Australia’s NABERS Sustainable Portfolios Index (SPI) has reported growth in participation and data collection in its fifth year.
The index, which provides a whole-of-portfolio view of Australia’s office and retail assets’ actual performance, now includes 64 office and shopping centre portfolios, up from 53 in the previous year.
“Investors and property owners want efficient, resilient and sustainable assets – and the 21 per cent growth in participating portfolios confirms this trend,” NABERS Director Carlos Flores said.
NABERS was established in 1998 and has helped Australia’s property industry save an estimated $1 billion in energy costs while driving down greenhouse gas emissions by over seven million tonnes.
The SPI is a benchmark for sustainable property portfolios, with companies’ ratings on their energy and water usage, indoor environment and waste management.
The SPI Office Energy Index now includes 418 assets, amounting to 8.56 million square meters of rated area, representing 27 per cent of the national office market.
The SPI Office Water Index covers 385 assets, representing 8.22 million square meters of rated area, or 26% of the national office market.
The number of funds disclosing their SPI Indoor Environment index performance grew by 38 per cent, with eight new funds added. Two new funds also disclosed their NABERS Waste ratings, driving a 20 per cent increase in the Waste Index.
Two new companies, Mirvac and Elanor Investments, have joined the Index in 2023, taking the total number of participating companies to 27.
Charter Hall added four new office portfolios to the Index in 2023 – and now has a record 12 portfolios listed for this sector. The total portfolio area Charter Hall now assesses is 1.46 million sqm of space.
“Charter Hall uses independent rating tools like NABERS to verify performance and to focus on continuous improvement,” Charter Hall Group Head of ESG Andrew Cole said.
“We continue to drive improvements across the business, and third party verification such as the NABERS Sustainable Portfolio Index supports our ongoing monitoring and disclosure of our ESG performance. It also enables our participation in emerging sustainable finance, where we have $3.4 billion in sustainable finance transactions currently.”
Offices
Lendlease’s portfolio of five assets at Barangaroo International Tower, covering an area just shy of 271,000 sqm, has secured the first spot for energy and water rankings, receiving a 6-star rating. This achievement marks the first time a portfolio has received an average 6-star NABERS Energy rating for its entire area.
In the NABERS Indoor Environment rankings, Brookfield Property Partners has emerged as the leader, scoring 5.8 stars across its portfolio of almost 147,000 sqm, indicating a strong commitment to continuous improvement. This rating builds on the company’s leading score of 5.7 stars in 2022.
Cbus Property has maintained its leading position in the NABERS Waste rankings, achieving a rating of 4.1 stars across an area of almost 219,000 sqm, representing a notable improvement from the 3.8 stars achieved in the previous year.
Shopping Centres
The latest Index has highlighted a significant increase in ambition and action within just one year, with four funds achieving above 5-star NABERS Energy ratings with 100 per cent coverage, as compared to just one portfolio in the previous year.
Charter Hall’s Prime Retail Fund emerged as the top performer in the NABERS Energy ratings, with an impressive average rating of 5.6 stars across the entire portfolio. In the NABERS Water ratings, Charter Hall’s Prime Retail Fund and Active Super tied for the highest average rating of 4.6 stars, with both achieving 100 per cent coverage.
Active Super’s Local Government Property Fund has earned a noteworthy achievement, with its portfolio of retail and office assets achieving 100% Carbon Neutral status.