Overview
The Australian Government is considering changes to the Commercial Building Disclosure (CBD) Program.
The CBD Program currently requires energy efficiency information to be provided, in most cases, when commercial office space of 1000 square metres or more is offered for sale or lease.
The potential expansion of the CBD Program is part of the 2019 Trajectory for Low Energy Buildings (the Trajectory). The Trajectory is the joint strategy of the Commonwealth and the States and Territories that aims to achieve zero energy and carbon-ready buildings in Australia.
Successive reviews of the CBD Program in 2016 and 2019 suggest that expanding the program to cover new building and ownership types will reduce energy consumption, reduce energy bills, and lower greenhouse gas emissions.
On behalf of the Australian Government, KPMG has completed a feasibility report on Expanding the Commercial Building Disclosure Program (feasibility report). This analysis of the CBD Program suggests it is performing well when compared internationally and, if expanded to other building types, could be a powerful tool in transitioning Australia’s commercial buildings to net zero.
Public Consultation
The department conducted public consultation on the expansion of the CBD Program between 14 June 2024 and 13 September 2024.
The department received a total of 46 submissions. Submissions could be made by completing an online survey or providing a written submission. Respondents could provide public or private submissions.
30 submissions were made publicly available.
View the public submissions.
Next Steps: A roadmap for CBD expansion
Feedback from the consultation indicated a high level of support for expanding the CBD Program in some way. Although not all respondents agreed that the CBD Program should be expanded to most major commercial building types, there was strong support for the development of a roadmap to help guide any future expansion.
Having reviewed the feedback provided, the Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy has asked the department to develop a government roadmap to guide future expansion of the CBD Program.
Information provided during the consultation will be used to inform the government roadmap. The roadmap will align to broader frameworks including the Update to the Trajectory for Low Energy Buildings.
The roadmap will articulate policy principles and set out the long-term policy direction of the CBD Program. It will aim to provide policy certainty to industry, governments and other stakeholders on how the Program should expand.
Updates on the development of the roadmap will be published on the cbd.gov.au website.
Webinar 1 - Office Buildings and Tenancies
The Public Webinar for Office Buildings and Tenancies provided information to the public about the proposed changes to Office Buildings, and proposing introducing Office Tenancies to the Commercial Building Disclosure Program.
Webinar 2 - Future Expansion - 29 August 2024 (1-2pm)
The Future Expansion Public Webinar provided information to the public about the major changes proposed to the Commercial Building Disclosure Program to expand to other commercial building types including hotels, shopping centres, data centres, and warehouses.
