Glossary
Building performance standards and benchmarking
What is NABERS UK?
Definition
NABERS UK is a voluntary operational energy rating for UK office buildings, adapted from Australia's NABERS, that rates a year of measured energy use on a scale of 1 to 6 stars.
Who uses NABERS UK
Office landlords, developers and occupiers use it to show how a building performs in use rather than by design. Investors and tenants can compare ratings across buildings because every rating rests on metered consumption.
Rating scopes and scale
- Scale: 1 star, the lowest, to 6 stars, market leading, based on measured energy over a year, per the Better Buildings Partnership.
- Base building: central services the landlord controls, such as heating, cooling and ventilation plant serving office and common areas.
- Tenancy: energy under the tenant's control, such as tenant lighting and small power.
- Whole building: base building plus all tenancies.
Separating landlord and tenant energy
A base building rating depends on splitting landlord services from tenant loads. Aqueduct's energy balance divides facility load by feeder into HVAC, lighting, plugs and services, and Billing Management distinguishes shared from dedicated meters, showing a landlord each tenant's share of a shared meter.