1969

1970-1979

1980-1989

1990-1999

2000-2009

GFA (LHS) 50 399 1,746 150 5,444 2,395 3,093 6,335 18,670 25,755 40,821 33,858 8,887No. Buildings (RHS) 1 2 9 1 13 10 14 31 60 90 158 84 26

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

40,000

45,000

No. of buildingsm²



198

Wimmera

Population

Table 55 Resident Population, Wimmera – 2009


Hindmarsh (S) 6,206 West Wimmera (S) 4,616

Horsham (RC) 20,054 Yarriambiack (S) 7,686

Wimmera Region Total 38,562


Climate

Figure 103 Mean Temperatures by Month – Horsham


Office Sector

Figure 104 Office Market by GFA and Number of Buildings – Wimmera



0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35


C


1910-1919 1920-1929 1930-1939 1940-1949 1950-1959 1960-1969 1970-1979 1980-1989 1990-1999 2000-2009GFA (LHS) 50 150 1,745 2,344 2,345 1,247 2,446 4,987 3,195 250No. Buildings (RHS) 1 1 11 13 11 7 9 26 10 1

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

No. of buildingsm²



199

Appendix J

Typical Building Recommendations



200

Management

Table 56 ESD Initiatives - Management

Management


Sco

re

Ty

pe A

Ty

pe B

Ty

pe C

Ty

pe D

Ty

pe E

Ty

pe F


Water/Energy/Waste targets 229

Employ building management and operation team onsite A dedicated building manager will assist in understanding the constraints and opportunities associated with implementing any proposed ESD initiatives. The building manager can also monitor and respond immediately to equipment or systems that are impact on the environmental performance of the facility.

214

Environmental management system An Environmental management system (EMS) provides the building facility manager with a software package that has the capability to monitor and measure actual energy, water and waste generation. The EMS will provide the analytical data to benchmark the environmental performance of the building.

211

Comprehensive preventative maintenance program Provide a preventative maintenance program that enables facility managers to ensure equipment is running as efficiently as possible. A preventative maintenance program can also assist in extending the life of existing plant.

209

Update/create building user's guide A building user guide ensures occupants understand their building, the limitation of the systems and can react appropriately to any issues that may arise.

161

Building Sustainability Committee Where an existing building has multiple tenants. Creating a sustainability committee creates landlord/tenant engagement and discussion around sustainability issues.

158

Update Operating &Maintenance manuals and As-built drawings Ensure O&M manuals and As-built drawings reflect any modifications that have occurred through the life of the building. This will assist in system problem solving and developing initiatives that will lead to existing plant operating at their optimal condition.

158



201

Management


Sco

re

Ty

pe A

Ty

pe B

Ty

pe C

Ty

pe D

Ty

pe E

Ty

pe F


Supply chain management Does with your suppliers their environmental production process and procedures to create the full cycle of environmental performance improvements to the building that reach beyond the boundaries of the facility.

136


Electric, water and gas monitoring and sub metering Install sub metering on main electrical, water and gas consumers and sub meter each tenant. Measured data can provide feedback to the tenant on their environmental performance. A sub meter also assists in collating hourly data of each service which can identify poorly performing systems. Metered hourly data will enable actual environmental benchmark’s to be set that lead to evaluating the performance of the building.

207



202

Indoor Environment

Table 57 ESD Initiatives – Indoor Environment

Indoor Environment


Sco

re

Ty

pe A

Ty

pe B

Ty

pe C

Ty

pe D

Ty

pe E

Ty

pe F


Low irritant or non chemical cleaning products Majority of buildings provide daily cleaning services. To enhance the occupants well being, ensure the cleaning team work with low irritant cleaning products.

198


Adaptive Thermal Comfort Control Space temperature control is monitored and measured against local ambient conditions. Where occupants are dressed to reflect the ambient conditions of the day, adjust the internal temperature set point by 1-2°C to match the ambient conditions of the day. Assess the existing building management systems capability to measure in advance local weather patterns. Both hardware (weather station) and software may be required.

207

Internal Shading Internal shading such as blinds provide the occupant with greater visual comfort control. Internal shading will also assist in reducing solar gains to the space resulting in a reducing in energy consumption associated with air conditioning the space.

165

Clean ductwork Majority of existing ductwork remains uncleaned from the time of installation. During non operational periods dust build up occurs within the ductwork and over time contaminated particulars are released into the air stream. To improve occupant well being commission ductwork cleaning specialists to clean the air handling unit, ductwork systems, grilles and replace the filters.

165

Increased outdoor air To improve the indoor air quality, investigate whether the existing air handling system has the capability to increase the outside air supplied to the occupied spaces. This initiative may result in an increase in energy consumption hence consultation with experience engineering services consultant is recommended.

153



203

Indoor Environment


Sco

re

Ty

pe A

Ty

pe B

Ty

pe C

Ty

pe D

Ty

pe E

Ty

pe F


Internal plants Distribute indoor plants such as Zanzibar (Zamioculcas), Peace Lilies (Spathiphyllum), Mother-in-law's Tongue (Sansevieria) or Parlour Palm (Rhapis) through the common areas of the building and within tenanted areas. Plants such as these assist in reducing air borne concentrations of volatile organic compounds.

150


Asbestos survey/removal An asbestos survey should be undertaken in order to safeguard occupants from the harmful effects of asbestos.

231

High frequency ballasts Occupant discomfort occurs where in appropriate lighting generates a flicker is installed. High frequency ballasts mitigate flicker by controlling the flow of current through a lighting circuit.

221

External Shading External shading provides the occupant with a greater level of visual comfort. External shading will also assist in reducing solar gains to the space, reduced radiant heat penetration resulting in an improved thermal comfort level and reduce energy consumption associated with air conditioning the space.

207

Low VOC products Interior finishes to have a low or zero Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) content. VOC’s can be found in formaldehyde paints, carpets, adhesives & wood products.

190

Solar film installation Solar film can reduce UV transmissions in the occupied space resulting in an improved level of thermal comfort. Soar film technology will also assist in a reduction in solar gain which in affect impacts on the performance of the air conditioning system.

145



204

Indoor Environment


Sco

re

Ty

pe A

Ty

pe B

Ty

pe C

Ty

pe D

Ty

pe E

Ty

pe F


Dedicated printer exhaust Provide a dedicated exhaust system to extract fumes expelled from large office printers. 108

Upgrade acoustics (wall/duct etc.) Assess the acoustic performance of inter office walls. Increase acoustics insulation to areas that are impacting on the well being of the occupants.

93



205

Energy

Table 58 ESD Initiatives – Energy Category

Energy


Sco

re

Ty

pe A

Ty

pe B

Ty

pe C

Ty

pe D

Ty

pe E

Ty

pe F


Energy audit Engage an experienced consultant to undertake a level 2 energy audit in accordance with AS/NZ 3598:2000. An energy audit will identify large energy consumers and will determine energy saving strategies.

245

Controls audit Engage an experienced contractor conduct a controls audit. A controls audit will identify non-functioning equipment, systems or sensor that are operating or measuring incorrectly or require recalibrating. Incorrectly set or functioning controls can significantly increase energy consumption and reduce thermal comfort for occupants

245

Recommission existing plant Recommissioning all plant ensures that existing systems are running as efficiently as possible and within the desired design conditions set for the facility.

238

Programme lighting control system A programmable lighting control (PLC) systems mitigates the risk of human failure to turning lights off when no longer required. A PLC system can extend beyond a timed control of light, the PLC enables motion and daylight sensor controls to interface with the existing light circuit.

198

Replace belt drives with direct drives in motors Direct drive motors will increased efficiency of existing plant and assist in the preventative maintenance program due to the increased reliability of direct drive motors.

160



206

Energy


Sco

re

Ty

pe A

Ty

pe B

Ty

pe C

Ty

pe D

Ty

pe E

Ty

pe F


CHW Temp reset Reduce chilled water energy consumption by resetting chilled water temperature higher when ambient conditions are favourable. By increasing the chilled water temperature during mild conditions the electrical demand of the chiller plant is decreased resulting in an overall reduction in energy consumptions. This initiative would need to be automated through the building management system.

139

Insulation audit Engage an experienced contractor conduct an insulation audit. Ageing pipework and ductwork as well as multiple tenancy fit outs over time result in the original insulation becoming damaged. As a result potential heat losses/gains will force the main plant to consume more energy to offset these losses or gains.

122

Night cooling When ambient conditions are favourable (outside temperature is lower than inside temperature) utilise the cool fresh outside air during the night to cool the building. This will stored the thermal energy held within the mass of the building which is would normally be released back into the space over the non air conditioning night time period.

95


BMS installation/upgrade A building management system can monitor, record real time energy/water data and automate the control of systems such as air conditioning equipment, air/water flow rates, compressors, pumps, fans, valve etc. A building management system will ensure accurate efficient use of these systems

218

Building Air Tightness Engage specialist to conduct air leakage test of the building. An air leakage test will identify areas of the building that are allow unconditioned air to infiltrate the building. Unconditioned infiltration has a significant impact to the air conditioning system resulting in plant operate to offset the thermal load created by the unconditioned air. A leaky facade will also impact on the thermal comfort of the building occupants.

207



207

Energy


Sco

re

Ty

pe A

Ty

pe B

Ty

pe C

Ty

pe D

Ty

pe E

Ty

pe F


Economy cycle Utilise free cooling when outside conditions permit by upgrading the air conditioning system to enable an air economy cycle to function. An air economy cycle is where ambient air conditions are suitable to replace artificial cooling. This is done by supplying up to 100% outside air to the air conditioning system.

203

Widen temperature set points Widen temperature set points to decrease heating and cooling demand on the building. A 1°C degree change in temperature set point can have a significant impact in reducing the energy consumption of a building.

201

Variable speed drives on pumps and fans Replace fixed speed fans/pumps with variable speed drives to give better control the equipment is not required to operate at full load.

189

Time switches Ensure major plant equipment is running off time switches and are set to reflect the period of time occupants are within the building.

187

Demand Ventilation Control Demand control ventilation involves monitoring the amount of carbon dioxide in the air, and varying the ventilation rates proportionally. This means the outside air rates are based on actual occupancy densities and levels rather than fixed occupancy times.

174

Lighting occupancy sensors Where spaces such as meeting rooms are infrequently occupied install occupancy sensor to activate and deactivate the lighting during occupied/unoccupied periods.

167



208

Energy


Sco

re

Ty

pe A

Ty

pe B

Ty

pe C

Ty

pe D

Ty

pe E

Ty

pe F


Power factor correction A power factor correction unit will increase electrical consumption efficiency by stabilising the frequency of the building load to 0.95 to 1. Where ageing air conditioning plant is installed existing power distribution to a building may be as low as 0.80.

153

Individual light switches for individual areas Enclosed spaces can be provided with individual lighting switches to ensure that are not unnecessarily lit, causing excess usage. This can be used in conjunction with occupancy sensors.

145

Improve light switch labelling Clear light switch labelling is an effective way to reduce energy consumption, by ensuring that employees know which switches control which lighting zones. This is especially relevant for out of hours and weekend office use, and will reduce operating costs

144


Lighting upgrade Significant operating cost savings can be made by replacing old T8 light fittings with T5 fluorescents. A T5 light fitting is approximately 15-20% more efficient. Considering most lighting contributes more than 25% of a lower grade office buildings electrical consumption significant savings in both operating costs and Green House Gas (GHG) emissions.

225

Gas over electric central hot water heaters and boilers The gas GHG emissions factor for Victorian is six times less than the electrical GHG emission factor. Therefore converting existing central hot water systems over to an alternative fuel source such gas will have a significant impact on environmental performance of the building.

210



209

Energy


Sco

re

Ty

pe A

Ty

pe B

Ty

pe C

Ty

pe D

Ty

pe E

Ty

pe F


External window shading External shading provides the occupant with a greater level of visual comfort. External shading will also assist in reducing solar gains to the space, reduced radiant heat penetration resulting in an improved thermal comfort level and reduce energy consumption associated with air conditioning the space.

207

HVAC zone control By providing greater zone control (100m2) of the air conditioning system will provide a benefit to the overall HVAC system performance as there is less fluctuation in space temperature drift.

190

Natural ventilation over mechanical Utilise energy efficient natural ventilation over mechanical ventilation where possible. Areas such as perimeter lunch rooms are appropriate spaces to benefit from natural ventilation/conditioned spaces.

170

Chiller replacement Investigate replacing existing chillers with higher efficiency chillers in particular where the existing plant is greater than 20 years old.

168

Upgrade roof insulation In particular single to three storey buildings upgrading roof insulation can significantly reduce conduction through the roof, therefore decreasing the air conditioning systems demand to offset any heat losses/gains.

157

HVAC redesign (chilled beams) Upgrade HVAC system design to efficient modern design concepts such as low temperature variable air volume system or active chilled beams.

153



210

Energy


Sco

re

Ty

pe A

Ty

pe B

Ty

pe C

Ty

pe D

Ty

pe E

Ty

pe F


Occupant master isolation switch An occupant controlled master isolation switch can be used to switch off appliances automatically after all occupants have left.

151

Increase glazing performance - single to double glaze Decreases heating and cooling demand as well as increase thermal comfort (noise and radiation). 147

Temperature sensor locations Ensure temperature sensors are located in appropriate locations for efficient temperature control. Perimeter zone ductwork system should be interconnected with a localised sensor mounted on the internal face of the façade. Check that temperature sensors are not located in direct sunlight or directly above printers.

139

Mixed mode ventilation Utilises both mechanical and natural ventilation. Mixed mode ventilation involves using natural ventilation when ambient conditions are suitable, with A/C operated only during peak conditions, thereby reducing energy consumption

135

Heat recovery on HVAC A heat recovery system transfer’s waste energy from conditioned air exhausted from the building to unconditioned outside air introduced to the building via the air conditioning system. The heat recovery system is a means of providing “free” conditioning to the air conditioning system. As a result the energy required to condition the supply air to the occupied space is reduced.

131

Use HHW for zone reheat Replace any energy intensive electric reheat elements with more efficient heating water coils. Heating hot water coils are interconnected with a centralised gas fired hot water system. The GHG emission saving are significantly high when this form of heating is implemented.

131



211

Energy


Sco

re

Ty

pe A

Ty

pe B

Ty

pe C

Ty

pe D

Ty

pe E

Ty

pe F


Daylight Sensor Control Daylight sensors zoned within areas where high quality daylight penetrates into the space will enable the automated deactivation of the artificial lighting system for that zone.

113

Light shelves Light shelves reflect light onto space ceiling to increase natural lighting to space. The reflected light will have little solar heat content, and can reduce the need for indoor lighting.

111

Reduced office lighting zones A reduction in zoning of the office lighting system enables greater flexibility to switch lights off (manually or via sensor) in unoccupied areas.

105

Co generation Plant Cogeneration or combined heat and power is where heating is provided as a by product of electricity produced onsite. A cogeneration system is environmentally and economically beneficial provided the plant selection is optimised to meet the electrical or thermal load profile of the facility.

83

Tri generation Plant Trigeneration is where heating and cooling is provided as a by product of electricity production. A trigeneration system is environmentally and economically beneficial provided the plant selection is optimised to meet the electrical or thermal load profile of the facility.

83

Ground source heat pump/cooling Utilises a water source heat pump to gain or reject heat to the ground via a closed loop pipe network. High efficiencies can be realised compared to air cooled systems, as the ground temperature is relatively stable throughout the year.

83



212

Energy


Sco

re

Ty

pe A

Ty

pe B

Ty

pe C

Ty

pe D

Ty

pe E

Ty

pe F


Green façade Install plantation on walls to provide shading and increased insulation

83

Temperature server rooms Increase space temperature in server rooms to within the equipment manufacturers nominated temperature allowance

81

Paint roof with light/reflective colours Reflects solar radiation reducing cooling loads. More beneficial to single to three storey buildings

62

Green roof Install plantations on roof to provide shading and increased insulation. 59



213

Water

Table 59 ESD Initiatives – Water Category

Water


Sco

re

Ty

pe A

Ty

pe B

Ty

pe C

Ty

pe D

Ty

pe E

Ty

pe F


Water audits Engage an experienced consultant to conduct a water audit. A water audit will identify large water consumers and will determine water saving strategies.

184


Low flow shower heads Install low flow shower heads are an effective way to reduce water usage of showers

229

Water leak detection Install a water leak detection system to enable efficient resolution on any leaks and hence reduce any water loss from the system.

194

Cooling Towers with a minimum 6 cycles Cooling towers can consumer up to 50% of a building potable water demand. Where cooling towers are required ensure the plant operates at a minimum of 6 cycles. Cooling towers which have a lower number of concentration cycles use more water and chemicals to operate.

196

Fire hydrant test water tank Fire hydrant are tested monthly and discharge a vast amount of potable water. Installing a test allows the reuse of the test water to occur therefore reducing the potable water consumption of the building

183



214

Water


Sco

re

Ty

pe A

Ty

pe B

Ty

pe C

Ty

pe D

Ty

pe E

Ty

pe F


Drought resistant landscape design Provide landscaping that does not require supplemental irrigation. 169

Flow regulators Flow regulators throttle the amount of low through pipes to ensure water is not used unnecessarily.

137

Water efficient appliances Products should be chosen with references t their Water Efficiency Labelling and Standards (WELS) scheme rating

135


Low flow/dual flush toilets Dual flush toilets provide the option of a full or half flush, reducing water consumption. 175

Rainwater capture Rainwater captured from the roof and treated reduces a building’s reliance on potable water. Harvested rain water can be used in toilet flushing, landscape irrigation and make-up water for cooling towers.

168

Air cooled plant Air cooled plant has zero water consumption compared to cooling tower plant.

162



215

Water


Sco

re

Ty

pe A

Ty

pe B

Ty

pe C

Ty

pe D

Ty

pe E

Ty

pe F


Urinal flush controls Urinal flush controls can be used to ensure that urinals flush only when used, rather than continuously. 141

Waterless urinals Install urinals that use a chemical flush instead of consuming potable water. 103

Grey water plant Grey water can be captured from showers, basins and dishwashing, then treated and reused for non potable uses such as toilet flushing, landscape irrigation and make-up water for cooling towers. A Grey water system is environmentally and economically beneficial provided the plant selection is optimised to meet the water load profile of the facility.

83

Black water plant Install a Blackwater treatment plant which treats all water used in building for reuse in toilets such as toilet flushing, landscape irrigation and make-up water for cooling towers. Black water system is environmentally and economically beneficial provided the plant selection is optimised to meet the water load profile of the facility.

72



216

Materials

Table 60 ESD Initiatives – Materials Category

Materials


Sco

re

Ty

pe A

Ty

pe B

Ty

pe C

Ty

pe D

Ty

pe E

Ty

pe F


Waste separation and recycling facilities Provide separate waste facilities of different classes of waste on each floor to ensure that waste is diverted from landfill.

236

Waste management plan Create a waste management plan each time building/retrofitting works are carried out on the building. A waste management plan details the expected levels of waste, and plans strategies to minimise the waste sent to landfill.

231


Low maintenance, durable materials Durable materials have a longer life, use less consumable materials and take less time to maintain hence they do not need replacing as often (less material consumption).

155

Environmentally friendly suppliers Ensure suppliers of all materials have proven environmentally responsible processes and procedures.

150

Minimise PVC PVC production can product harmful chemicals such as dioxins. They also are difficult to dispose of, and much PVC is either left in situ or sent to waste landfill at the end of its life.

143



217

Materials


Sco

re

Ty

pe A

Ty

pe B

Ty

pe C

Ty

pe D

Ty

pe E

Ty

pe F


Sustainable timber Sustainable timber refers to timber that is either reused, post-consumer recycled timber or Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified timber.

47


Centralised waste Centralised waste handling facilities can improve the effectiveness of collecting waste and can help to increase the lettable area of the building.

171



218

Emissions

Table 61 ESD Initiatives – Emissions Category

Emissions


Sco

re

Ty

pe A

Ty

pe B

Ty

pe C

Ty

pe D

Ty

pe E

Ty

pe F


Filters on stormwater Stormwater treated with silt and oil separators to reduce pollutants entering natural water courses. 149


Replace HFC and HC refrigerants with Zero ODP refrigerants Any refrigerant used within the building to have zero ozone depleting potential. Conduct an audit of existing plant to determine of equipment is currently operating with HFC or HC refrigerants.

171

Refrigerant leak detection Refrigerant leak detection as part of the BMS ensures that dangerous refrigerant leaks are detected quickly. This reduces a safety and environmental hazard, as well as saving money.

152

Automatic refrigerant pump down Provision of automatic refrigerant pump down means that refrigeration is captured and stored during maintenance of refrigeration systems.

116

Stormwater detention Storage facility to enable stormwater to be stored and released slowly into the natural water courses. 105



219

Transport

Table 62 ESD Initiatives – Transport Category

Transport


Sco

re

Ty

pe A

Ty

pe B

Ty

pe C

Ty

pe D

Ty

pe E

Ty

pe F


Sustainable travel plan for employees A sustainable travel plan encourages employees to travel via more sustainable methods reasonably available to them.

191

Dedicated park for carpooling Provide dedicated priority parking for carpooling. Encouraging car pooling reduces the number of cars on the road, as well as improving employee relations.

147

Real time public transport information Provide real time public transport information to encourage building occupants to use this mode of transport. 131


Bicycle storage and shower facilities Encourage occupants to ride to work providing bicycle storage and shower facilities for building users. 136



220

Renewable Energy

Table 63 ESD Initiatives – Renewable Energy Category

Renewable Energy


Sco

re

Ty

pe A

Ty

pe B

Ty

pe C

Ty

pe D

Ty

pe E

Ty

pe F


Solar boosted domestic hot water Solar energy can be used to reduce fossil fuel energy consumption in domestic hot water generation. 58

Photovoltaic PV solar panels can be installed on the roof or incorporated into the façade or shading elements of a building to generate onsite electricity.

44

Wind power Wind turbines can be integrated as part of the building form. This form of renewable energy source is beneficial where an existing building has clear separate from any tall obstacle.

37



221


Table 64 ESD Initiatives – Social Sustainability Category



Sco

re

Ty

pe A

Ty

pe B

Ty

pe C

Ty

pe D

Ty

pe E

Ty

pe F


External lights on movement sensors Linking external lights to movement sensors will improve the security of occupants outside of the building at night and reduces energy consumption.

167

Acoustic attenuation for neighbours Acoustic attenuation or screening of roof top plant minimises noise pollution into the surrounding areas. 58

Communication with community Increased communication will improve the relationship between the building owner and tenants and the local community.

41



222

Appendix K

List of Tables and Figures



223

List of Tables Table 1 Victorian Office Market Summary by AVPCC (Not to be used as representation of

Victorian office market) 25 Table 2 Office Market by Construction Year – Victoria (Excluding City of Melbourne) 29 Table 3 City of Melbourne Office Market Precincts 31 Table 4 Number Buildings by Floors above Ground and PCA Grade – City of Melbourne 37 Table 5 Metropolitan Office Region Summary 40 Table 6 Office Market by PCA Grade – Selected Metropolitan Suburbs 42 Table 7 Summary of Regional Centres in Victoria 45 Table 8 Typical Construction types for each AVPCC 48 Table 9 NABERS Energy Ratings (without Green Power) Victoria (publicly listed as at 18 August

2011) 53 Table 10 Typical Emissions and Water Usage – City of Melbourne (Theoretical Modelling) 56 Table 11 Typical Emissions and Water Usage – Metropolitan Suburbs (Theoretical Modelling) 56 Table 12 Typical Emissions and Water Usage (excluding Regional Centres) (Theoretical

Modelling) 57 Table 13 Typical Emissions and Water Usage – Regional Centres (Theoretical Modelling) 57 Table 14 Tenant Structure by PCA Grade and Number of Buildings – City of Melbourne 68 Table 15 Tenant Structure by PCA Grade and NLA– City of Melbourne 68 Table 16 Building Elements and Typical Life Cycle 75 Table 17 Current Financing Schemes available to Victorian Property Owners 79 Table 18 Proposed Financing Schemes available to Victorian Property Owners 80 Table 19 Summary Table of ESD Selection Criteria 95 Table 20 ESD Initiative Colour Indicator and Scores 96 Table 21 ESD Initiative Energy Audit – Weighted Score Example 97 Table 22 Energy Category Example 97 Table 23 ESD Initiative Scores- Management 100 Table 24 ESD Initiative Scores – Indoor Environment 102 Table 25 ESD Initiative Scores – Energy Category 105 Table 26 ESD Initiative Scores – Water Category 111 Table 27 ESD Initiative Scores – Materials Category 113 Table 28 ESD Initiative Scores – Emissions Category 114 Table 29 ESD Initiative Scores – Transport Category 115 Table 30 ESD Initiative Scores – Renewable Energy Category 116 Table 31 ESD Initiative Scores – Social Sustainability Category 117 Table 32 Typical Office Rents – City of Melbourne 120 Table 33 Typical Office Rents – Metropolitan Market 121 Table 34 Typical Office Rents – Regions (excluding Regional Centres) 123 Table 35 Average Rent of Office Buildings – Regional Centres 123 Table 36 Summary of Previous US Green Office Building Results 125 Table 37 City of Melbourne Built Environment Evolution Summary 133 Table 38 NLA and Number of Buildings by Construction Year and PCA Grade – City of Melbourne 147 Table 39 NLA (m²) by ANZSIC – City of Melbourne 152 Table 40 ABS Index of Relative Socio-economic Advantage and Disadvantage Score and Rank by

LGA 163 Table 41 Green Building Fund Project Recipients - Victoria 176 Table 42 Resident Population, South East Region – 2009 185 Table 43 Resident Population, Inner East Region – 2009 186 Table 44 Resident Population, Outer East – 2009 187 Table 45 Resident Population, North and West – 2009 188 Table 46 Resident Population, Corangamite – 2009 189 Table 47 Resident Population, East Gippsland – 2009 190 Table 48 Resident Population, Glenelg Hopkins – 2009 191 Table 49 Resident Population, Goulburn Broken – 2009 192 Table 50 Resident Population, Mallee – 2009 193 Table 51 Resident Population, North Central – 2009 194 Table 52 Resident Population, North East – 2009 195



224

Table 53 Resident Population, Port Phillip and Westernport – 2009 196 Table 54 Resident Population, West Gippsland – 2009 197 Table 55 Resident Population, Wimmera – 2009 198 Table 56 ESD Initiatives - Management 200 Table 57 ESD Initiatives – Indoor Environment 202 Table 58 ESD Initiatives – Energy Category 205 Table 59 ESD Initiatives – Water Category 213 Table 60 ESD Initiatives – Materials Category 216 Table 61 ESD Initiatives – Emissions Category 218 Table 62 ESD Initiatives – Transport Category 219 Table 63 ESD Initiatives – Renewable Energy Category 220 Table 64 ESD Initiatives – Social Sustainability Category 221

List of Figures Figure 1 Victorian Office Market by Number of Buildings and GFA 24 Figure 2 Victorian Municipalities by Total GFA 26 Figure 3 Total Victorian Office Floor Area (m²) by Municipality 27 Figure 4 Office Market by Floor Area Range (≥2,000m2) – Victoria 28 Figure 5 Office Market by Floor Area (<2,000m2) – Victoria 28 Figure 6 Office Market by Construction Year – Victoria (Excluding City of Melbourne) 29 Figure 7 CLUE Region Map 30 Figure 8 Office Market by Construction Year – City of Melbourne 31 Figure 9 Number of Buildings by Construction Year and PCA Grade – City of Melbourne 32 Figure 10 NLA by Construction Year and PCA Grade – City of Melbourne 32 Figure 11 NLA by Precinct and PCA Grade – City of Melbourne 33 Figure 12 PCA Grade A Office Space by Precinct – City of Melbourne 33 Figure 13 PCA Grade B Office Space by Precinct – City of Melbourne 34 Figure 14 PCA Grade C Office Space by Precinct – City of Melbourne 34 Figure 15 PCA Grade D Office Space by Precinct – City of Melbourne 35 Figure 16 Office Building Use by Service Type (ANZSIC Classification) and PCA Grade – City of

Melbourne 36 Figure 17 Number of Buildings by Floors Above Ground and PCA Grade – City of Melbourne 36 Figure 18 Ownership Type by NLA and Number of Buildings – City of Melbourne 38 Figure 19 Typical Lease Terms by Grade – Melbourne CBD Office 38 Figure 20 NABERS Energy Rating and PCA Office Grade (Australia wide) 39 Figure 21 NABERS Energy Rating and Office Building Age (Australia wide) 39 Figure 22 Metropolitan Melbourne Office Market Regions 40 Figure 23 Office Market by Region – Metropolitan 41 Figure 24 Office Market Floor Area by PCA Grade – Selected Metropolitan Suburbs 41 Figure 25 Mean Age of Metropolitan Office Buildings by Region 42 Figure 26 Office Market GFA by Industry – Darebin 43 Figure 27 Office Market GFA by Number of Floors – Darebin 43 Figure 28 Map of Rural Regions in Victoria 44 Figure 29 Regional Office Market by Region 46 Figure 30 Office Market GFA – Regional Centres 46 Figure 31 Regional Office Market by Region (excluding Regional Centres) 47 Figure 32 Mean Age of Regional Office Buildings by Region (excluding Regional Centres) 49 Figure 33 Mean Age of Regional Office Buildings – Regional Centres 50 Figure 34 NABERS Rating Distribution -Theoretical Bell Curve Statistical Approach 52 Figure 35 Theoretical Normal Distribution of NABERS Ratings (without Green Power) 53 Figure 36 NABERS Energy Ratings (without Green Power) - Victoria (publicly listed as at 18

August 2011). 54 Figure 37 Theoretical Modelling of Typical Victorian Base Building Office Market Emissions 55 Figure 38 Melbourne CBD Vacancy rates by Grade 60 Figure 39 Total Number of C & D Grade Office Buildings Adapted 1998 to 2008 by Owner Type 65 Figure 40 Building Ownership Types 66 Figure 41 Number of C and D Grade office buildings adapted in Melbourne CBD 1998 to 2008 67



225

Figure 42 Tenant Structure by PCA Grade – City of Melbourne 67 Figure 43 Tenant Structure by PCA Grade and NLA– City of Melbourne 68 Figure 44 Attributes Present in C and D Grade Melbourne CBD Office Building Retrofits (1998-

2008) 69 Figure 45 Attributes Present in C and D Grade Melbourne CBD Office Building Retrofits aged

between 26 and 50 Years (1998-2008) 70 Figure 46 Heritage Overlays (coloured pink) in central Geelong (left) and Ballarat (right) 71 Figure 47 Areas of Improvements for Sustainable Upgrades in Melbourne CBD 72 Figure 48 Relative Socio-economic Disadvantage Index Score and Rank by Metropolitan Region

(not incl COM) 73 Figure 49 Relative Socio-economic Disadvantage Index Score and Rank by Regional City (not

including Regional Centres) 74 Figure 50 Relative Socio-economic Disadvantage Index Score and Rank by Regional Centre 74 Figure 51 Number of C and D Grade Office Stock Refurbished- City of Melbourne 76 Figure 52 Environmental Building Performance Improvement Process 86 Figure 53 The Relationship between Project Commitment and Sustainability Outcomes 88 Figure 54 Mean Monthly Temperature (°C) Difference – Key Victoria Towns 90 Figure 55 Mean Monthly Rainfall – Key Victoria Towns 91 Figure 56 Energy Hierarchy 92 Figure 57 Water Hierarchy 93 Figure 58 ESD Initiatives Ranked by Stakeholder Benefit 99 Figure 59 Average Value (per m²) of Office Buildings – City of Melbourne 120 Figure 60 Average Value (per m²) of Office Buildings – Metropolitan Market 121 Figure 61 Average Value of Regional Office Buildings (excluding Regional Centres) 122 Figure 62 Average Value of Office Buildings – Regional Centres 122 Figure 63 Green Star Premiums and Discounts by Category 124 Figure 64 Green Building Fund Allocated Value per Round. 126 Figure 65 60 Leicester Street, Carlton 127 Figure 66 182 Capel Street, West Melbourne 128 Figure 67 131 Queen Street, Melbourne 129 Figure 68 170 Phillip Street, Sydney 129 Figure 69 265 Castlereagh Street, Sydney 130 Figure 70 76 Berry Street, North Sydney 130 Figure 71 Distribution of Low Grade (not including Premium and A Grade Office Buildings by

Construction Year – City of Melbourne 132 Figure 72 Distribution of Office Market by Construction Year – Metropolitan and Regional 133 Figure 73 Distribution of CoM Lower Grade Office Buildings by NLA Range 134 Figure 74 Distribution of Metropolitan (not including CoM) Office Buildings by GFA Range 135 Figure 75 Distribution of Regional Office Buildings by GFA Range 135 Figure 76 Regional Office Market, including Municipalities with a GFA over 50,000m² 136 Figure 77 Heritage Overlays (coloured pink) in the Melbourne CBD 137 Figure 78 Typical Victorian Office Market Emissions 138 Figure 79 Typical Building Types 139 Figure 80 Mean Temperature by Month – Melbourne 185 Figure 81 Office Market by GFA and Number of Buildings – South East 185 Figure 82 Office Market by GFA and Number of Buildings – Inner East 186 Figure 83 Office Market by GFA and Number of Buildings – Outer East 187 Figure 84 Office Market by GFA and Number of Buildings – North and West 188 Figure 85 Mean Temperatures by Month – Geelong 189 Figure 86 Office Market by GFA and Number of Buildings – Corangamite 189 Figure 87 Mean Temperatures by Month – Orbost 190 Figure 88 Office Market by GFA and Number of Buildings – East Gippsland 190 Figure 89 Mean Temperatures by Month – Ballarat 191 Figure 90 Office Market by GFA and Number of Buildings – Glenelg Hopkins 191 Figure 91 Mean Temperatures by Month – Shepparton 192 Figure 92 Office Market by GFA and Number of Buildings – Goulburn Broken 192 Figure 93 Mean Temperatures by Month – Swan Hill 193 Figure 94 Office Market by GFA and Number of Buildings – Mallee 193



226

Figure 95 Mean Temperatures by Month – Bendigo 194 Figure 96 Office Market by GFA and Number of Buildings – North Central 194 Figure 97 Mean Temperatures by Month – Wodonga 195 Figure 98 Office Market by GFA and Number of Buildings – North East 195 Figure 99 Mean Temperatures by Month – Tooradin 196 Figure 100 Office Market by GFA and Number of Buildings – Port Phillip and Westernport 196 Figure 101 Mean Temperatures by Month – Sale 197 Figure 102 Office Market by GFA and Number of Buildings – West Gippsland 197 Figure 103 Mean Temperatures by Month – Horsham 198 Figure 104 Office Market by GFA and Number of Buildings – Wimmera 198



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The Next Wave - assets.sustainability.vic.gov.au

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