Powerful aid for saving on office lighting bills

HOT PROPERTY

We're three weeks into the new energy reporting regime for office buildings and for those of us who revel in real-world energy efficiency data, what a beautiful set of new numbers we have to play with.

For those still catching up, since the start of this month the Commercial Building Disclosure scheme has required office building owners to hold a Building Energy Efficiency Certificate, or ''BEEC'', when selling or leasing more than 2000 square metres of office space.

Since November 1 last year, the building's NABERS energy rating had to be reported on sale or lease and displayed on all advertising material. Now, owners need not just that rating but also a report on all general lighting within the office space.

That new report, the Tenancy Lighting Assessment, documents the energy efficiency of the lighting and what kind of lighting control system is installed. The TLA covers the base lighting, not tenant feature lighting, and is reported in categories from less than 7 watts/sq m, defined as excellent, to greater than 15 (poor). Lighting control is defined as basic, average or sophisticated.

Lights are typically the single biggest user of power in an office. The data from TLAs already highlight that, despite 20 years of research in Australia and internationally concluding that commercial buildings offer among the most profitable opportunities to cut carbon emissions, little has been achieved. With the new BEEC disclosure, that might change.

Our team has just completed a TLA for a large office building in North Sydney built in the early 1970s. The energy efficiency of the lighting systems in all offices ranges from 5.7 watts/sq m to 24. That's a four-fold range. A typical figure is 16 watts/sq m.

The cost implications for a tenant are significant and will become more so as electricity prices rise, especially from next July when the next increase in network prices kicks in along with the carbon tax.

For example, if you leased 5000 sq m in a building with an excellent lighting system rather than a poor one, over a 10-year lease you'd save at least $320,000, on conservative power price estimates. And you'd cut your office's carbon emissions over 10 years by almost 2000 tonnes. That would be like taking 40 cars off the road for 10 years.

While power bills are small beer compared with rent or payroll, companies and agencies shopping around for new offices that want a low-carbon workspace with low power bills have been handed a truly powerful tool to aid their search.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/business/powerful-aid-for-saving-on-office-lighting-bills-20111118-1nmz3.html#ixzz1e5ZJW9rT