When the owners of big landmark buildings such as 101 Collins and 111 Bourke streets in Melbourne decide to electrify and retrofit their assets, you know there’s a big motivating factor driving an ambitious agenda.
Call it value.
How’s your NABERS rating? What about Green Star?
The image here is something we snapped in downtown Parramatta recently.
It’s a loud and clear signifier of the new world order that recognises carbon emissions as key to value.
The very low score tells people the rent is cheap and probably so too the asset value. Unless of course a wily investor such as Shane Quinn of Quintessential has already spotted the value uplift opportunity in electrification and retrofit.
But while the NABERS rating tells a powerful story so too the embedded carbon in an existing building.
Retaining a building, electrifying and retrofitting it to current expectations is where many investors now seek value.
Driving them is the growing understanding we need to drive a net zero future at the speed of light. And as we’ve said a thousand times, there’s nothing that puts fire in the belly as fast and furiously as the opportunity for financial gain, or the fear of losing it.
As JLL’s Ali Ingram told us at our last leaders forum, the sale of major $1 billion+ asset in London was nearly derailed when the buyers discovered they’d also be acquiring a gas boiler. The problem was fixed with appropriate capex (capital expenditure) provisions inserted into the contract but not before the news reverberated around the market and sent out loud warning signs about a new normal.
At our next forum on 1 July, the final in the Navigating Sustainability Series and extended to a full masterclass, we will take a deep dive into how existing buildings can avoid the fate of a having to advertise a low NABERS energy rating, be electrified and be retrofitted so they can take their place in the A-League.
But it’s not straightforward.
Every building is unique and may require specialised treatment, but in the few years since the imperative hit the radar, there’s been huge advances.
Alex Sear, director of our lead event sponsor ADP, will share some of the cost cutting hacks his company has come up with that make electrification far less expensive “than anyone could have dreamed of five years ago”, he says.
Carola Jonas of Everty whose company was recently acquired by AGL is on the same hack. She promises to likewise reveal some lower cost ways to connect EV charging to commercial buildings.
The pair will be joined on stage by some of the industry’s best experts from Arup, A.G. Coombs, Cundall, City of Sydney, Everty/AGL, NABERS, Charter Hall and more.
The practical examples of work will range from the big assets mentioned above, to regional assets in Western Australia and the major retrofit of 121 Castlereagh Street in Sydney, the former David Jones store.
NABERS’ head of market engagement, Monique Alfris will step through some of the drivers in the NABERS benchmark update that’s on the way and will reflect the latest National Greenhouse Accounts emissions factors. Perhaps this might include a transition to energy-based metrics that “treat electricity and gas equally in megajoules”, she says.
We all know that investors want the best possible value for the least possible cost. When it comes to saving money by reducing carbon emissions, or retaining embodied carbon instead of building new, we’re in perfect alignment for a better world.
This masterclass will be one of the most important events you can attend this year.
Book now! Members of TFE get very generous discounts. Get in touch for your code!