Did you know that, despite the fact that we share a lot of services, apartment blocks tend to be less right-on than stand-alone houses when it comes to the environment?
It’s all those lifts, internal lights that are on all day, air-conditioning, ventilation fans and the fact that you have to pump water up anywhere higher than the third floor that does it.
Oh, and that’s before we even mention heated open-air swimming pools.
How bad is it? Hard to say, really, that’s why you’ve been invited to participate in a Data Collection Survey to help create of a new national sustainability rating for apartment buildings.
The National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS) has received government funding to develop the new building performance assessment.
It will provide apartment buildings with a rating that outlines how much energy and water is used in the buildings’ common areas, and how efficient they are compared to other apartment buildings.
That means you will be able to advertise that your apartment is in a five-star (or green heart or whatever …) building when you come to sell your flat.
Oh, and of course, you help to save the planet … and you could win a $200 gift card.
“NABERS ratings are a core component of many government sustainability policies for the property sector,” it says in a press release. “The incentives created by NABERS and the policies it supports have already helped the commercial property sector reduce energy consumption at an unprecedented rate.
“The development of a NABERS rating system begins with high quality data that accurately reflects the sector It’s addressing. NABERS needs to collect energy and water data on a large number of residential apartment buildings, of various heights (low, medium and high-rise), varying facilities, and across all states and territories.
NABERS has engaged Green Strata and Sustainability Now to manage an online Data Collection Survey and if your strata scheme or company-titled building is predominantly residential and has at least one vertical block of apartments of two (2) storeys or more, they want to hear from you.
By completing the survey, you will go into a draw to win a $200 Visa gift card and your building will go into a draw to receive a free NABERS rating during the pilot stage of the project.
You can complete the survey any time before 22nd March, but making a start today gives you plenty of time to collect the data that’s needed, and also means you won’t forget!
