Achieving energy efficiency in government buildings through mandatory policy and program enforcement

Abstract

Government buildings are responsible for a significant proportion of energy consumption worldwide, for example, in Australia, up to 41.5 PJ energy was consumed by government buildings in 2011–2012. While the newly constructed buildings may be energy efficient, the existing buildings, which account for more than 85% of the total building stock, were built prior to the time when energy rating systems was put in practice and are consequently energy inefficient to a large degree. Reducing the energy consumption in existing government buildings is essential, as it will not only reduce the costs and environmental impacts, but also show governments’ strong commitment towards the reduction of greenhouse gas emission. Furthermore, successful building energy retrofit projects are the showcases to the general public, encouraging other sectors (e.g. commercial) to conduct building retrofits for energy savings. Recognising these benefits, several state governments in Australia have introduced building energy efficiency policies and programs. This paper reviewed the energy efficiency policies/programs in five States in Australia: Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia, Western Australia, and Queensland in terms of respective policies and targets, implementation methods and current progress. The lessons learned from these programs were also discussed. This research revealed that the key factors for a successful government building energy retrofitting program are 1) having a properly enforced energy efficiency mandate with clear energy saving targets, 2) establishing an expert facilitation team and 3) implementing suitable financing and procurement methods.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

building energy retrofit / policy / energy efficiency / energy performance contract / energy auditing

References

[1] Audit Office of New South Wales (2013). Building energy use in NSW public hospitals. Sydney: Audit Office of New South Wales

[2] Australian National Audit Office (2009). Green office procurement and sustainable office management. Canberra: Australian National Audit Office

[3] Colin Murphy (2010). Energy Smart Government- Western Australian Auditor General’s Report. Perth

[4] Council of Australian Governments (2012). Baseline energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in commercial buildings in Australia. Commonwealth of Australia: Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency

[5] Cowan J, Pearson R, Sud I (2004). Procedures for Commercial Building Energy Audits. American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers

[6] Department of Premier and Cabinet (2008). Energy Smart Government. (2008/11). Perth: Department of Premier and Cabinet

[7] Department of State Development (2015). Energy efficiency report 2014–15. Department of State Development

[8] Department of State Development (2016). Government Building Energy Efficiency Investment Program- Guidelines for cost-effective energy efficiency investments in South Australian Government buildings

[9] Department of Treasury and Finance (2016). Greener government buildings guidelines. Melbounre: Department of Treasury and Finance

[10] GBE strategy (2013). Government Buildings Energy Strategy 2013–2020.

[11] GGB (2011). Greener Government Buildings Guidelines. Victoria, Australia

[12] GGB (2016). Greener Government Buildings Guidelines. Victoria, Australia

[13] Greener Government Building Performance Report 2009–2012. Melbourne

[14] GREP progress report (2016). Government Resource Efficiency Policy- whole of government progress 2014–15. Sydney

[15] OEH (2013). NSW Energy Efficiency Action Plan. Sydney

[16] OEH (2014a). Energy efficiency and renewables finance guide. Sydney

[17] OEH (2014b). NSW Government Resource Efficiency Policy.

[18] Office of the Chief Economist (2016). Australian energy update 2016. Canberra: Department of Industry, Innovation and Science

[19] South Australia’s Strategic Plan (2011).

[20] Stivey L (2011). Energy Smart Government- Developing an energy efficient organisation. IPAA Seminar.

[21] The NSW Treasure (2015). Budget statement 2014–15: NSW Treasure

[22] Tina Perinotto (2014). Hospitals to suffer as Victoria axes Greener Government Buildings Program. The Fifth Estate

[23] Victorian Government Purchasing Board (2016). Greener government buildings.

[24] Zhang G, Jin X h, Khalfan M (2015). Application of Energy Performance Contracting in the Greener Government Building Program in Victoria: Incentives, Barriers and Strategies. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the 19th International Symposium on Advancement of Construction Management and Real Estate, Chongqing China

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to acknowledge the Sustainable Built Environment National Research Centre (SBEnrc) and its partners for funding this project under SBEnrc Project 1.43 “Retrofitting Public Buildings for Energy and Water Efficiency”.

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2017 The Author(s) 2017. Published by Higher Education Press. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)