Last edited 27 Aug 2021

NABERS UK

1 Introduction
2 Overview
3 Design for performance for new buildings or major renovations
4 Energy performance for existing buildings
5 Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki
6 External resources

[edit] Introduction

NABERS UK is a system for rating the energy efficiency of office buildings across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Since it was started by the New South Wales Government in Australia in 1999, NABERS has expanded its reach to several countries; in November 2020, NABERS UK was introduced.

BRE is acting as the scheme administrator for NABERS UK, which is being overseen by a steering committee that includes NABERS, BRE and the Better Buildings Partnership. The Better Buildings Partnership is serving as the scheme ambassador to support its uptake and success.

[edit] Overview

As of March 2021, NABERS UK focuses solely on the energy performance of offices. It supports the concept of design for performance based on operational outcome rather than design for compliance (which is the case with some other rating systems).

NABER UK offers different programmes for existing buildings and new buildings.The new building (or major renovation) scheme is NABERS Design for Performance and the existing building scheme is the NABERS Energy ratings programme.

[edit] Design for performance for new buildings or major renovations

As with other efficiency star ratings, NABERS provides a rating from one to six stars. This helps building owners understand their building’s performance when compared to similar buildings, providing an opportunity to set benchmarks and achieve new goals.

Design for Performance in new buildings (or major renovations) allows building owners or developers to pledge to achieve a specific NABERS star rating after the project is complete and operational for 12 months.

The commitment to Design for Performance is a five stage process:

Sign an agreement.
Design, document and model to operate at the target Energy rating nominated in the agreement.
Get an Independent Design Review (IDR) report from a member of the IDR panel.
Submit the IDR report.
Get a NABERS Energy rating from a NABERS Accredited Assessor once the project is in operation for 12 months.

[edit] Energy performance for existing buildings

NABERS UK for existing buildings measures and rates actual energy use throughout the building. This includes central services such as heating and cooling systems, lifts lobby lighting and other aspects of base building performance. The ratings allow building operators to communicate the energy performance of their buildings to building owners, users and visitors while documenting the requirements for a comfortable working environment.

Ratings are based on two documents:

NABERS UK, The rules – Energy for offices.
NABERS UK, The rules – Metering and consumption.

Note that only Accredited Assessors are permitted to perform assessments.

It is possible to estimate a building’s star ratings using two calculators - a simple calculator and a reverse calculator. Both are available through the NABERS website.