ABCB Roadshow 2024: Commercial building energy efficiency

We're proposing changes to NCC Volume One to reduce emissions and move to a net zero future.

The changes provide cost-effective fuel and technology neutral ways for buildings to move towards a net zero future.

They also support the continued uptake of electric vehicles known as EVs.

The changes cover commercial buildings Class 3 and Class 5 to 9 buildings, and the common areas of apartment buildings, Class 2 buildings.

This work continues progress on the Trajectory for Low Energy Buildings policy that was agreed by Energy Ministers in 2019.

The Trajectory requires us to update the commercial energy efficiency provisions in the next edition of the NCC to help make commercial buildings more resilient to the impact of climate change, cheaper to operate and run, and decrease greenhouse gas emissions.

The changes also help support Australian government's targets for energy efficiency and emissions reduction, including the net zero by 2050, National Greenhouse Gas Emission target, and the National Electric Vehicle Strategy.

In developing these proposed changes, we consulted with our peak technical committee, the Building Codes Committee or BCC and members of the Technical Reference Group or TRG.

Let's look at the changes in more detail.

Overall, we're proposing changes across most of the Section J, including to the Performance Requirements, Verification Methods, and DTS Provisions.

To develop these new provisions, we engaged a group of specialists to research and analyse various potential changes.

From this analysis, we developed proposals at three different levels of ambition or stringency to improve the energy efficiency of commercial buildings in the NCC.

These options were refined with key stakeholders, and we also assessed their economic impact.

From this analysis and considering the strong economic and environmental outcomes predicted, we've included the most ambitious reforms in the Public Comment Draft.

The proposed changes include cost-effective updates to the Deemed-to-Satisfy or DTS Provisions, requiring EV chargers to be installed in most commercial buildings, requiring photovoltaics, PV panels to be installed on site, and other measures that support broader government intention to transition towards a renewable electricity grid.

For a building, this means changes to the NCC to enable gas equipment to easily be changed to an electric replacement in the future, known as electrification.

Let's look more closely at some of the proposals.

There are two changes proposed to the energy efficiency Performance Requirements for commercial buildings.

We'll look firstly at proposed changes to J1P1 energy use.

For the next edition of the NCC, we're proposing to include a requirement to facilitate near zero use of operational energy and greenhouse gas emissions in the performance requirement, J1P1.

We're also proposing to remove the qualitative statements for solar radiation, energy source, and ceiling against air leakage.

Finally, we're proposing updates to the regulated energy consumption and associated greenhouse gas emissions to align with the increase in stringency.

For Performance Requirement, J1P4, Renewable energy and EV charging, we're proposing to include an exception for future installation of renewable energy in some instances.

We're proposing to add a new requirement for EV charging equipment to be installed in a Class 3 building, a hotel, for example, or a Class 5 to 9 building.

These buildings include office buildings, shopping centres, and public buildings.

While we're proposing to keep the current requirements to facilitate future EV charging in a Class 2 building that were introduced in NCC 2022, we're proposing to clarify the amount of EV charging infrastructure required.

We're also proposing two changes to the energy efficiency Verification Methods for commercial buildings.

These proposals relate to J1V1 NABERS Energy and J1V3 Verification using a reference building.

We're not proposing any changes to J1V2 Green Star or J1V4 Verification of building envelope sealing.

For J1V1 NABERS Energy, we propose to update the star ratings and greenhouse gas emissions targets, so they align with the proposed increase to stringency.

For a Class 2, 3, and 6 building, we propose to include room temperature criteria as a replacement for assessing thermal comfort level based on Predicted Mean Vote or PMV although PMV is retained as an alternative for a Class 5 office building.

There are also changes to Specification 33 that's referenced in this Verification Method.

For J1V3 Verification using a reference building, we proposed to include a requirement for a building's total proposed annual greenhouse gas emissions to be at least 10% better than the reference building.

This brings the J1V3 modelling process in line with the requirements of Verification Methods J1V1 and J1V2.

We're further proposing to include two alternatives to assessing thermal comfort level based on PMV.

Finally, we're proposing to remove the ability to offset the performance of a building's envelope with onsite PV.

To facilitate the proposed changes I've introduced here, we're also proposing a raft of changes to the DTS Provisions in Section J.

Of particular importance, the stringency of the DTS provisions has generally been increased.

There are also proposals to require the installation of PV panels and facilitate the future electrification of commercial buildings.

We're proposing to update J9D5 to require onsite PV panels to be installed.

Depending on the climate zone and building classification, the requirement is higher where gas is used to balance the emissions from gas appliances.

We're also proposing to update some DTS Provisions to facilitate electrification of gas heating appliances.

This includes requirements for reserved electrical infrastructure capacity, plant space, and heated water distribution system temperatures appropriate for heat pumps.

These proposals relate to the DTS Provisions in J6D10 for space heating, J8D3 to J8D5 for heated water supply and swimming pool and spa pumps, and the additional requirements in Specification 33.

More generally, the changes also proposed new or updated defined terms in Schedule 1, as well as changes to NCC specifications that form part of the DTS provisions.

Full details of these proposed changes to the DTS provisions can be found in the support material on our PCD website at abcb.gov.au/PCD.

We engaged economists to develop a Consultation Regulatory Impact Statement, or CRIS for short, to explore the costs and benefits of three options based on the three different stringency levels I referred to earlier.

All options show significant overall benefits, moving Australia closer to its emission reduction targets with some variances by climate and building type.

We've recommended option three because it will make our new schools, workplaces, and other commercial buildings net zero ready in one step and generate a massive economic benefit of around $17 billion.

However, broader EV charging support shows an overall net cost accounted for by upfront costs for chargers, as well as ongoing maintenance.

This is likely due to the rapidly maturing market acceptance of EVs and the substantial benefits already attributed to earlier NCC changes, such as the previous rough in provisions.

If you'd like to provide feedback on this proposed change, visit our dedicated PCD page, abcb.gov.au/PCD.

Here, you'll find links to the draft changes for Volumes One, Two, and Three, and the Housing Provisions.

You'll also find links to support materials and technical documents to help you understand the proposed changes.

Finally, this page has a link to our consultation page where you can have your say.

The public consultation is open from the 1st of May to the 1st of July 2024.

We look forward to your input.