BUILT ENVIRONMENT ASSESSORS

>> NABERS Water Rating

Australia’s water resources are of paramount importance for our economic, social and environmental wellbeing. It is widely recognised that without continual improvement of the efficiency of our water use water will soon become a scarce comodity. Today, commercial buildings account for 10% of our urban water consumption.

Built Environment Assessors will commence your water audit by calculating your NABERS Water Rating. The NABERS Water rating system allows building owners and managers to assess the performance and efficiency of their buildings or offices water use and to assess the overall water consumption against other buildings within the NABERS program and the outside market. The objectives of the NABERS Water rating system are as follows:

* To allow buildings to be assessed against the rest of the market and in turn provide a competitive advantage for buildings with innovative and effective water saving devices and management strategies;
* To promote and encourage the implementation of water efficient technologies and management procedures with the objective being to effectively reduce the building or offices overall water consumption;
* To rate a particular building based on its overall performance, by way of a simple water audit; and
* To allow building owners and managers to brand their building as a NABERS Rated Building and promote the water efficiency of the individual offices and tenancies.

During the NABERS Water Rating assessment, auditors measure the water consumption of your office building on a scale of one to five stars, reflecting the performance of the building or office relative to the overall building industry. The assessment is graded from least efficient (zero stars) to best practice (five stars). Two and a half stars being the current market average.

What does the NABERS Water Rating mean?

Water Efficiency Rating = 5 Stars

This is the highest possible building or office performance rating. The building or office is leading the market in water efficiency as a result of integrating innovative design, operation, water efficiency management measures.

Water Efficiency Rating = 4 Stars

This indicates strong performance. The building or office has demonstrated superior water performance due to design, management and implementation of water efficient devices.

Water Efficiency Rating = 3 Stars

3 stars is above average performance. The building or office is more water efficient than the current building averages. There are however, still management options that have the potential to increase water efficiency.

Water Efficiency Rating = 2 Stars

The building or offices water efficiency performance is below the market average. Significant opportunities exist to increase water efficiency, reduce building or office operating costs and decrease the burden on our already strained water supplies.

Water Efficiency Rating = 1 Star

Very poor water efficiency. The building or office is consuming a lot of unnecessary water. Significant opportunities exist to increase water efficiency, reduce building or office operating costs and decrease the burden on our already strained water supplies.

Upon completion of your site audit you will be presented with the audit findings and recommendations...


© NABERS 2009 - Used with permission. www.nabers.com.au

Once the auditor has assessed your organisations overall water consumption, the report will be submitted identifying the major sources of water consumption and will provide management options for reducing water use. The report may offer information on other water efficiency options identified during the visit. The purpose of a Water Audit is to identify improvements that will result in water savings for the end user.

A water audit should do much more than simply recommend swapping old sprinklers or adding faucet aerators. A water audit should provide the client with expert, professional guidance on making their business or enterprise sustainably efficient. In addition to cost reductions, a water audit should consider the big picture needs of an organization such as health, comfort and the environment.

As well as illustrating your consumption and reduction options, your report will also identify your current NABERS rating. You will be presented with the option of submitting the audit for accreditation and certification by the NABERS authority, or investigating and implementing water efficiency measures to increase your NABERS rating.

Following the presentation of your NABERS Water Rating and Efficiency Audit, assessors can then calculate your baseline water use. This is the amount of water you currently use on site. This information helps us to determine what potential savings can be achieved. It also helps you to measure your performance. Water savings can be systematically identified annually by comparing your water use each year with your baseline water use.

At this point Built Environment Assessors can investigate all of the potential options for you to reduce your water consumption and increase your organisations overall water efficiency. Within this stage of the assessment, you have the option to prepare a Water Efficiency Management Plan (WEMP) for your business, or to simply complete a desktop review of all of the options available for your business.

Upon completion of this assessment you will have the ability to make an informed decision based on cost and implementation feasibility, as to whether you submit your current NABERS audit or implement efficiency measures and management and re-audit to increase your rating prior to submission.

Once your company has reviewed the engineering design options and the cost benefit analysis information, assessors can also assist with any specifications of equipment or installation. Built Environment Assessors can also assist you with tendering the design and construction of any infrastructure changes to 3 approved service providers, and/or principal contractors. This process will ensure that all reconfiguration works are completed at the lowest possible cost.

Our national team of specialist water efficiency assessors knows the industry and can offer your organisation a significant volume of industry experience and information to help in reducing the overall cost.

Should you require it, assessors can then oversee the construction project and provide advice, supervision, or even complete project management services to ensure that the project goes exactly to plan. Built Environment Assessors have access to a National list of suppliers providing water efficient or water saving devices throughout each state or territory.

In addition, our department has also completed many case studies to assess which of the thousands of water efficiency products that are available on the market actually work and/or may be best suited to your situation.

Upon implementation of water efficient devices and management procedures, the building or offices water consumption can be measured through sub-metering. Sub-metering high water demanding areas (such as cooling towers, production process, irrigation, showers etc) can help you gain a better understanding of each critical consumption location and identify savings opportunities for each.

This can be done manually (involve staff members or our assessors to read the main meter at night and first thing in the morning, to check for leaks) or automatically via data loggers to record water use information in real time.