As environmental sustainability garners global attention, the focus on indoor air quality has intensified. After all, it is directly linked to human health, wellbeing, and performance. Hence, it's becoming vital to prioritise a building's most critical asset – its occupants. With this increasing importance, we're here to clarify the often overlooked, yet crucial NABERS Indoor Environment (IE) ratings. You can skip to a specific question by clicking on it below:
What is NABERS Indoor Environment (IE)?
What are the three types of NABERS IE ratings?
How do you get a NABERS IE rating?
How is the NABERS IE rating calculated?
How can you improve your NABERS IE rating?
What is a good NABERS IE rating?
What are the benefits of having a good NABERS IE rating?
How can NABERS IE ratings assist projects in meeting WELL criteria?
What other NABERS ratings are available?
What is NABERS Indoor Environment (IE)?
National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS) Indoor Environment assesses the indoor environment quality of an office building. It focuses on key factors such as thermal comfort, acoustic comfort, indoor air quality, lighting quality, and office layout. The main objective of NABERS IE is to ensure that buildings provide a healthy, comfortable, and productive environment for its occupants.
What are the three types of NABERS IE ratings?
- Base building Indoor Environment rating: is designed for building owners and managers, who generally control and maintain the thermal services, air systems and building cleaning services.
- Tenancy Indoor Environment rating: is for building occupants who control and manage the design and materials used in their office fit-out, lighting and their internal noise levels. Some tenants also have control over indoor air quality as well.
- Whole building Indoor Environment rating: these are for organisations that both manage and occupy their office space, or in some cases where a single tenant occupies the entirety of a building.
How do you get a NABERS IE rating?
To acquire a NABERS IE rating, a building must undergo a comprehensive assessment by a NABERS accredited assessor. The assessor carries out a series of tests, reviews documentation, conducts a visual inspection, and analyses data over a 12-month period to provide a fair and accurate rating.
How is the NABERS IE rating calculated?
The NABERS IE rating is calculated on a scale of one to six stars. The rating system evaluates the aforementioned aspects, each contributing a proportion to the total IE rating. It's an amalgamation of complex calculations, taking into account the size of the building, occupancy levels, and other variables.
How can you improve your NABERS IE rating?
Improving a NABERS IE rating is a multifaceted task. This is where our PEAK Platform's Indoor Environment module comes into play, helping you to monitor thermal comfort and relative humidity against ideal conditions in real-time, across all zones. You can instantly identify anomalies, benchmark performance, and take appropriate actions to improve comfort conditions and, therefore, your NABERS IE rating.
As an example, a recent case study highlights the power of PEAK’s indoor environment tracking at a pre-eminent office building in Brisbane. The owner of this 25,000+ sqm site, housing more than 350 unique zones, had a poor NABERS IE rating due to broken and poorly located sensors. However, after deploying the PEAK Platform, the Facilities Manager was able to proactively identify and resolve issues related to poor zone temperatures. Consequently, this has put them on the path to improving their IE rating and tenant comfort simultaneously.
The benefits of data-driven tracking are also clear at a portfolio level. One of our portfolio clients, Charter Hall, lifted their average indoor environment scores to 91%, up from 84% before the platform was deployed.
Is NABERS IE compulsory?
NABERS IE is not compulsory, but it's highly recommended. It's a crucial aspect of creating and maintaining an efficient and comfortable workspace. Furthermore, a good NABERS IE rating has become increasingly important to prospective tenants and can add value to your property. Hear from NABERS Sector Lead Ron Pulido in our co-hosted webinar on whether he thinks the rating may soon become mandatory.
What is a good NABERS IE rating?
A rating of 4 stars indicates that a building is performing well above average in terms of indoor environment quality. Ratings of 5 or 6 stars are exceptional, indicating industry-leading performance.
What are the benefits of having a good NABERS IE rating?
There are numerous benefits to achieving a high NABERS IE rating. A good rating indicates a healthier and more comfortable working environment, leading to improved productivity and tenant satisfaction. It can also help attract prospective tenants and demonstrate your commitment to environmental sustainability.
How long does a rating last?
A NABERS IE rating is valid for 12 months from the date of certification. Regular assessments are essential to ensure continued performance and to identify opportunities for improvement.
How can NABERS IE ratings assist projects in meeting WELL criteria?
NABERS and the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) have developed a 'crosswalk' to guide projects seeking dual certifications under WELL and NABERS IE. This collaboration offers a streamlined pathway for annual monitoring of various indoor environment quality (IEQ) metrics.
The guidance allows clients to gain maximum benefits from their IEQ testing, allowing one set of measurements to apply to both rating tools. The document illustrates where NABERS IE measurements or scores can be used to achieve a WELL v2 feature during initial WELL certification, annual monitoring, and/or WELL recertification.
What other NABERS ratings are available?
Beyond Indoor Environment, NABERS also offers Energy, Water and Waste ratings for offices. These comprehensive assessments provide crucial insights into various facets of environmental sustainability within your property.
To help you protect and improve NABERS ratings, our PEAK Platform offers advanced capabilities for monitoring and optimisation. This empowers owners to proactively manage and improve a building's performance, particularly across Energy, Indoor Environment and Water.
For an in-depth understanding of these ratings, you can explore our detailed article, Everything you ever wanted to know about NABERS rating. With the PEAK Platform and NABERS ratings working in synergy, you can create an optimised, environmentally conscious workspace.
To learn more about NABERS Indoor Environment directly from the source, check out our recent webinar on NABERS Indoor Environment to prioritise the tenant experience. Our expert panel delved into this important rating tool and its role in creating exceptional workspaces and a premium tenant experience. We learnt how optimising IE factors not only boosts productivity and occupant health but also enhances a building's sustainability credentials and appeal to quality tenants.
Intrigued about improving your NABERS IE rating and ensuring your building's comfort conditions are top-notch? Explore the power of our PEAK Platform's Indoor Environment module today! Request a callback from one of our experts.
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