CEFC 50 best practices initiatives, Australia

The Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) is a specialist investor at the centre of efforts to help deliver on Australia’s ambitions for a thriving, low emissions future. With a strong investment track record, the CEFC is committed to accelerating Australia’s transition to net zero emissions by 2050.

This includes investing across the property sector, where the CEFC has made lifetime commitments of almost $2 billion – from commercial office, retail and industrial segments through to alternative and emerging asset classes, including student housing, retirement living and build-to-rent markets. CEFC cornerstone investments in new property funds continue to demonstrate the positive link between financial returns and ESG outcomes.

Reflecting this commitment to tackle property-related emissions, the CEFC commissioned a handbook to provide a practical, user-friendly resource for property owners and managers working to minimise their carbon footprint. Distilling complex engineering information into something that can be easily understood by a wide audience to create real change in the industry was the key driver for the project.

NDY consulted its staff across its Australian and international offices, identifying over 150 different energy efficiency and clean energy initiatives – which were then refined down to 50 initiatives via a series of workshops with the CEFC. This list was then circulated amongst a number of peak industry bodies and leading private sector building owners for their input and further refinement. The project leveraged NDY’s network of professional relationships in order to access some of the best owner and developer energy efficiency minds in the industry.

The identified initiatives help to promote best practice energy performance in the property sector beyond the current National Construction Code (NCC).

Building portfolio owners have since provided feedback on how useful it is to have a third-party document that summarises the most promising energy efficiency options depending on asset type, climate zone and budget. It has also been used in some tertiary education settings and has been shared with the New Zealand Green Building Council (NZGBC) to assist with their own agenda.

Our team delivered the project as a full turn-key solution, including conceptualising the format, consulting with industry, undertaking the technical analysis, writing user- friendly descriptions, and graphic design.

We supported the CEFC in launching the handbook to industry and briefing their staff on how they could use the handbook with their own clients.
The handbook is available free-of-charge here.