Assessors are required to attend training, pass an exam and complete two supervised assessments before they receive full accreditation.
[1] While there are no formal pre-requisites to attend the training, most Assessors have experience in the building services, property or energy management industries.
NABERS rating helps you to accurately measure, understand, and communicate the environmental performance of your building while identifying areas for cost savings and future improvements.
It provides a rating that is valid for twelve months from one to six stars for building efficiency across these measures: Ratings can be applied to the following built environment sectors: The vision statement of NABERS is 'To support a more sustainable built environment through a relevant, reliable and practical measure of building performance'.
To obtain a NABERS Energy for offices rating, consumption data for the building (such as electricity and gas bills) is collected by Accredited Assessors along with data about a number of other aspects of the building such as its size, hours of occupation, climate location and density of occupation.
This data is then input into the NABERS rating calculator[2] which statistically adjusts for these factors so that the building can have its consumption fairly benchmarked against its peers.
The key features of NABERS as a system are that it is based on performance rather than design, assessments are carried out by third-party 'Accredited Assessors', it is based on third party verifiable data (such as utility bills), ratings undergo government quality assurance checks and it distinguishes between the environmental impact of a building's shared services and its tenancies.
Factors behind the success of the tool are largely attributed to its ability to differentiate between the base building and tenants energy end uses and strong government support.